In their penultimate match of the 21-22 season, GMU hosted Rider and it turned out to be a wild event. At least from my vantage point! In addition to some craziness in some of the individual matches, the team score was in doubt up until the final bout. In the end, though, Rider pulled out the win with a pin in the heavyweight division to score a 21-13 victory.

All the matches were close scores, including one that went overtime, with the exception of Alex Madrigal’s match at 149. Alex picked up a major decision en route to his 18th win of the season.

Ben Monn got things started for GMU. It was a very tight match, and Monn lost a close one, 4-1.

Michael Rapuano was up next at 133, and while he looked good on the mat with a takedown and some great defensive work, he lost in a 6-3 decision.

Shawn Nonaka was up next for the Patriots at 141, but couldn’t get the win. Rider went up 9-0 in the team score.

Alex Madrigal’s major put Mason on the board, then Avery Bassett picked up his 20th win of the year at 157 to close the gap in the team score to 9-7.

Tyler Kocak and Logan Messer lost very close matches (3-0 and 8-6) as Rider widened the team score to 15-7.

Kyle Davis won a wild one for GMU, 8-3. Things got a little chippy during the match, including at the end of the second period when Davis showed the referee where he was apparently bitten on his hand. No foul was called, though. Then at the end of the match, a technical was called. Have to say, Kyle held his cool during the whole thing!

Jon List was up at 197, and picked up the exciting sudden victory in overtime, closing the gap in the team score to 15-13.

Unfortunately, GMU couldn’t pull out the win at heavyweight, and Rider won the match 21-13. It was an exciting night at The RAC and I can’t wait to see how the team does in Athens, OH at the MAC Championships. Eight wrestlers have earned pre-seeds, so it should be an exciting weekend! And be warned, Coach Mike DePalma has a brick and is not afraid to use it!