Wrestling: Grapplers go cold over Winter Break

It was a trying winter break for the wrestling team: It finished third in a tri-meet with No. 3 Bucknell and Drexel on Dec. 18 at Lewisburg, Pa., and then placed 29th in the 33-team Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C., a week and a half later. The Tigers (3-5) were disappointed with both results, having performed well during the first half of December.

“If we perform at the EIWAs like we did at the Scuffle, then we will all be in the stands on the second day,” head coach Chris Ayers said, referring to the upcoming Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships in March.

Princeton’s long winter break began with a 38-6 loss to Bucknell (5-3). Freshman Garrett Frey, the No. 28 wrestler in the EIWA at 125 pounds and Princeton’s only EIWA-ranked grappler, opened with a 3-0 decision against Bucknell’s Derrik Russell, but it was all downhill from there.

Princeton lost its matches in eight of the other nine weight classes. Sophomore Daniel Kolodzik fought hard but fell in the 149-pound weight class to No. 7 Kevin LeValley, 5-2, and almost all of the other matches were blowouts. Bucknell tallied two pins, two technical falls and a major decision. Freshman heavyweight Bobby Grogan won for Princeton, 3-1, in overtime against Conor Sweeney, but it was not enough to salvage the team match for the Tigers.

The team match against Drexel (4-4) was another letdown for the Tigers: Andy Hirai won by forfeit in the 125-pound weight class, but Princeton lost all but one of its remaining contests. Sophomore Andy Lowy was the only other winner, at 165 with a 10-3 decision over Drexel’s Alex Rinaldi. Kolodzik and Grogan were defeated in 10-1 and 16-3 major decisions, respectively, and Frey, wrestling up at 133 pounds, was outmatched against No. 12 Steve Mytych, going down by technical fall. The final score for the team match was 32-9, but the idea that Princeton performed better against Drexel than it did against Bucknell is deceptive.

Eleven days after the tri-meet with Bucknell and Drexel, the Tigers traveled to the campus of UNC-Greensboro for this year’s Southern Scuffle. The two-day, 828-match meet featured wrestlers from 33 different schools, including seven top-25 programs. Only seven of Princeton’s 12 wrestlers made it to a third match in the double-elimination tournament, and five of those left the tournament in the third round.

Standout performances came from Lowy and senior Mike Alvarez, both in the 165-pound weight class. After a first-round bye, Alvarez won two consecutive decisions, 5-3 against Justin Guthrie of Gardner-Webb University and 7-4 against Eric Gobin of Army.

Alvarez could not hold off Penn’s Tom Timothy, who won by 11-3 major decision, in the fourth round of the undefeated bracket, and his tournament was over one match later when he lost, 5-2, to Ben Wales of Duke. Lowy also won two consecutive decisions after a first-round bye, and Lowy also lasted the full match in his first defeat, a 6-5 loss to Michael Chaires of Virginia. When Lowy next took the mat, though, he was pinned quickly, falling to Steve Burak of Penn in two minutes, 17 seconds.

Princeton wrestlers were pinned seven times in the Southern Scuffle, and the team also suffered a technical fall and three major decisions. By Ayers’ own estimation, the Princeton squad must rethink its outlook if it wants to salvage its season.

“These wrestlers need to start believing in themselves,” Ayers said. “They need to know they are capable of achieving great things now. Once they get the belief, they will achieve great things.”

Princeton certainly has a chance to right its season at Rider (4-4) on Jan. 8, but if the team doesn’t turn itself around quickly, time could soon run out.