Wrestling hosts Penn in finale, looks for first Ivy League win

Hoping to rebound after a loss at Penn in last year's Ivy League finale, the wrestling team will welcome the Quakers (7-8 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) this Saturday, this time on their home mats.

The Tigers (2-10, 0-4) have found themselves engaged in a season featuring substantial highs and lows, yet limited in its overall success. A victory this weekend would provide the Tigers with an Ivy League win before preparations begin for the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships.

"The season has its ups and downs and the idea is that we peak on March 5 and 6 at the Palestra in Penn, qualifying as many guys as we can for nationals," senior co-captain Brian Kirschbaum said. "Everyone has put in a ton of effort and deserves to have success."

But last season's finish does not bode well for this year's Tigers. Facing Penn last year in their final Ivy League match-up, the Quakers topped the Tigers, 25-15. Though Princeton did manage to pull out wins in the 165-lb., 184-lb., 141-lb. and 157-lb. classes, the victories were not enough to take them past the Quakers, who at the time were No. 16 in the nation.

The Tigers have five members on the team who wrestled against Penn last year: senior co-captains Milo Adams, Kenny Chu and Joe Looke, senior Andy Avsec and junior Charlie Wiggins.

Wiggins won his match in the 165-pound weight class, 7-4, to boost Princeton to an early 3-0 lead in last year's meet. Avsec's 8-4 loss in the 174-pound weight class brought the match to a 3-3 tie. Greg Parker '03, competing at 184 pounds, helped Princeton jump into the lead once again when he scored a fall in one minute, one second, upping the score to 9-3.

Last season's match went back and forth, with Chu losing his 125-lb. match, Princeton's Matt Fisher losing the 197-lb. class and Looke losing the heavyweight class. Princeton's Joe Clarke battled back to win in the 141-lb. class and Adams pulled out the final win of the afternoon at 157-lbs. The Quakers could not be crushed and Princeton came home from its final Ivy League match disappointed.

Second time's a charm

This season has seen varied results for the Tigers. Kirschbaum has seen a fair amount of success, and his talent was evident two weeks ago when Princeton wrestled against three schools in two days. Kirschbaum won all three of his matches that weekend. Looke has also stepped up in the heavyweight class. A number of the sophomores and juniors on the team are demonstrating their merit, as well, and the seniors are constantly pushing the team to rise to the occasion.

This season has also seen a more consistently demanding practice schedule for the Tigers, pushing the wrestlers to be their best, to excel and to challenge each other every time that they enter the wrestling room.

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

The hard work in that tough preseason paid dividends when Princeton recorded an exciting win against South Dakota in its first match of the season.

Following their match against the Quakers this weekend, the Tigers will take on Rutgers next weekend, then travel to the Palestra at Penn on March 5 and 6 for EIWAs, in which they will all vie for spots at nationals.