After struggling his way to a disappointing fifth place finish at last weekend's Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championship meet in Annapolis, Md., all junior 197-pound wrestler Jake Butler could do was wait and hope.
Butler had entered the weekend with high aspirations, seeded fourth but hoping to claim one of the top three places at the tournament and earn an automatic bid to NCAA championships, which begin on March 17 in St. Louis.
But after falling to Lehigh's Jon Trenge in the semifinals and Navy's Thayer Paxton in the consolation bracket, Butler was out of the running for the automatic berth. Still, he finished strong, picking up a 24-9 technical fall over No. 5 seed Marcus Schontube, ensuring that the tournament selection committee would at least consider him for one of few available at-large berths.
An agonizing hour later, the judges' decision was finally handed down: Butler was headed for St. Louis.
"The goal going in was to place a lot higher," Butler said. "I didn't really think I was going to get it [the at-large bid], because a lot of the top guys had wrestled poorly."
Butler becomes the first Tiger to qualify for NCAAs since Greg Parker '03 placed eighth in the country in 2003. A year earlier, in his junior season, Parker had finished second in the nation.
Rough weekend
Butler's happy ending was one of the few brightspots in a rough weekend for the Princeton grapplers.
The Tigers finished in eleventh place overall, well behind victorious Lehigh, which narrowly edged Cornell for the league crown, 133.5-131. Of the 10 Orange and Black wrestlers entered in the field, only Butler had not been knocked out by early Saturday.
There were a few other highlights for Princeton other than Butler, including senior Charlie Wiggins closing his collegiate career on a relative high note. Wrestling at 165-lbs., Wiggins upset Franklin & Marshall's Matt Veres, the No. 5 seed, pinning him at six minutes, 44 seconds.
Butler was quick to point out that many of the matches the Tigers lost were extremely close. He also noted that Princeton was a rather young and inexperienced team this year, with a number of the team's starters competing at EIWA championships for the first time.
"We definitely saw a lot to look forward to in the future," Butler said.
Last man standing
While the rest of the team begins its off-season, Butler has continued to train in preparation for NCAAs, mostly working one-on-one with his coaches.
After what he called a disappointing showing at EIWAs, he thinks he knows exactly what he needs to improve in the next week.
"I wasn't quite as aggressive as I should have been," he said. "I sat back a little too much."
One benefit he will have is good advice. He knows Parker well, and said he has already talked to him — and Princeton's coaches — about his experience at NCAAs.
Despite the accomplished footsteps he is following in, Butler will not be favored to place highly at NCAAs. Still, once competition starts on March 17 in St. Louis — finals are on the 19th — he knows anything can happen.
After all, getting the bid was the hard part.
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