March 8, 2003

HEMPSTEAD, NY ... George Mason sophomore Aaron Suranofsky placed second at 125 pounds and junior Rob Becker was third at 149 at the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championships Saturday at Hofstra Arena.

George Mason scored 28.5 points to finish seventh among the 11 teams at the CAA Championships. Hofstra claimed its second straight team title with 124 points as six members of the Pride won individual crowns.

By finishing second, Suranofsky automatically earned his first trip to the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 20-22 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO. Becker received a "wild card" berth to the national tournament and will make his second appearance. The top two finishers in each of the 10 weight classes and seven "wild card" selections will represent the CAA in Kansas City.

Suranofsky (17-8), seeded fourth at 125, knocked off top-seeded Pat Flynn of Hofstra, 8-5, in the semifinals Saturday morning to advance to his first conference final. He then lost to Rider's Bobby Stinson, 8-2.

Becker (30-6), seeded second at 149 and ranked 16th in the nation by InterMat, was edged in the semifinals as he lost, 9-7 in overtime, to third-seeded Jason Holder of Boston University. He came back to defeat Drexel's Mark Cartella, 6-0, in the consolation semifinals and scored a 3-1 victory over Sacred Heart's Mark Laramee in the consolation final.

Two other Patriots - juniors Nick Webster (184) and Dan Smith (141) - also competed on Saturday. Webster (13-15) scored a 15-6 major decision over Old Dominion's Adam Wright in the consolation quarterfinals, but he lost to James Madison's Dave Colabella, 9-1, in the consolation semifinals.

Smith (2-4) lost his only match Saturday as Campbell's Adam Bricker won by fall in 2:54 in the consolation quarterfinals.