Rider's Jesse Dellavecchia aiming for…
Rider's Jesse Dellavecchia aiming for All-America run at NCAA Wrestling Championships
Rider's Jesse Dellavecchia, right, controls Missouri's Jarrett Jacques, left, during their 157-pound final bout at the MAC Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Trenton. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)
By Rick Fortenbaugh | rfortenbaugh@trentonian.com | The Trentonian
PUBLISHED: March 17, 2021 at 9:14 a.m. | UPDATED: August 19, 2021 at 12:51 p.m.
Following a one-year absence because of the pandemic, the NCAA Wrestling Championships are back and when the action gets underway Thursday morning there will be a strong local presence.
Rider has six wrestlers in the field and Rutgers has five. In addition, there are 23 wrestlers with New Jersey ties in the tournament at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
The two locals who are considered the strongest contenders are Rutgers' Sebastian Rivera and Rider's Jesse Dellavechia.
Coming of a third-place showing in the Big Tens where he dropped an overtime decision to Penn State's Nick Lee in the semifinals, Rivera is seeded third at 141 pounds. Along with Big 10 champion Jaydin Eierman of Iowa, this weight appears to be a toss-up between those three.
Also representing Rutgers are MikeVan Brill (149), Jackson Turley (174), John Poznanski (184) and Billy Janzer (197).
Van Brill is seeded 10th after he surprised many by coming on strong to finish third in the Big Ten. An outstanding freshman out of Colonia High, Poznanski also finished third at the Big 10 Championships and is seeded sixth.
With its five qualifiers, RU has now qualified five or more wrestlers for the national tournament for the seventh consecutive season under head coach Scott Goodale. Rutgers is also hoping to have two or more All-Americans for the sixth straight season.
Rider's Dellavacchia comes into the tournament as the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds. The two-time MAC champion has been ranked in the top five all season long and is hoping to become the first Rider wrestler to reach the final.
Should he advance, Dellavecchia is probably facing a tough quarterfinal bout against Iowa's fifth-seeded Kaleb Young. The winner of that bout will in all likelihood face Northwestern's Ryan Deakin, who is the top-seed and an absolute hammer from the top position.
Next up for Rider is heavyweight Ethan Laird, who enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed. His only loss was in the final of the conference tournament to a four-time MAC champion from Central Michigan.
In addition, Rider will be represented by Jonathan Tropea (125), Richie Koehler (133), McKenzie Bell (141) and Jake Silverstein (165). Koehler and Bell both finished second at the MAC Championships, while Silverstein received an at-large bid after a wrestler withdrew.
Rick Fortenbaugh | Reporter
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