2013 CAA Wrestling Championship Preview
RICHMOND, Va. (March 7, 2013) - The 2013
CAA Wrestling Championship will be held Saturday, March 9 at Case Gymnasium on
the campus of Boston University. Hofstra has captured the past two CAA titles
and will be looking to win its 11th championship in the last 12
seasons.
The Pride, which was 6-15 overall and 4-2
in the CAA this season, features five nationally ranked wresters. Senior Steve Bonanno is the defending champion
at 125 and comes into the tournament ranked No. 20 nationally. He has a 14-10
record, including a 6-0 mark in the CAA. The Pride also returns the defending
champion at 141 in junior Luke Vaith,
who sits at No. 16 in the national rankings with a 19-11 overall
record and a 4-2 mark in the CAA.
Binghamton won the CAA championship in 2010
and was the runner-up a year ago. The Bearcats (5-13 overall, 3-3 in CAA) are
led by senior 149-pounder Donnie Vinson,
who was the 2012 CAA Wrestler of the Year. Vinson enters the championship with
a league-best 27-1 overall record and is undefeated in dual (17-0) and CAA
(6-0) meets. The Marathon, N.Y. native sits at No. 4 in the national rankings
this season. Also making his presence felt for the Bearcats will be senior Nate Schiedel at 197. Schiedel comes
into the meet ranked 5th in three national polls after compiling a
24-2 overall record and also holds undefeated marks in dual (17-0) and CAA
competition (6-0).
Rider (10-8 overall, 3-3 in CAA) is looking
to win its first CAA title after placing second in 2010 and 2011. The Broncs
bring seven nationally ranked grapplers to the championship. Junior Ramon Santiago leads the way for Rider
at 165 with a perfect 6-0 record in the CAA and a No. 16 national ranking. Also
looking to pick up points for Rider at 184 will be freshman Ryan Wolfe, who comes into the meet
with a 22-10 overall record, including a 5-1 mark against CAA competition.
Old Dominion enters the championship with
six nationally ranked wrestlers vying for individual bids into the NCAA Championship.
Freshman Chris Mecate is ranked No.
10 nationally at 141 and has compiled a 33-7 overall record including a 4-0
mark in the CAA. Junior Scott Festejo will be looking to defend
his title at 133 and enters the meet ranked 26th nationally. The
Monarchs are ineligible to compete for the 2013 team championship, but all of
their wrestlers are eligible to compete for individual championships and bids
into the NCAA Championship.
The CAA will be sending 19 wrestlers to the
NCAA Wrestling Championship, including the 10 individual champions from the CAA
Championship. The other nine bids will be at-large bids and will be made based
on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement,
quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, RPI,
coaches' rankings and the number of matches contested at that weight class.
For more information on the 2013 CAA
Wrestling Championship including the championship brackets, a full championship
recap, championship highlights, live results, and the official program, visit
the Championship
Central page. Fans not in attendance at the championship can watch the
event live and for free on CAA.TV
starting at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.