Freshman Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff), in his first collegiate dual meet, won by fall to give Rider a 15-6 lead. "I wasn't expecting to get a pin at all," said Rob Morrison. "He was a little strong kid and he wasn't letting free. I decided to see what I could do with it. I was hoping back points, but I'll take a pin."
Junior T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) won by fall at 197 to seal the victory. "I couldn't be out-done by my littler brother," said TJ Morrison. "I had to get a pin after he got one. That was one of their back-up wrestlers, so once we knew he was wrestling, everyone told me I had to get a pin. I was a little stressed at that. I just wanted to get the win first, and if the pin comes, great."
The Morrison brothers are the son of Tim Morrison, an All-American wrestler at Rider in 1983 and a member of the Rider Athletics Hall of fame.
The victory was Rider's first over a top-25 team since defeating 24th ranked Kent State 24-17 in 2003. Rider had lost its last eight matches against top-20 teams, including two to Lehigh. "As in any sports you have opportunities," Taylor said. "You either seize the opportunity or you don't. I felt what our kids did a good job of tonight was seizing the opportunity. It was here, we knew we could go with them, but we also knew that they were favored, they were ranked higher. We had the opportunity to knock them off and the kids rose to the occasion and did it."
Sophomore Doug Umbehauer (Shamong/Lenape) upset the eighth ranked wrestler in the nation, Dave Helfrich, to give Rider an 18-6 lead. "Umbehauer, in my opinion, was overlooked in all of the rankings," said Taylor, who has five wrestlers nationally ranked on his team to start this season. "He just trains and trains and gives you everything he's got. You could see it in the match. He wore the kid down and wouldn't take no for an answer."
Junior Don Fisch (Williamstown/Delsea), ranked seventh in the nation after red-shirting last season, came back from a 5-0 deficit to win at 141, giving Rider a 6-3 lead. "There is always concern but I wasn't concerned Don could come back, I was just concerned in the fact that it was his first time back," said Taylor.
Senior Dave Miller (Southampton/Lenape), ranked 16th in the country, won at 157 to break a 6-6 tie.
Freshman Matt Bradley (Jackson) won his first collegiate match to tie the score at 3-3. "Bradley certainly stepped up and did a job and beat one of their better kids," Taylor said.
Sophomore Mike Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills), ranked 20th in the nation, lost to ninth ranked Trevor Chinn of Lehigh.
But it was the Morrisons who stole the show Friday night. "The Morrison brothers are strong competitors," said Taylor. "For Robbie to step up particularly as a youngster was great to see. He's a very exciting, likeable, kid. He's very fired up. He's into it and wants to compete hard, and he obviously beat a very good kid. For a true freshman to come in and step up like that showed me a lot."
"We've always been real close growing up," said TJ. "It was a perfect fit for him. I'm definitely happy he's here. Having your brother on the same team is fun."
"Having my brother here helped me decide to come here," said Rob, "but the coaching staff here at Rider made so much more of an effort to sign me, that is why I came here. They showed the most interest in me."
Rider hosts 25th ranked Pittsburgh Tuesday. "Pitt has a very good, balanced team," Taylor said. "It doesn't get any easier."
With the Morrison brothers, it looked easy on Friday.
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