Erdman, Comunale continue to shine for Tigers

While a menacing opponent may seem impossible to defeat, the greatest opponent for the Princeton wrestling team has been injuries. The Tigers dropped a trio of decisions this weekend after being forced to forfeit three bouts in their first two matches and five in their third match.

On Friday, Princeton fell to Brown 31-10. The Tigers then fell 29-9 to Harvard and 36-12 to Sacred Heart on Saturday.

Freshmen Travis Erdman and Tony Comunale shined the brightest for the Tigers. Erdman, wrestling at 174 pounds, continued a winning streak he started last weekend with three consecutive victories. Against the Bears, Erdman earned a close 2-0 decision over Kasey McCurdy. Erdman then pinned the Crimson’s Patrick Ziemnik in six minutes, 54 seconds before finishing the day with a 7-4 decision over the Pioneers’ Jed Giguere.

Comunale, wrestling at 125 pounds, continued his successful season with two wins and a loss. He first defeated Brown’s Nathan Myers 8-2 and followed up with a 7-3 decision over Harvard’s Dan Kelly. Against Sacred Heart, Comunale was forced to wrestle in the 133-pound bracket and fell to Pat Feeley 15-6. Both Erdman and Comunale began their league seasons undefeated.

Senior heavyweight Sam Ritter earned his 10th dual-match victory of the season against Brown with a 15-5 major decision over Zach Zdrada. Ritter then fell to Harvard’s Andrew Knapp 5-2 and was unable to wrestle against Sacred Heart due to injury. Sophomore 165-pounder Mike Alvarez also notched a win for the Tigers, defeating Sacred Heart’s Thomas Sullivan after falling 12-6 to Brown’s Chris Musser and 9-7 to Harvard’s Matt Button.

Sophomore 133-pounder Robert Benitez was pinned in 1:09 by Brown’s Jeff Schell, then fell 15-1 to Harvard’s Thomas Picarsic. Freshman 157-pounder Matt Katz fell 11-2 to Brown’s Tom Fazio, then lost 21-8 to Harvard’s Bobby Latessa. Katz was also unable to wrestle against Sacred Heart due to injury.

As has been the case in many of Princeton’s dual meets this year, the lopsided scores were misleading. While the Tigers’ opponents had to forfeit a few bouts themselves, 11 total forfeits were more than enough to do Princeton in. Against Brown, the score without the points earned for forfeits would have been 19-10; against Harvard, it would have been 17-9. The Sacred Heart match was the most lopsided. The Tigers lost 36-12, but ignoring the five forfeits — four by Princeton, one by the Pioneers — the score would have been 12-6.

One wrestler who has shone consistently — Erdman — attributes the success of the healthy wrestlers to the persistence of the coaches.

“I would attribute my recent success to the excellent coaching staff,” Erdman said. “I can remember sitting down with Coach [Andy] Lausier a few weeks ago after maybe my fourth or fifth straight loss and he really put things into perspective for me. All three of our coaches are consistently optimistic and uplifting, and they truly know how to motivate.”

As for continuing his recent hot streak, there isn’t much Erdman plans to change.

“To keep it going, I think I need that same mindset every time I step out on the mat,” Erdman said. “Coach [Chris] Ayres has been stressing ‘the zone’ that so many great athletes talk about, and a big part of that ‘zone’ is living in the moment. I plan to keep that in mind and look into each match as a new opportunity to put forth my best effort.”

As the league season continues, it will be important for Princeton to recover from injuries. Forfeits in the 141-, 149- and 184-pound brackets have held the Tigers back all season despite strong performances from the wrestlers that have made their way to the mat. A dual meet victory should be well within reach once Princeton can send a full squad of 10 wrestlers to the mat.