Oct. 19, 2009

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - The Colonial Athletic Association recently released its 2009-10 preseason wrestling rankings and six different George Mason wrestlers found themselves ranked in the top-six in their respective weight classes. Two Patriot wrestlers - Cayle Byers and Mendbagana Tovuujav - are ranked first in the conference.

Byers enters the 2009-10 season as the top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds, while Tovuujav repeats that feat at 174 pounds. Both Byers and Tovuujav captured individual titles at last year's CAA Championships.

In addition to Byers and Tovuujav, four more Mason wrestlers made their way into the conference rankings. Brian Wright was ranked fourth at 125 pounds, Denny Herndon fifth at 133 pounds, Frankie McLaughlin IV second at 165 pounds and Mike Peterson fourth at heavyweight.

Byers and Tovuujav were also ranked in the WrestlingReport.com and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine Preseason Polls. Byers was fourth at 197 pounds in the WrestlingReport.com poll and fifth in the Wrestling Insider Newmagazine poll. Tovuujav was ranked 13th at 174 pounds by WrestlingReport.com and 11th by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine.

George Mason opens its 2009-10 wrestling season on Nov. 8 at the Hokie Open hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.