Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
East Stroudsburg Open
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Everin, Comunale Record Strong Performances At ESU Open
November 18, 2007 | Wrestling
Junior Marty Everin and freshman Tony Comunale both placed at Saturday's ESU Open, which featured a loaded field of wrestling squads, including Penn State, Lehigh and Virginia Tech. Everin, a junior veteran returning after a season-long injury, placed third at 157 pounds, while Comunale, a freshman who won the Central Jersey Open last weekend, took fourth at 125 pounds.
Everin, wrestling unattached, showed a knack in pulling out the close matches during his 5-1 performance Saturday. He opened with a 4-1 win over Andrew Ritchie of Shippensburg, and he followed it up with a 3-1 overtime win over Tim Darling of Penn State. Victories of 4-3 and 5-3 over opponents from Lehigh and Virginia landed Everin in the semifinals, where he faced eventual champion Derek Sickles of Columbia. Sickles had rolled through the first four rounds and kept the momentum with a 16-1 win over Everin, but the Princeton junior did not let the loss affect him in the third-place final. He topped fellow semifinalist Voris Tejada of Duke 3-1 to clinch third.
Comunale, also wrestling unattached, used a bye and a pin in 3:00 to advance to the third round, where he defeated Josh Pollins of Delaware Valley College 9-1. Nassau's Silas Murray awaited in the quarterfinals, but Comunale picked up a 7-2 victory there to advance to the semifinal and guarantee himself a second top-4 finish in as many weeks. Clarion's Jay Ivanco knocked him out of the championship draw with a 12-3 win, and Duke's Kellan McKeon took third with a 5-1 win.
Nicky Pereira went 1-1 at 133 pounds. He lost his opening-round match 17-2 to East Stroudsburg's Matt Swallow, but he came back with a 13-5 wrestleback victory over Tyler Harmer of Wagner.
141-pounder Jeff Kirchick had the uneviable job of facing eventual champion Frank Molinaro of Penn State in the first round. Kirchick was pinned in the first period and lost his only wrestleback to Brandon Prentice of Wilkes University.
Freshman Justin Spain, also coming off a strong showing at the Central Jersey Open, pinned first-round opponent Christopher McDonnell of Liberty in 1:43. He was knocked out by Army's Jim Rafferty 6-1 in the second round, and he fell to Matt Cusick 11-5 in the wrestlebacks.
Matt Katz joined Everin in the 157-pound class, but he lost in the opening round 12-4 to ESU's Ken Monarque, and was pinned by Delaware Valley's Ryan Herwig in the wrestleback.
Princeton sent four wrestlers to the 165-pound class, including Alex Enriquez, who won his opening match 6-5 over Gloucester County's Ryan Moore. He was close to a trip to the third round, but he lost a 4-3 decision to Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly in the next match. He ended the day with a winning record, though, as he defeated Millersville's David Morey 4-1 in the wrestlebacks.
His teammates at the weight class suffered tough losses in their first matches. Both captain John Clore and freshman Travis Erdman lost by one point apiece; Clore fell 1-0 to Edinboro's Paul Paddock, while Erdman fell 5-4 to Hofstra's Richard Muzikar. Mike Alvarez opened against eventual finalist Anthony Trongone of Virginia Tech and fell 11-5. Each would lose their wrestleback.
Anthony Salerno lost his first match at 184 pounds to Pitt-Johnstown's Mike Corcetti, and he was unable to compete in the wrestlebacks. Heavyweight teammate Sam Ritter picked up a 7-2 win over Shippensburg's Brandon Miller before losing to Duke's Wade Van Sickle 3-2.
All wrestlers outside of Enriquez, Erdman, Alvarez and Katz competed unattached at the ESU Open.
Princeton will compete in the Nittany Lion Open at Penn State on Sunday, Dec. 2.