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Mutual Goals of Omaha
Six Broncs Seeking All-America Honors

OMAHA, NEBRASKA-Six Rider University wrestlers are seeking a common goal this week at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. To come home to Lawrenceville as 13 other Broncs have done before them, as All-Americans.

Rider has produced two All-Americans in the last three years, Doug Umbehauer in 2009 (third place at 184) and Don Fisch in 2007 (fifth place, 141), eight in the last 13 years, and 13 All-Americans in the last 30 years under head coach Gary Taylor.

"We are very excited for our wrestlers to get a chance to wrestle at the NCAA tournament," Taylor said "They will gain valuable experience against the nation's best wrestlers which will help in their future development."

Four of the National Qualifiers are making their first trip and return to Rider next year.  The other two are seasoned veterans.

Senior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) has been at Rider for three years and has won three Colonial Athletic Association heavyweight championships, making three trips to Nationals.  "This has been my goal for so long, I've worked so hard for this, I won't be satisfied unless I come home as an All-American," Bordas said.

Senior 149 Michael Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) is making his fourth trip to Nationals, his first as a CAA Champion. "Eddie and I have been to a few of these, so we know what to expect," Kessler said. "We just have to concentrate on wrestling hard. All the excitement, with all of the greatest wrestlers in the country competing in front of thousands of fans, you just have to put that aside and wrestle as well as you can."

Junior Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) placed third in the CAA Championships and was one of 50 "at-large" selections across the country.  This is not Morrison's first trip to Nationals, but it is as a competitor.  Morrison's older brother and former teammate, T. J. Morrison '08, made four trips to nationals and Rob went for support. "I've seen how overwhelming it can be, with all of the people, all of the great wrestlers and TV cameras," Morrison said. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to see that before going this year as a competitor. I'm really looking forward to this trip."

The Morrison name has been announced quite often at Nationals.  Along with brother T.J. going four times, Rob's father, Tim Morrison '83, was a three-time conference champion and came home from the 1983 Nationals as an All-American, placing fifth.

Also making their first trip to Nationals will be sophomore 133 Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville), freshman 174 Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest) and sophomore 197 Tyler Smith (Phillipsburg, N.J./Belvidere), all "at-large" selections.

Kirchner, Morrison and Resnick all finished third in their respective weight classes at the CAA Championships.   Smith was the top ranked 197 in the CAA before an injury in the final dual meet sidelined him for CAAs, but is now healthy.

"During the season we went to high-level tournaments, like Midlands and Vegas (Cliff Keen), and we wrestled some tough teams (Lehigh, Lock Haven, Purdue, Penn), so our wrestlers had opportunities to compete against and to beat some nationally ranked kids," Taylor said. "That is how they received the "Wildcards" because they all had quality wins, wins over wrestlers who are out here in Omaha. Hopefully that tough schedule will have them ready. They have all had good individual seasons and are looking forward to this opportunity."

On Thursday, Kessler (25-10) will face Bobby Ward (25-8) of North Carolina State in the first round.  Bordas (32-7) is ranked 20^th in the nation and will face Eric Nye (21-13) of Arizona State in the first round.

Kirchner (21-11) will compete against Kelly Kubec (35-8) of Oregon State in the first round at Nationals.  Morrison (26-13) takes on the #10 seed, Alex Meade (28-8) of Oklahoma State in the first round. Resnick (19-15) will face the eighth seed, Colby Covington (38-5) of Oregon State in the first round. Smith (23-14) will begin in the pig-tail round against Dylan Temple (22-9) of Appalachian State.

Competition continues Friday and if you are wrestling on Saturday, that means you are an All-American, guaranteed a top-eight finish in the 33-man bracket.

Taylor has now escorted 143 wrestlers to Nationals. Rider sent six wrestlers to the 2007 Nationals. Rider had four National Qualifiers each of the last two years.  In 1996 nine Broncs advanced to the NCAA National Championships, where only perennial national champion Iowa had more with 10 and in 1997 Taylor came home with three All-Americans.

This year six Broncs traveled to Nebraska hoping to come home with Coach Taylor as an All-American.

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