College Wrestling
Rider at Nationals
All-American Umbehauer Finishes Third, Collects 100th Win
ST. LOUIS, MO—You always remember your first. Few get to remember their 100th. Doug Umbehauer celebrated his 100th victory on a national stage.
Rider University senior Doug Umbehauer earned All-America honors at the 79th annual NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center, finishing third. Umbehauer won five of six bouts at Nationals, including his final two on Saturday. “Doug did superb today,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.
Umbehauer (Shamong, NJ/Lenape) is Rider’s 13th wrestling All-American, the second in the last three years, and the eighth in the last 13 years. He is the third Bronc to finish a Rider-best third in the nation. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m pretty excited, though,” Umbehauer said.
Umbehauer finished third behind a pair of wrestlers who were both former National Champions.
Umbehauer (24-5) was a four-time NCAA qualifier and two-time Colonial Athletic Association Champion and finishes his career with a record of 100-35. “That was one of my goals and Coach Hangey told me at the beginning of the year that if I was going to reach 100 I would have to be an All-American,” Umbehauer said. “I am ecstatic that I was able to do that. That was something that was important to me.”
In the battle for third place at 184 pounds Saturday afternoon, Umbehauer, the seventh seed, defeated the second seed, Philip Keedy of Iowa, 5-3. “Doug was really focused against the number two seed,” Taylor said. “It was fun wrestling because he wrestles like me,” Umbehauer said. “It was like a street fight.”
Umbehauer defeated Keedy 8-4 in overtime in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon to earn All-America. In the quarterfinals Umbehauer trailed Keedy 3-1 after two periods before an escape and a take down sent the match into overtime. “That was a pretty emotional thing,” Umbehauer said. “I was pretty pumped at that point.”
In the consolations Saturday morning, Umbehauer defeated the ninth seed, Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming 13-11 in overtime after trailing 6-2. “Doug came from behind and showed so much heart,” Taylor said. “We’re very proud of the heart that he showed to put him back into the match for third and fourth.”
“I got a take down then he got on and a reversal and some back points,” Umbehauer remembered. “I started picking up the pace about half way through the match and at the end I took him down to his back and beat him in overtime.”
In the semifinals Umbehauer lost 3-2 to the third seed, Mike Pucillo of Ohio State Friday evening on ESPN2. “I believed I could get to the finals, so that was tough,” Umbehauer said.
In the second round Umbehauer defeated the 10th seed, Christopher Honeycutt of Edinboro 5-1 Thursday evening after winning a 10-1 major decision over David Thompson of Bucknell in the first round Thursday afternoon.
“Doug has worked very hard with Coach (John) Hangey and John has done a great job preparing him for this,” Taylor said. Hangey, the Associate Head Coach, placed fourth in the nation in 1993 to earn All-America honors for Rider. “John has spent a lot of time with Doug in his career and deserves a lot of the credit for getting Doug where he is at,” Taylor said.
Rider senior Jason Lapham (West Chazy, NY/Beekmantown) lost 4-2 to Ethan Headlee of Pittsburgh in 165 pound consolations Friday and finished the season with a record of 27-13. Lapham won his first match Thursday before losing 2-0 to the third seed in the second round.
Junior Michael Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) lost 4-2 in 157 consolations Friday, and finished the season with a record of 26-13.
Kessler lost his first bout 4-1 to the fifth seed, before winning 11-6 in consolations Thursday night.
Rider junior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) lost 2-1 in the heavyweight consolations Thursday evening after losing 8-1 to the third seed in the first round. Bordas finished the season 26-9 as a Colonial Athletic Association champion.
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Photo Credit: Roy DeBoer
