Cornell, Columbia crush Tigers

The Princeton wrestling team hit the road this past weekend, traveling to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on Cornell Friday night and then heading south to the Big Apple to face off against Columbia. The Tigers' (4-5 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) post-exam malaise resulted in two defeats, a 42-0 score against Cornell and a 32-13 loss to Columbia.

The Big Red, currently ranked No. 14 in the country, proved to be too much for Princeton, soundly defeating the Tigers in each weight class.

Princeton's first match of the day, in the 149-pound weight class, presaged its subsequent performances. Cornell's Dustin Manotti won a major decision against junior Andrew Iannuzzi, defeating Iannuzzi 23-9 to put the Big Red ahead 4-0. The Tigers' luck did not improve in the 157-lb. weight class, where John Cholish defeated freshman Tiger Alex Enriquez, 9-1, giving Cornell another four points. At 165 lbs., Cornell's Joey Hooker ousted senior Charlie Wiggins, 11-5, pushing Cornell to an 11-0 lead.

Sophomores Greg Redman (133-lb.), Eric Marcotulli (141-lb.) and Kris Berr (heavyweight), juniors Matt Denichilo (174-lb.) and Jake Butler (197-lb.) and senior Jack Fleming (184-lb.) all succumbed to the Big Red's pressure and could not mount even a flicker of hope for a comeback. With their impressive victory against Princeton, the Big Red improved to 5-4 on the season.

Lions Roar

The Tigers licked their wounds and moved on to the next event the following day, inching closer to home and trekking back down south to take on the Columbia Lions in New York City.

Although the team fared better against Columbia than it had against the Big Red, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association's sixth-ranked Lions still proved themselves to be tough competition for Princeton, and the Tigers ultimately conceded a 32-13 defeat.

Princeton trailed 9-0 after the first two matches as Golden Baker defeated Enriquez, 12-5, in the 157-lb. weight class and EIWA No. 2 Matt Palmer pinned Wiggins at 5:39 in the 165-lb. weight class. Denichilo recorded the Tigers' first win of the weekend in the 174-lb. class, defeating Sven Hafemeister, 6-4.

The two teams split the next two matches. Columbia's Kirk Davis ousted Fleming, 13-8, in the 184-lb. weight class, but Butler, ranked No. 6 in the EIWA, stepped up with an 18-4 victory over Lion Jed Wade at 197-lbs.

Quickly coming back with a vengeance, Columbia squashed any Princeton momentum. The Lions swept the next four matches to assume a commanding lead over the deflated Tigers. In the heavyweight class, Bart Seemed defeated Berr, and EIWA No. 3 Jeff Sato took the 125-lb. weight class by forfeit. At 133 lbs., Derek Francavilla defeated Redman, 8-0, and at 141-lbs. EIWA No. 6 Anthony Constantino defeated junior Matt Piselli, 14-4.

Despite the steady stream of losses, however, Princeton fans found reason to smile in the closing match as Iannuzzi pinned Arash Najafi in the 149-lb. weight class at 2:59, recording his victory with just one second remaining in the first period.

Princeton looks to rebound from these disappointing losses and to improve its record over the next two weekends. The Tigers will host Brown and Harvard at Dillon Gymnasium this weekend before welcoming Rutgers and Franklin & Marshall the following weekend, matches that will be a part of Princeton Wrestling's centennial celebration.