Noto named CAA Wrestler of the Week

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Bud Focht (CAA Sports Information)
01/06/2004


LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - 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 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).