March 7, 2003
HEMPSTEAD, NY ... Junior Rob Becker and sophomore Aaron Suranofsky both advanced in the championship bracket Friday in the first day of competition at the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championships at Hofstra Arena. As a team, the Patriots have 12 points to tie Rider for sixth place.
Four of George Mason's seven wrestlers remained alive in the double-elimination tournament and will continue Saturday as competition begins at 10 a.m.
Becker, ranked 16th in the nation at 149 pounds by InterMat, scored a 10-1 major decision over Rider's Joe Pollard in the quarterfinals as he improved his season record to 28-5. Suranofsky improved to 16-7 as he won his quarterfinal match, 4-3 , at 125 over Drexel's Zach Makovsky.
Juniors Dan Smith and Nick Webster each won twice and advanced in the consolation bracket. Smith (2-3 on the season) won by forfeit over Rider's Jason Smith in the first round at 141 before falling to Binghamton's Josh Ruff by fall in 2:24 in the quarterfinals. Moving into the consolation bracket, Smith scored a 5-3 decision over Wagner's Rob Markuske.
Webster (12-14), who suffered a separated shoulder Jan. 24 and had wrestled once since then, scored a 2-1 decision over Drexel's Josh Fisk in the first round at 184. He dropped an 8-3 decision to Hofstra's Brad Christie in the quarterfinals, but after moving into the consolation bracket, Webster scored a 19-3 technical fall over Wagner's Ryan Hayes.
Senior Richard Appau (165) and juniors Sean Early (157) and Sandy Ailor (heavyweight) each lost twice Friday to be eliminated from the tournament. Appau (11-18) won his opening match by fall in 1:15 over Drexel's Matt Brienza, but he lost 10-7 to Rider's John Robinson in the quarterfinals and fell to Binghamton's Ryan Jantzen, 13-5, in the consolation bracket.
Early (16-13) and Ailor (6-18) each lost two straight matches. Early fell to Boston University's Justin Blumenthal, 16-4, and to Old Dominion's Dennis Whitby, 6-3, while Ailor lost by fall in 42 seconds to Boston University's Courtney Howard and dropped a 7-4 decision to James Madison's Matt Coffey.
