One week after their trouncing of Franklin & Marshall, the Princeton grapplers hoped to build on that win to stop a two-match Ivy League losing streak as they traveled to New England to take on league rivals Harvard and Brown.
The Tigers had already lost close matches to Ivy foes Cornell and Columbia, wrestling well enough to stay in each match, but missing the right formula to record their first league win.
Princeton headed to Massachusetts hungry for the elusive conference victory.
The Tigers traveled first to Cambridge, Mass. where they lost to a strong Harvard team 28-9 and defeated Boston College 43-12. Senior captains Juan Venturi and Jon Bunt, and junior Greg Parker recorded wins for the Tigers against Harvard.
"Harvard is a tough team, but we lost four close matches that really swung the momentum against us," said sophomore Nate Rawlings. "We wrestled well enough to win, but against a tough opponent it wasn't enough."
No. 6 ranked Parker, who was named EIWA wrestler of the week for his 9-0 defeat of All-American Jim Stanec of Cornell on February 1, fought through the stomach flu to defeat Pat O'Donnell 9-2.
Sophomore Brian Kirschbaum, senior Anthony DeBartolo, junior John Knorring and sophomore Matt Fisher all dropped close decisions in the loss to the tough Crimson.
Against Boston College, the Tigers collected four forfeits and gave the younger wrestlers a chance to show the future promise of the team.
Sophomores Alan Sista and Andy Avsec and junior Josh Nichols won dominating matches against their Boston College opponents.
Senior captain Ben Schaye recorded the first tech fall of his college career, defeating Boston College's Marty Black by a final of 20-4.
Sunday, the Tigers traveled to Providence, R.I. hoping to rebound from another league defeat, but lost to a tough Brown squad 25-11.
Kirschbaum pulled the Tigers out of a 9-0 deficit, defeating Ryan Gill 13-2.
Junior John Knorring used the momentum created by Kirschbaum to record a 7-3 decision over the Bears' Rob Apgar. The Bears rallied to win the next four matches before Parker defeated Chris Ayers with a 10-0 major decision.
"We were ready to wrestle against Brown, but we lost the close matches, and that was the difference," Rawlings said.
Parker, Princeton's most consistent performer, remains undefeated on the season and looks to be building momentum for his showdown with league rival, undefeated Rick Springman, when the Tigers host the Quakers on Feb. 23.
Regardless, though, Parker remains focused on the upcoming matches.
The Tigers host Central Michigan at Dillon Gym Friday at 7 p.m. and then head up Route 1 for their next match.
Princeton will play against in-state rival Rutgers in Piscataway Saturday evening.
Despite the recent losses, Princeton remains poised for both the upcoming matches in New Jersey and the Eastern Tournament.
"We've been right in there in many of the matches we've lost," Rawlings said.
"If we win some of the close ones we have a great chance in the matches ahead."
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