Rutgers Wrestle Offs

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers wrestling program, under the guidance of second-year head coach Scott Goodale, competed in the annual Scarlet & Black match, Friday night at the College Ave. Gym in New Brunswick, N.J. Each weight class featured two wrestlers battling for starting spots during the 2008-09 season.

The returning starters from last season more than held their own, as sophomore Mike Demarco (Lyndhurst, N.J.) at 125, redshirt junior Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) at 149, senior Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) at 165, redshirt senior Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) at 174 and junior Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) at 184 all retained their starting positions with wins over their opponents.

Demarco pulled out a 4-2 victory over freshman Matt Fusco (Belleville, N.J.), Barrett defeated freshman David Seidenberg (Red Bank, N.J.) 8-2, Pletcher stopped junior Matt Rigoglioso (Wayne, N.J.) 8-1, Whalen earned a 13-4 major decision over freshman Ryan Roddy (Woodbridge, Conn.) and Dobish defeated sophomore McPaul Ogbonna (East Hanover, N.J.) 3-1.

In the other weight classes, redshirt freshman Tyler Milonas (Oak Ridge, N.J.) defeated fellow classmate Brian Bollette (Newton, N.J.) 8-1 at 133, newcomer David Greenwald (Union, N.J., 141-pounds for Iowa Central Community College ... Finished year with a record of 38-4, including 26 pins … Finished second at JUCO Nationals) picked up an 11-1 major decision over freshman Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.) at 141 and freshman Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.) earned a major decision over fellow classmate Greg Zannetti (Edison, N.J.), 12-4 at 157. In the heavyweight class, redshirt sophomore DJ Russo (Netcong, N.J.) defeated newcomer Sean DeDeyn (Bayville, N.J.) 5-0. Karim Mahmoud Abduel (Wallington, N.J.) was leading 5-0 when his match against Jesse Boyden (Kenilworth, N.J.) was stopped because of a medical default charged to Boyden.

After the wrestle-offs, RU returns to the mat on Saturday, Nov. 8, in the Oklahoma-Brockport Gold Tournament, held in Brockport, N.Y.

http://scarletknights.com/wrestling/....asp?prID=7063

It's been a while since Melde has been bounced around the mat like that.

It's been a while since Melde has been bounced around the mat like that.
Wow!! Welcome to the big leagues. Great synopsis. Thanks

My take on the RU wrestle-offs:

Demarco vs. Fusco - Fusco looked stronger & faster and still didn't win. Demarco's year in college helped him and I see these two continuing to battle for the spot.

Milonas vs. Bollette - Milonas is slick and even though he looks like a little boy and not that strong, he continually
takes it to all his opponents. He has a great arm bar series and he must be deceptively strong. It will be interesting if & when he meets Mike Grey.

Melde vs. Greenwald - Not surprised at the outcome. A lot of fans seem to be writing Melde off but he looked good on his feet and had great shots as he was in multiple times on Greenwald - just couldn't finish. Greenwald is very good and he has 2 years college experience over Melde. Melde will close the gap but Greenwald is going to do some impressive things this season. I am sure you remember his finals match vs. Burroughs…

Barrett vs. Seidenberg - I was impressed with Barrett - he did win 19 matches for RU last year.

Zannetti vs. Winston - Winston looked sharp - maybe goes against Gillespie this weekend… Man he looked so much stronger than Greg

Rigoglioso vs. Pletcher - solid performance by Pletcher

Whalen vs. Roddy - The guy who had Vince Jones on his back a few years back looked good as a senior should

Ogbonna vs. Dobish - Dobish in control the whole match, maybe a breakout year for him.

Boyden vs. Mahmoud - Again, feel bad for Jesse but Mahmoud was definitely beating him up. Very impressed with him and I believe he will be a pleasant surprise this year - very strong, physical and fast.

Russo vs. Dedeyn - I don't know, Russo has the tools but he has not looked good IMHO

I would say that RU wrestling is in an exciting time right now - you could see & feel it Friday…