Wrestling: Grapplers fall to talented Penn squad in Ancient Eight finale

The wrestling team’s incredible run through the Ivy League finally came to an end against Penn on Saturday in Dillon Gymnasium with a 23-11 loss. It was a disappointing end to such a successful season, but there is plenty to look forward to in the coming seasons.

Princeton (9-10-0 overall, 3-2-0 Ivy League) ended the meet on a high note with freshman Bobby Grogan’s first Ivy League match win in the heavyweight division, but at that point, the meet was already decided. The Quakers (10-6-0, 4-1-0) opened the meet with Mark Rappo’s 3-2 win at 125 pounds over freshman Garrett Frey, Princeton’s most consistent wrestler all season.

In the 133- and 141- pound weight classes, freshmen Zach Bintliff and Luis Ramos held their own but lost minor decisions to bring the team score to 9-0.

Sophomore 149-pounder Dan Kolodzik gave Princeton a spark with a 20-2 technical decision over the Quakers’ Cesar Grajales, scoring major points on four near falls and assorted takedowns. Senior 157-pounder Danny Scotton carried the momentum from Kolodzik’s match to his own 10-4 decision to bring the team score to 9-8.

That was as close as the Tigers came to taking the lead, however, as two of Penn’s top wrestlers captured decisive wins in the 165- and 174-pound weight classes to extend their team’s lead to 17-8. The Quakers’ Gabriel Burak scored a major decision over senior 165-pounder Mike Alvarez for his 30th win of the season. Then, Scott Giffin captured another victory with a 13-3 major decision over junior 174-pounder Travis Erdman.

Sophomore Kurt Brendel’s match at 184 pounds was crucial to keeping Princeton’s hopes alive, and he opened strong but found himself down after two periods. Despite forcing overtime, he was unable to pull out the win for Princeton, losing a tight 10-8 decision.

With the team score at 20-8, the Tigers were going to need two huge pins by their final two wrestlers for the win. Freshman Charles Fox put up a strong fight in the 197-pound weight class, but he was unable to take control of the match, and his 7-3 loss put the meet out of reach for the Tigers. The meet ended with Grogan’s win, a nice finish to the regular season for the team.

The loss stings for a team hoping to be the first Princeton squad to finish second in the Ivy League since 1987, but the team can take solace in finishing with the program’s first Ivy League winning record in over two decades. The Tigers will retain eight of 10 starters for next season and also bring in the program’s strongest recruiting class in years. With these factors aligning, Princeton looks to continue its push to join the elite of the Ivy League.

This was the last regular-season meet for seniors Alvarez and Scotton. Both wrestlers will take the mat again in two weeks for the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships. The Tigers are looking for their best finish at the Easterns in a long time and should have their best showing under head coach Chris Ayres, who joined Princeton for the 2006–07 season after completing five years as assistant coach at Lehigh.

In addition to the upcoming EIWA tournament, the Princeton men are also hoping to have some of their members selected for the All-Ivy League second team. The chances of anyone qualifying for the first team are slim, due to No. 6 Cornell’s dominant run through the league this year, but the Tigers should be able to grab some spots on the second team.

The last Princeton wrestler who qualified for an All-Ivy team was Jake Butler ’06 in 2006 — the year before the Class of 2010 arrived at Princeton. Earning a spot on the All-Ivy team would be a huge honor for the Tigers and another sign of their revival under Ayres.

The Tigers will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for the EIWA Championships on March 6–7 and will look for a strong individual showing to place one of their wrestlers in the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years.