Rutgers heads to State College for Big Ten tourney
The Rider University wrestling team will have to wait until next week to see if it will receive any wildcard berths for the NCAA Championships after qualifying five out of the Mid-American Conference Tournament last weekend in Trenton.
Now it’s Rutgers turn to see how many it will send to nationals when it takes to the mats at the Big Ten Championships this Saturday and Sunday at Penn State.
Without a complete breakdown, suffice it to say a ton of berths will be available out of what is easily regarded as the top wrestling conference in the country. Some of this weekend’s Big Ten weights have as many as eight automatic berths.
As such, for most of the wrestlers it’s not about winning, but rather getting the job done in wrestle-backs to earn a berth to the championships in two weeks in St. Louis.
The Big Ten received 76 of the 266 berths allotted to the seven conferences in the country. Another 64 at-large berths, including potentially someone from Rider, will be named next week.
Rutgers, of course, is led by 141-pounder Sebastian Rivera, who is seeded No. 3 in this tournament and ranked No. 3 in the country. This is just a great weight that also includes Jaydin Eierman of Iowa and Nick Lee of Penn State.
Next up for Rutgers is 133-pounder Sammy Alvarez, who is ranked sixth in the nation. This is another brutal weight class that includes Penn State’s second-ranked Roman Bravo-Young and Iowa’s third-ranked Austin DeSanto.
Highly-touted freshman John Poznanski is another Rutgers wrestler to keep your eye on. He’s ranked 17th in the country and in a 184-pound weight class headed up Penn State standout Aaron Brooks. This is among the weights with eight automatic qualifiers.
Additional entries for Rutgers are Dylan Shawver (125), Mike Van Brill (149), Brett Donner (165), Jason Turley (174), Billy Janzer (197) and heavyweight Christian Colluci.
Rutgers does not have anyone entered at 157 because Robert Kanniard is reportedly in Big 10 coronavirus protocol. Kanniard’s protocol period would, however, be over by the time of the nationals and he would have a good chance of receiving an at-large berth because he is nationally ranked.
The Big Ten Network will begin its coverage of all four mats with the first two rounds at 10 a.m. Saturday. From there, the semifinals will be televised on Saturday at 7:30 p.m and the championship bouts on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Furthermore, wrestle-back bouts on Saturday and Sunday as well as well as the third- and fifth-place matches on Sunday are available on the Big Ten Plus Network.
Anyone who saw freshman linebacker Kamar Archie play football for Ewing High last fall knew right away the Blue Devils had someone special.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise the colleges have already come knocking and Rutgers University this week offered Archie a full scholarship despite the fact he still has three years remaining in high school.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Ewing football coach Matt Dallessio. “I have been in contact with Tiquan Underwood, but did not know this was coming. This was a pleasant surprise.”
A former Notre Dame High school star who later played for Rutgers and three NFL teams including the New England Patriots, Underwood is the receivers coach at Rutgers and responsible for recruiting in the Mercer County area.
Archie stands 6-2, weighs 210 pounds and is rangy to say the least. A hard-hitting tackler, he showed a great ability to get to the quarterback whenever Ewing defensive coordinator Dan Bernoski dialed up a blitz.
He is also a key contributor for the Ewing High basketball team.
“He’s not just a great athlete,” said Dallessio. “He’s a very, very hard worker. And he’s a great student. All our teachers I talk to rave about him in the classroom.”
Said Bernoski who has been with the Ewing football program for decades: “This has got to be a first. I don’t ever recall one of our players being offered a scholarship in his freshmen year.”