When the Princeton wrestling team traveled to State College, Pa., this weekend to take part in the challenging Nittany Lion Open, it knew the competition would be stiffer than it had been at the first two tournaments of the season. The tournament proved to be taxing, but the Tigers still turned in a solid performance.
"This tournament had some weight classes with over 100 wrestlers," freshman 125-pounder Tony Comunale said in an email. "It was in the heart of PA, so all the kids were quality kids. Every match was tough. It was definitely harder than the first tournament, and also even harder than the second."
The increased difficulty didn't stop Comunale and senior 285-pounder Sam Ritter, the lightest and heaviest wrestlers on the squad, who both registered two wins for Princeton.
Comunale raced out of the gates with a 10-6 win over Ed Galvin of Sacred Heart and an 11-2 win over Lock Haven's Nicholas Hyatt. He then fell to Lance Penhale of Army, 11-4, and finished the day with a 13-5 loss to Hofstra's Tyler Mashkow.
Despite the sour end to the day, Comunale has quickly established himself as one of the most consistent wrestlers on the team. His two-win day comes on the heels of a first-place finish in his first tournament and a fourth-place finish in his second tournament.
In the heavyweight bracket, Ritter started off with an 8-1 victory over unattached wrestler Ryan Everhart. He was then defeated, 10-2, by Rashard Goff, who also wrestled unattached. Ritter finished the day with an impressive recovery, pinning Virginia's Calvin Cardillo in two minutes, 30 seconds.
Sophomore 133-pounder Nikhil Pereira and freshman 165-pounder Travis Erdman each notched wins in the first round for the Tigers. Pereira vanquished Kutztown's Bryce Ebert, 5-0, but then fell to Tyler Anthony of VMI and Nick Bridge of Cornell. Erdman battled Old Dominion wrestler TC Pendleton for 4:52 before finally pinning him but then lost to unattached Quentin Wright 11-0 and Virginia's Mike Sewell, 8-2.
Sophomore 141-pounder Jeff Kirchick, junior 157-pounder Marty Everin, junior 157-pounder Aaron Casp, junior 165-pounder Alex Enriquez and sophomore 197-pounder Zach Morse all fell in the first round of the tournament.
This year's team has already demonstrated a clear improvement over the 2006-07 squad. Led by Comunale, the freshman class has begun to rapidly adjust to the intense, physical style characteristic of collegiate wrestling. The upperclassmen have also stepped up their play from last year.
While the coaches focused practice on the big picture last year, this season they have been able to shift their focus toward technique. The shift has allowed for more individual attention, and the results have already begun to show.
"The coaches will sit down with us individually and watch film of our matches," Comunale said. "We'll see where we're making mistakes and figure out how to correct them. Film is going to be a major factor in helping us improve our technique."
The team only has five days of rest this week; it heads to Pittsburgh on Friday to face Duquesne.The Tigers will then travel to Binghamton, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec. 15 to face SUNY-Binghamton and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
The Mariners boast a particularly impressive roster, with seven wrestlers ranked nationally.
The next two weekends will pose quite a challenge for the Tigers. Playing three matches in eight days will be extremely exhausting, so head coach Chris Ayres gave his wrestlers the day off Monday.
"[Ayres] let us do whatever we needed to recoup [on Monday]," Comunale said. "A day off can make a significant difference."
Especially with that bit of extra rest, the coming stretch can also be viewed positively — it will be the perfect opportunity for Princeton to prove that its early season success has not been a fluke.
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