Hofstra
University senior Tom Noto (South River, NJ/South River H.S.) has been named the
Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for all competition December
23-January 5.
Noto won the 125-pound weight class at the prestigious
Midlands Championships, defeating three ranked opponents, and moved up from
eighth to fourth in the nation according to the Amateur Wrestling News, and from
seventh to fifth in the InterMat national rankings.
Noto won the title at the 41st Midlands, held at
Northwestern University, with a double-leg takedown 30 seconds into overtime,
defeating the second ranked wrestler in the nation, Luke Eustice of Iowa, 7-5.
Noto also beat the third ranked wrestler, Matt Valenti of Penn, 6-4 in overtime.
Noto defeated Heath Kim of Air Force 5-3 in the quarterfinals. In all, Noto won
all five of his bouts to improve to 14-3 on the season.
Payam Zarrinpour of Sacred Heart was named the CAA Rookie
of the Week after winning the heavyweight class at the 71st Wilkes Open for his
first collegiate title. Zarrinpour, a freshman from Tehran, Iran, won all five
of his matches at the Wilkes Open, the "Rosebowl of Wrestling," defeating the
sixth seed, John Fleming of Rutgers, 4-2 for the title. Zarrinpour defeated the
eighth seed in the semifinals with a fall in 1:09. He also defeated the fifth
seed in the quarterfinals and the fourth seed, Steve Itterly of Lock Haven, with
a 14-2 major decision. He began the tournament with a tech fall (15-0 4:55).
