Rutgers wrestling looks toward meets against Rider, Ohio State
After dropping three straight Big Ten dual meets to ranked opponents, the Rutgers wrestling team returns to Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus for an out-of-conference in-state matchup with Rider on Thursday night before a ranked date with No. 7 Ohio State on Sunday.
The 15th-ranked Scarlet Knights (12-4, 2-4) have three wrestlers in the top 10. Graduate student 149-pounder Sebastian Rivera (third), freshman 184-pounder John Poznanski (seventh) and graduate student 197-pounder Greg Bulsak (sixth).
Rivera remains undefeated on the season, maintaining a 100 percent bonus streak through 18 matches — with 11 of those 18 wins being tech falls. Poznanski and Bulsak maintain their positions in the top 10 in spite of losses in Rutgers’ last weekend of action at Michigan and Michigan State.
The Knights’ projected lineup for the weekend has three other ranked wrestlers, with freshman 125-pounder Dylan Shawver (15-5) checking in at 29th, freshman 133-pounder Joseph Olivieri (14-7) coming in at 18th and fifth-year senior 157-pounder Michael VanBrill (14-1) — who has wrestled this year at 149 — ranked 16th.
On another personnel note for Rutgers, freshman 285-pounder Kyonte Hamilton is listed alongside Bulsak on the projected lineup, potentially making his dual debut after going 3-1 in unattached action at the Mat Town Open. Hamilton joined the program recently after his season with football came to an end with the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
The Broncs (2-5, 2-3) are coming off a 17-15 road defeat to Bucknell last Sunday. They have just one wrestler that is nationally ranked, with 25th-ranked Quinn Kinner set to square off with Rivera in the only ranked match of the dual. Also projected to potentially start for Rider is former Rutgers NCAA qualifier Matt Correnti, who transferred in 2020 after three seasons on the banks.
The dual is the first of two in-state dual meets this month, with the Knights also slated to renew their rivalry with Princeton later this month. Thursday’s match marks the first matchup with the Broncos in two years, with Rutgers having taken the last matchup 25-6 at Rider.
After Thursday’s match, the Knights have a quick turnaround before their highest-ranked home dual of the season: a Sunday meet against the Buckeyes (6-2, 2-2). Ohio State will come to Piscataway straight from a matchup against No. 1 Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania.
It’ll be one of the deepest lineups that Rutgers will face this season, with 9 of 10 starters checking in on the national rankings. Five of the 10 matches will be between ranked wrestlers, with a top-10 showdown at 184 pounds between Poznanski and 6th-ranked Kaleb Romero.
If the Knights are able to upset the Buckeyes on Sunday, it’ll mark the first-ever program win over Ohio State.
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