Princeton University
NCAA Championships
Junior Jake Butler Claims First Victory At NCAA Championships Before Bowing Out
March 17, 2005 | Wrestling
March 19, 2005
St. Louis, Mo. - Junior Jake Butler was Princeton's top wrestler during the 2004-05 season, and he was the Tigers' lone representative to the 2005 NCAA championships in St. Louis, Mo. Though he was eliminated before he could battle for one of the top spots on the podium, he won his first NCAA match and showed he will be a force to be reckoned with next year.
Butler didn't receive any favors from the tournament organizers when he was paired up with Oklahoma State's Jake Rosholt, the No. 2 seed in the 197-pound bracket. Princeton fans are plenty familiar with Rosholt, who knocked out Greg Parker from the NCAA championships two years earlier. Rosholt defeated Butler 12-3 to send the Princeton junior into the consolation bracket; for the Oklahoma State senior, it was his first step on the road to Saturday's NCAA championship match at the weight class.
Butler started his consolation draw against Purdue's Nathan Moore. Butler earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory for Princeton's first NCAA victory since Parker's run in 2003. The stay in the consolation draw wouldn't last much longer, as Central Michigan's Wynn Michalak defeated Butler 7-4 in the second round.
The full bracket can be found here.