Wrestling takes fifth overall at Kutztown weekend tournament

The wrestling team did its fair share of feasting over the holiday weekend, but not before making weight and competing on Wednesday at the Kutztown Invitational in Kutztown, Pa.

With a final score of 51 points, Princeton finished in fifth place overall, with six Tigers placing high individually. The team boasted two second-place finishes, three third-place finishes and one fifth-place finish.

The middleweights did exceptionally well overall in the tournament. Sophomore Will Trudell helped boost the team's momentum in the 141-lb. weight class with his fifth-place finish. Trudell pinned Walter Robeson of Delaware State in only one minute, 12 seconds. Sophomore Matt Piselli continued to pave the way for Princeton's success, pulling a third-place finish in the 149-lb. class with his defeat of Jason Brandt of Montclair State by a score of 7-6.

Sophomore Andrew Iannuzzi matched Pisellli's finish in the 157-lb. class, winning his match over Kevin Kalbuch of Kutztown University by medical forfeit. Senior Ed Yanchuk saw equal results in his matches in the 197-lb. weight class, pinning his opponent, Ted Graham of Montclair State, in the consolation finals in 1:44 to take third place. Yanchuk benefitted from fan support in his match.

"It was the best tournament I've had in awhile. I was just more confident out on the mat," Yanchuk said. "My girlfriend and parents were there supporting me. It was the first time my parents had seen me wrestle in college, so I guess I had to do well."

The highest finishes came from sophomore Matt DeNichilo and junior Jack Fleming, wrestling in the 165 and 174-lb. weight classes, respectively. Both DeNichilo and Fleming reached the finals in their weight classes, yet each fell in the finals to finish in second place.

DeNichilo found himself outwrestled by Kutztown's Az Numer-ato, getting pinned and losing the final match in 45 seconds. However, DeNichilo did not feel that the match was a complete loss; he was pleased overall with how he wrestled and pleased with the chance to get some wins under his belt.

"Over the last few weeks I feel that I have wrestled better from the neutral position than I have in the past," DeNichilo said. "It was disappointing to have gotten caught in my finals match after leaving myself out of position in the opening period. Apart from that, I minimized mistakes and kept working on my takedowns."

Fleming had better luck against two-time high school state champion Christian Luciano of Kutz-town, extending the match to the third period where he eventually lost, 3-2.

"[Luciano] had yet to participate in a match this year that had gone without him pinning his opponent in the first or second period," Fleming said. "I was able to stop all of his big moves, but unfortunately he caught me with one takedown. By the third period I was in control of the pace of the match, but I couldn't finish any of my takedowns."

Though Fleming had one takedown stemming from a deep shot during the final five seconds in the third period of the match, time ran out as the takedown was completed and he was not awarded points for it.

Head coach Andrew New noted that, despite Fleming and De-Nichilo's high finishes, they both need to assert themselves more on the mat and decide what it is they are going to do in tough situations so they may attain first place finishes.

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The team will spend the remainder of this week preparing for the upcoming dual meet against Wisconsin and Franklin & Marshall, scheduled for this Saturday in Dillon Gym. New and the wrestlers hope for a strong week of practices in preparation for the difficult competition.

"We've been working really hard in the room this year," Fleming said. "The coaching staff has really stepped it up a notch this year with the intensity in the room and the guys on the team have responded wonderfully. The guys are hard-nosed and rough this year, and we're all ready to make a name for Princeton wrestling."