With captain injured, grapplers fall short against Blue Devils

In the realm of athletics, as with everything else, things aren't always what they seem. People tend to evaluate at a superficial level rather than going deeper and seeking out the cause for a certain situation. On the surface, the wrestlers, who lost to the Duke Blue Devils 27-12 this past Friday at Dillon Gym, appeared to be outmatched. And indeed they were in some respects. But the team that wrestled last Friday was not the team that wrestled at the beginning of the season.

With two of their three co-captains injured, seniors Jake Butler and Andrew Iannuzzi, the Tigers are now licking their wounds.

To say that their leaders are missed would be an understatement: Princeton has gone 0-5 since Butler's injury, having had to face some of the best schools in the nation without their leader and one of their primary point contributors. But the past is the past, and the Tigers took the negative baggage from those previous matches and harnessed it for a tough showing against the Blue Devils.

Standout performances

Though all the wrestlers fought hard, two posted phenomenal performances Friday night. Sophomore Marty Everin and senior co-captain Matt Denichilo came through in the clutch for very important victories for the Tigers in the 165-pound and 174-pound classes, respectively. Everin registered an 8-4 decision over Aaron Glover, and Denichilo emerged with a 2-1 decision over Levi Craig in the final seconds of the match.

Junior Eric Marcotulli, coming off an injury, came up short against Philip Wightman in an 8-4 decision at 141 pounds. Sophomore Andrew Sichel lost a 13-5 major decision to Dan Shvartsman at 149 pounds, while senior Matt Piselli was pinned at 41 seconds by Addison Nuding at 157 pounds. Sophomore Logan Lowe fell short by a 15-9 decision to Dan Fox at the 184-pound class and freshman Gordon Scharf was defeated by Konrad Dudziak at 197 pounds by a 16-2 major decision.

"I wasn't quite as pleased with my performance on Friday as I was with the way I wrestled against Penn or Cornell," Scharf said. "I could have kept it much closer had I not made the mistake of committing to a shot late in the first period."

Junior Kris Berr wrestled a tight match against Duke's Wade Van Sickle at 285 pounds, cutting the lead to 2-1, but unfortunately ended up losing a 5-1 decision. The night finished on a sour note, with freshman Robert Benitez falling to Kellan McKeon in a 12-4 major decision at 125 pounds.

Success is measured by how high one bounces back after hitting rock bottom. After managing only three points in their last four matches, the Tigers still had what it took to put on a display of gritty, hard-nosed wrestling against a talented Duke team.

Energy is said to be contagious and if there was one word to describe the energy in Dillon on Friday, that would have been it. The wrestlers shared in each other's victories as well as defeats, and were joined by the large crowd that rejoiced with every high in the match and lamented every low.

Amid everything else that hasn't been certain for Princeton lately — whether or not Butler will be ready for EIWA's or NCAA's, and whether the other starters will be ready to help lead the team again — one thing looms for certain: this has been an emotional season for the Tigers.

No one knows exactly what the future will hold for Princeton at the EIWAs, which will be held March 4 and March 5 at Lehigh, but after all the wrestlers have gone through during the season, they will be ready for anything.