Penn overcomes wrestling team, Parker remains undefeated

Even though the Tigers were unable to beat the powerful Penn team, for the first time in a while, the Tigers scared the Quakers on the wrestling mat.

Entering the meet ranked eighth in the nation, and No. 1 in the EIWA, Penn could not have expected much out of the battered Princeton team (3-18 overall, 0-5 Ivy League), but from the first match of the meet, sophomore heavyweight Joe Looke sent a message to both teams, showing that the Tigers were for real and ready to give the Quakers a fight.

With the score virtually tied going into the last two matches, the Quakers waited until the end to pull out the win, 23-13.

The winless Ivy League record has been a major source of frustration for the Princeton team, and the Penn defeat was once again difficult for the Tigers to swallow. But this time the Tigers can be proud of their performance.

In front of a packed crowd at Dillon gym on Saturday night, the Tigers managed to display their talents and attempted to redeem themselves for the losses against Columbia and Brown.

Opening with the heavyweights, Penn's Matt Feast, ranked No. 15 in the country, expected to have no trouble winning the match against Looke. But Looke was not about to roll over for the Penn sophomore.

Looke controlled every facet of the match. Going into the last 20 seconds of the match, Looke had a 9-6 lead over the Quaker, but Feast scored five points in the waning seconds of the match, to give him the 12-9 win.

Looke's exciting match helped ignite the rest of his team. Starting with sophomore Brian Kirschbaum wrestling at 125 lbs., and continuing through senior Juan Venturi at 141 lbs., the Tigers won three matches in a row, giving them a 10-3 lead.

Kirschbaum started the streak, dominating his opponent Mike Crooks, beating him 10-1. Kirschbaum knew that he had the edge over Crooks before the match, and he used his confidence to give the Tigers the lead and some momentum.

Junior John Knorring continued where Kirschbaum left off.

Wrestling at 133 lbs., Knorring took an early 8-0 lead, and he held on, to win 10-4.

Following Knorring was Venturi. He has been inconsistent all season, but in his last Ivy League match of his career, Venturi left on a high note and gave himself a major boost for the upcoming Easterns tournament, by beating Penn's Brett Vanderveer, 13-7.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers then lost their momentum after sophomore Milo Adams lost his balance early in his 149 lb. match, leading to a quick pin by Penn's No. 10 Joe Henson.

The Quakers also found success at 157 lbs., where Penn's All-America Yoshi Nakamura beat senior Albert Pendleton, 21-8.

Princeton's senior captain Jon Bunt had one of his best matches of the season against Greg Hallahan of Penn. Bunt battled Hallahan to a tiebreaker, where the Quaker managed to pull out a slim victory.

With the Tigers trailing 16-10, junior Greg Parker, ranked sixth in the country, faced off against Penn's Rick Springman, who was ranked fifth at the time. Parker quickly proved who was the better wrestler in this match, beating Springman, 12-6.

With this overwhelming victory, Parker made it clear that last week's close match against Rutgers was a fluke, and that he wrestled beneath his abilities because of the flu. The win on Saturday also clinched Parker's undefeated dual meet record.

"I am proud of my dual meet record, but I have always preferred tournament competition. My personal season has gone pretty well so far, so I am excited about the future. I still have a few things that I need to work on to help keep ready. I've been trying to keep relaxed throughout the season and focus on enjoying the sport," Parker said.

While the Tigers' dual meet season is finished, there are still tournaments remaining for the team. On the weekend of March 9th and 10th, the Tigers will compete in the Easterns tournament where they will try to qualify for Nationals.