Rutgers demolishes wrestling in final regular-season match

Maybe next season will see better luck overall.

The wrestling team closed its season Wednesday against Rutgers with the same disappointing results that have haunted it all season. The Scarlet Knights overwhelmed Princeton (2-13 overall, 0-5 Ivy League), handing the Tigers a 34-3 loss in a prelude to the upcoming Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships at Penn in one week.

Rutgers dominated each weight class, dropping only one match — the 133 lb. weight class, in which senior captain Brian Kirschbaum once again demonstrated his poise and talent, pulling out the lone win for the Tigers.

Kirschbaum took down Rutgers' Dare Ajibade in a decision, 7-3. The win tragically echoed Princeton's matchup against Penn the weekend before, when Kirschbaum also registered the only victory.

Kirschbaum has come through for the Tigers throughout the season and recently has been seeing success in all of his matches.

In recent Ivy League matchups, Kirschbaum has pulled out wins against all of his opponents, including victories over foes from Harvard, Brown, and Penn.

"Kirschbaum is a very technically sound wrestler," head coach Michael New said. "His physical development has finally caught up and contributed to his ability to wrestle. If he finishes strong he could go to Eastern finals, be Eastern champ, and then go to NCAAs."

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the rest of Princeton's squad did not find as much success this weekend. Seniors Kenny Chu and Milo Adams, both lost their matches by scores of 10-4 and 14-2, respectively. These defeats continued down through the team, as most Tigers were easily taken down by the Scarlet Knights.

Senior captain Joe Looke came the closest to victory, putting up a struggle to push his match in the 285 lb. heavyweight class into overtime. Rutgers' Ramel Meekins was able to prevail in the extra time, 3-1, leaving Princeton with Kirschbaum's win as its only bright spot in the blowout loss.

The Tigers have a week before heading to Penn for the EIWA Championships on March 5-6.

Kirschbaum pointed out that right now the goal is for each wrestler to hit his peak at EIWAs, so that the team will be able to qualify as many wrestlers as possible to send to NCAAs in St. Louis.

"I think this year the team has taken a different and demanding approach from the onset of the season," Kirschbaum said. "We had a grueling preseason, much more grueling than it had been in the past, so we came into the season with higher expectations."

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For now the team will return to the practice room and prepare for EIWAs, hoping to emulate some of last year's success. Greg Parker '03 and Joe Clarke '03 both advanced to the EIWA semifinals, with Parker eventually advancing to the finals and winning his second EIWA title. Parker then went on to NCAAs and was finally upset in the quarterfinals.