Nov. 23, 2002

Nov. 23, 2002 - FAIRFAX, VA ... The Patriots opened their 2002-03 season with several solid performances Saturday at the East Stroudsburg Open in East Stroudsburg, PA. No team scores were recorded for the event.

Juniors Rob Becker and Donnie DeFilippis and sophomore P.J. Ross each advanced to the semifinals before finishing fourth in their respective weight classes, while junior Sean Early and sophomore Aaron Suranofsky each reached the quarterfinals.

Wrestling at 149 pounds, Becker won four of six matches. He defeated unattached Lee Manion (18-2 technical fall), Clarion's Jim Perry (11-1 major decision), unattached Brian Hoover (12-3 major decision) and unattached Keith Kleckner (9-3) before falling to unattached Chris DeLuca, 9-5, in the semifinals. Becker then lost to Columbia's Erik Norgaard, 2-0, in the consolation finals.

DeFilippis wrestled unattached (did not officially represent George Mason) at 141 and won three of his four matches. He defeated unattached Matt Ennis (4-0), unattached Nick Hawrylchak (11-9) and unattached John Manarte (10-0 major decision) before dropping a 12-7 decision to unattached Matt Storniolo in the semifinals. DeFilippis then did not compete in the consolation final to take fourth.

Ross competed at 174 and won three of his five matches. He defeated Maryland's Greg Lawrence (default), North Carolina's Joshua Lee (17-1 technical fall) and unattached Derek Michalowski (3-1) before falling to unattached John Carr, 2-1, in the semifinals. Ross then dropped a 4-3 decision to North Carolina's Mark Canty in the consolation finals.

Early won three of five matches at 157 and Suranofsky won two of his four matches at 125. Each lost his first match in the consolation round, and no match was set to determine seventh or eighth place.

George Mason returns to action on Dec. 6-7 at the Las Vegas Invitational, where each of the team's 10 starters will compete in a tournament format.