Grapplers prepare for new season

Most teams get a few new players, maybe some new gear, and best of all, a fresh start with each new season. But this year's wrestling team has something far more exciting: a new head coach.

Following the resignation of 10-year head coach Michael New at the end of last season, a national search for a head coach yielded Lehigh assistant Chris Ayres as the Tigers' new skipper. Together with new assistant coach Troy Letters, an NCAA champion, Ayres has been working the team hard in preparation for the upcoming season, but even with two-a-day practices, the Tigers feel good.

"Fall doubles felt less difficult this year than in the past," junior Johnny Clore said. "The major difference was how the coaches read the team. Instead of having practices set in stone, the week-long plan was fluid."

"When it seemed that the team needed some light instruction and drilling during morning sessions, that's what we got," Clore continued. "The afternoon sessions included mostly live wrestling during which we could apply... what we picked up during the morning."

New coach, new season

With Ayres, the team may be on the verge of a new era, where it looks to improve in after last year's injury-plagued season.

After a respectable 5-4 start to the 2005-06 campaign, Princeton dropped six straight matches. In three, the Tigers were shut out entirely; moreover, four of the matches were losses to Ivy League rivals. Over the course of the season, the Tigers failed to defeat a single Ivy League opponent.

Bad luck played a big part in that record, though. Standout wrestler Jake Butler '06, who had led the Tigers on the mat, injury-defaulted against Brown midway through the season with a knee injury. It turned out to be one he could not overcome, and his vacancy left the Tigers with a critical weakness in the 197-pound weight class, which had been virtually a sure-win under Butler.

With fellow co-captain Andrew Iannuzzi '06, sophomore Danny Scotton and senior Eric Marcotulli also out to injuries, the team had few experienced personnel with whom to carry on the fight.

Princeton was unable to surmount the challenge and, left with a relatively young squad, didn't get far at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships. Even with Marcotulli healthy again, and though Matt DeNichilo '06 made it to the quarterfinals of the competition, the rest of his teammates lost early on in the competition.

This year, though, the Tigers will indeed enjoy their fresh start. Marcotulli, along with junior Marty Everin and sophomore Gordon Scharf, both of whom saw action last year, will return to help lead the team. The Tigers will open their season with a match at Buffalo this Saturday, and will then travel to the Northeast Collegiate Wrestling Duals the following weekend. The first home match will take place in Dillon Gym on Dec. 10 against Maryland. Ivy League competition will start after exams with a home match against Harvard.