The wrestling team (0-6 overall, 0-2 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) had a disappointing start to its EIWA season this past weekend, falling to Rutgers, 33-12, and East Stroudsburg, 36-12. The two league defeats sandwiched a 32-10 non-conference loss to Stanford at home.
Despite strong performances from the freshman class, forfeits in the 141- and 149-pound weight classes in all three matches created too large a deficit to allow any chance of a Princeton comeback bid.
The Tigers kicked off the weekend with their first home match of the season against Rutgers (2-4). Freshman 125-pounder Tony Comunale gave Princeton its only lead of the day with an impressive first-period pin against Scarlet Knight Ryan Jablonski in a time of one minute, seven seconds. But after sophomore Nikhil Pereira suffered a tough loss in the 133-pound class, the Tigers lost much of their initial momentum.
Lacking competitors in the next two weight classes, Princeton took a pair of forfeits before junior Aaron Casp dropped a 12-0 decision in the 157-pound class and junior Alex Enriquez followed with a 4-0 loss in the 165-pound class. Rutgers led 23-6 coming into 174-pound contest, with Princeton's six lone points coming from Comunale's pin at the beginning of the match.
"We were definitely weak in the lower weights because we had so many forfeits, and that was definitely the low point," Comunale said. "But after that, we had a lot of guys pull through and [have] good matches."
Freshman 165-pounder Travis Erdman took on Rutgers freshman McPaul Ogbonna and remained even against his opponent through the first period, with each wrestler fighting off takedowns.
Ogbonna controlled the majority of the second period, riding Erdman for almost the entire time, but a last-minute effort gave Erdman an escape point at the end of the second. Ogbonna retaliated straight off the bat in the third, escaping immediately and tying the score. The match went back and forth until the last 30 seconds, when Erdman managed a takedown with 16 seconds remaining. With six seconds left, Erdman remained in control to defeat Ogbonna, 3-2, cutting Rutgers' lead to 23-9.
Senior Sam Ritter also finished the day with an impressive performance at 285 pounds, routing Domenick Russo in a 5-3 win over three periods. The 33-12 finish fails to show the strength of the Princeton team, as 18 of Rutgers' 33 points came from forfeits, all due to a lack of Princeton bodies.
Despite the disappointing loss, Princeton continued to fight hard coming into its Sunday matches. Sophomore Mike Alvarez was the only Tiger to win both his matches Sunday, as Princeton fell to Stanford (6-1) and East Stroudsburg (1-7).
Comunale, who had led the Tigers against Rutgers, was the first to fall in the opener against Stanford. He fell to Tanner Gardner, who is 22-1 this season, ranked No. 6 nationally and arguably the Cardinal's top wrestler.
After Comunale's difficult loss in the 125-pound class, Princeton dropped another five in a row, and it wasn't until Alvarez triumphed at 174 pounds that Princeton put some points on the board.
Alvarez won the match against Stanford's Alex Muller, clinching the win with a fall during the second period of the contest.
The only other win against Stanford came from Ritter, who currently leads the team in dual-meet wins. Ritter defeated the Cardinal's Phillip Doerner in a 15-7 major decision, helping Princeton finish the match with 10 points overall.
Princeton came back later that same day with more resolve but fell short again against East Stroudsburg.
Enriquez picked up his first win of the weekend against the Warriors, defeating Joe Schick 9-2. Alvarez also went on to defeat Tom Pagano in a close 7-4 match that was Princeton's only other win of the day. Sophomore 197-pounder Zach Morse also picked up some points for the Tigers with a win by forfeit.
Despite the low scores, Princeton has continued to improve steadily, benefiting from the strength of its freshman class.
"We improved a lot from last year, and I knew from the forfeits we had that it would have been very difficult to win the entire match. The scores didn't justify our overall performance," Comunale said.
The Tigers will hope to improve their record as they travel to New York City this Friday for a tri-meet against Davidson and Duke.
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