Mix of old, New key to wrestling's year

With a large turnover in starters, the Tigers have a team capable of either competing for an Ivy League championship or finishing with another below average season similar to last year.

The 2002-2003 team is very different from last year's team, and with only five returning starters, head coach Mike New needs a number of wrestlers to step into leadership roles.

Even with four starters graduating from last year's team, senior All-America Greg Parker returns for his final year and he will again be competing for a national championship. Last year, Parker finished the season with a 35-2 record, going undefeated in all Princeton dual meets, winning an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championship and losing in the finals of the NCAA tournament.

With Parker in the lineup, the team has a huge advantage in dual meets and in the EIWA championship in March.

The 2001-2002 season had the most difficult schedule in recent Tiger history. The team faced nearly 10 top-ranked teams before the league schedule even began. The high level competition could have had two effects, either improve the team's toughness and better prepare it for the Ivy League schedule or the top-ranked teams could have been too difficult for the Tigers and left them tired and injured going into the league season.

Parker certainly gained from the exposure and experience of beating other top ranked wrestlers, but the difficult competition mostly from the mid-West did not have positive effects on the rest of the team.

This season has a very different schedule from last year, and the Tigers are taking a different approach in preparing for the short Ivy League season. Facing Missouri and competing in the Penn State Open and the Reno Tournament of Champions, the Tigers will still have a high level of competition early in the season, but this year there will be more time between these tournaments and the opening of their Ivy League schedule.

"Last year the seniors decided that they would help prepare Parker for the NCAAs, and most of them knew that they could not compete at his level. But this year, I think there are a number of guys who can gain from the wrestling the best teams," New said.

Junior heavyweight Joe Looke is another wrestler who gained from last year's difficult schedule, but injuries affected his wrestling by the end of the season. The Tigers expect Looke to be a leader and to win a lot of important matches this season. After switching from 197 lbs. to heavyweight last year, Looke is now accustomed to wrestling at the higher weight class. He gained almost 15 pounds over the off-season, and the extra muscle will help him match up against his heavier opponents, which was a major problem for him last season.

Juniors Milo Adams, Brian Kirschbaum and Matt Fisher are the other three returning starters from last year. Kirschbaum has been a starter since his freshman year, and he has a lot of experience at 133 lbs. Adams wrestled at 149 lbs last season but he will compete at 157 lb. this year which will pose a challenge to the slightly underweight wrestler. Adams had a very strong 2001-2002 season, but he faded a little at the end of the year.

Fisher wrestled well last year, but it took him a while to adjust to the varsity competition at 197 lbs. and as a sophomore, most of his competition was a lot stronger than him. But Fisher gained a lot of maturity during the 2001-2002 season and he has already been very strong for the Tigers, winning both of his matches in the Tigers' opening weekend.

In addition to the returning starters, senior Joe Clarke returns to the starting lineup after red-shirting his junior season. Clarke will return at 141 lbs. which he wrestled during all of the 2000-2001, going undefeated in the Ivy League.

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Labeled by his teammates as one of the toughest competitors on the team, Clarke provides a major spark for the team and he brings the mental edge that coach New felt was missing last year. Another potential All-America, Clarke will take a lot of the pressure off of Parker and he is another consistent winner who will help the Tigers win close dual meets.

While the Tigers' non-league schedule is easier this year, the Ivy League and the EIWA have both become even tougher since last year. Harvard, Cornell, and Penn are still very strong teams and Brown and Columbia are in a similar position to Princeton.

For the Tigers to win this year, the team needs breakout seasons by a number of wrestlers.

"We definitely have the talent to win this year, but it all depends on who steps up," New said. "Since the fall of 2000, I have been talking about talent in the class that is now juniors.

But I need those guys to become dominant wrestlers instead of talented wrestlers who always have a close match. We have too many close matches that end up in losses. If we can win a majority of our close matches this year, we will have a very successful season."

With Parker, Clarke, Looke and a few others capable of competing for a national championship, the Tigers will have the opportunity to compete for both an Ivy League and EIWA title this year.