Kolodzik Rallies Late, Stuns 3rd Seed To Reach Friday Night's NCAA Semifinal On ESPN

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NCAA RECAPS: Session 2 l Session 1
MORE LINKS: Weekend Preview l Video: Schleifer Makes Princeton History l Princeton Takes 3rd at EIWAs

Trailing 3-2 and down more than 1:00 of riding time deep into his NCAA quarterfinal match, Princeton sophomore Matthew Kolodzik knew he didn't need a miracle to pull off his second straight upset in Cleveland.

No, he just needed a takedown. And he got it.

Seconds after swiping at the right ankle of third-seeded Grant Leeth, Kolodzik shot at the left leg, ducked and got behind for a lightning-quick takedown with less than 25 seconds remaining. The timing of the score was critical, as he was able to trip Leeth later and ride out the period to eliminate the ride time point and become Princeton's sixth NCAA semifinalist in program history, and its first since Greg Parker's memorable run to the 2002 NCAA final.

The 11^th seed became Princeton's lowest-seeded NCAA semifinalist ever, and he is now the sixth multiple-time All-American in program history (Bradley Glass '53, Emil Deliere '72, John Sefter '78, John Orr '85, and Greg Parker '03 are the others).

Unlike his first day, when he grabbed leads in both of his matches, Kolodzik had to come from behind in his quarterfinal. He gave up the only takedown of the first period and took more than 30 seconds to escape. He escaped again in the second, but by then the ride time had reached 1:27. Kolodzik got that down to 1:09 to open the third, but a Leeth escape gave him a 3-2 lead with the ride time advantage.

Kolodzik was unfazed, and his composure was rewarded with a berth in tonight's semifinal round, scheduled for 8 pm on ESPN. Amazingly, after knocking off two single-digit seeds to reach this point, he will be the higher seed in the semifinal. Kolodzik will face 15^th-seeded Ronald Perry of Lock Haven; Perry has been on a roll, including a 3-2 Round of 16 win over second-seeded Brandon Sorensen of Iowa.

Kolodzik and Perry have not faced each other this season.

Kolodzik is the last man standing for Princeton, as freshman teammate Patrick Brucki fell 2-0 to Jacob Smith of West Virginia in his first consolation match. Brucki was close on a couple early shots, but Smith fought them off and got to the second period scoreless. A quick escape gave him a 1-0 lead entering the third, and the Mountaineer senior was able to ride the Tiger rookie for 2:00 and a 2-0 win.

Brucki's terrific debut season concludes with a team-best 28 wins — though Kolodzik could match that total Friday night — and several impressive victories over ranked opponents.

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