Wrestling: Alvarez and Brendel win in two Ivy losses

Brendel split his decisions, losing 2-1 to Harvard’s No. 10 Louis Caputo before topping Matthew Gevelinger of Brown 4-2. Gevelinger is one of the Bears’ top performers this season, having won 14 matches for Brown. After his win over Gevelinger, Brendel is tied for the Princeton team lead in wins with 12.

“I think that was the best Kurt has performed all year,” head coach Chris Ayres said. “I think he went out expecting to win, and he really wrestled pretty tough. That first kid he wrestled is really good; he’s an All-American. The next guy he wrestled is one of Brown’s best kids, and he really just had control of the match. He was out there expecting to win, and he got the job done… He really did compete well, and that’s all I care about.”

Alvarez picked up Princeton’s biggest win of the day, defeating Harvard’s Michael Sandler 6-0. In his second bout of the dual meet, he fell 6-1 to Brown’s Christopher Musser.

“Alvarez, he wrestled. He got the job done,” Ayres said. “He went out there and did what he’s capable of doing. I was happy with his performance.”

Kolodzik’s first match was in the 141-pound weight bracket against Harvard’s Walter Peppelman, a fellow high school recruit. The bout was a tight one, with only one point scored between the two until the very end. Kolodzik was constantly on the offensive, but he simply couldn’t score, and he ultimately fell to Peppelman 2-1. In his second bout, he wrestled at 157, falling 4-2 to Brown’s Thomas Fazio, but again managed to keep it a close match.

“Daniel had those same expectations [as Brendel], going out on the mat and expecting to win,” Ayres said. “I think he competed exceptionally well. He had to move up a weight class for the last match because [senior co-captain] Marty [Everin] was out.”

The freshman wrestlers have improved through the season, and their performance at the upcoming Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament next month is eagerly awaited.

“We moved forward with those two guys, and they’re on track to do well,” Ayres said. “I was pretty excited about their performances. I was most pleased with those two guys and with Marty, despite the fact he lost.”

Everin lost 6-0 to Harvard’s No. 4 J.P. O’Connor, a reigning All-American. There were a few close calls, but Everin was unable to break O’Connor’s defense and could not score points. Ayres said he was pleased with Everin’s performance, though they had prepared for this match in particular.

Junior 125-pounder Robert Benitez won against Harvard by forfeit before losing by fall in two minutes, 47 seconds to Brown’s Greg Einfrank. Senior 149-pounder Danny Scotton lost by major decision to Brown’s Dave Foxen 18-6. Sophomore 174-pounder Travis Erdman lost 10-0 to Harvard’s Andy Olsen and 7-2 to Brown’s Bran Crudden.

Junior 197-pounder Zach Morse lost 7-5 to Harvard’s Sean Murphy and was defeated by fall in 3:20 by Brown’s Leo Saniuk. Freshman heavyweight Stephen Burner fell 6-1 to Harvard’s Andrew Knapp and 14-3 to Brown’s Branden Stearns.

Ayres said the weekend was a letdown for him and the Princeton wrestlers. The hope had been to win a majority of the contested matches, with the understanding that getting team wins would be difficult because of forfeits.

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“Honestly, I was pretty disappointed with this weekend,” Ayres said. “Not that we lost; it’s just that statistically speaking we got beat pretty good. I think that some guys aren’t going out there and being aggressive and really taking charge of matches. They’re kind of playing this wait-and-see game and seeing how things go, and it’s really not producing good results. The guys that competed well, they went out there and really tried to control the match … They’re not showcasing their talent out there.”

Princeton will face Cornell, Columbia and Drexel next weekend before returning home for the final time this season.