Wrestling pinned by Quakers, 34-7

Stunned by its loss to Cornell, the Penn wrestling team decided to unleash its wrath on the Tigers last night. Picked to be one of the top teams in the EIWA, the Quakers quickly demonstrated their strengths, closing out tough matches.

Starting the dual meet with the 149-lb. weight class, the Quakers were able to open the match with one of their strongest wrestlers and leave Princeton's top wrestler — sophomore Joe Clarke — until the very end, hoping to render his match moot. Unfortunately for the Tigers, by the time Clarke walked onto the mat, the only thing he could wrestle for was pride, as the Tigers lost, 34-7.

Princeton senior Jeffrey Bernd had the gloomy task of facing Penn's Joe Henson. Putting up a strong fight, Bernd lost, 10-5. The opening match set the pace for Penn, as the Quakers rolled through, winning eight straight bouts to begin the dual meet.

The Tigers hoped to bounce back after two losses when senior Ryan Bonfiglio began his match. But Penn's 165-lb. wrestler, Tim Ortman, is ranked first in the East coast. While Bonfiglio believes that he should be able to beat wrestlers of Ortman's quality, Bonfiglio could not match Ortman's speed and strength; Ortman pinned Bonfiglio in 3 minutes, 23 seconds.

Things went from bad to worse once last week's EIWA wrestler of the week — sophomore Greg Parker — lost his match. Formerly undefeated in the Ivy League, Parker now has a record of 2-1 in the conference. In a close and fierce match, Parker was unable to finish Penn's Josh Henson.

Withstanding Parker's attack, Henson had several late scores, which ultimately won him the match, 10-6.

Wrestling at 184 lbs., junior Anthony Debartolo lost a match that could have gone either way, 2-0. Unable to withstand the attack of the Quaker's 197-lb. wrestler, Mike Fickell pinned senior Chris McLaughlin at 6:10 into the match.

Next in line for Penn was the second-ranked heavyweight on the East Coast, Mike Faust. Expecting to blow out his competition, Faust was surprised when senior Joe Rybacki went on the attack early. Faust, however, pulled out a the win, beating Rybacki, 3-2.