Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Duquesne
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Shorthanded Wrestling Team Drops Dual Opener At Duquesne
December 09, 2007 | Wrestling
The Princeton wrestling team, beset by early injuries, picked up four individual wins in its dual opener at Duquesne, but it couldn't overcome a pair of forfeits in a 32-16 loss. Senior heavyweight Sam Ritter picked up a victory by pin, while teammates Tony Comunale, Alex Enriquez and Zach Morse each earned individual wins.
Princeton jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Comunale, who has had one of the most successful starts to his freshman season as any Princeton wrestler in the last few years, took down 2007 NCAA qualifier Jonathan Bittinger in overtime to grab a 7-5 victory. It was a comeback win for Comunale, who has already won the Central Jersey Open and picked up two wins in the Nittany Lion Open.
It would be a shortlived lead, as Duquesne won the next four matches, including a forfeit win at 149 pounds. Trailing 23-3, Enriquez gave Princeton hope with an 18-6 major decision over Ryan Sula at 165 pounds. Enriquez came back after allowing a first-period takedown to dominate the final two periods. Freshman Travis Erdman battled in a tight match at 165 pounds, but Scott Black came away with a 6-3 win for the Dukes. Combined with a forfiet win at 184 pounds, Duquesne had the match clinched before Princeton won consecutive matches to end the day.
Morse earned a hard-fought 6-3 victory over Dave Mitchell, in which he also rallied after an early takedown, at 197 pounds, and Ritter followed up with a dominant performance at heavyweight. One week after winning twice at the Nittany Lion Open, the senior pinned Matthew Richardson in 2:34.
Princeton will complete the 2007 portion of its season next Saturday when it competes against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Binghamton in a tri-meet at Binghamton, N.Y.
DUQUESNE 32, PRINCETON 16
125 Tony Comunale (P) def. Jonathan Bittinger, 7-5 (OT) 0-3
133 Jayk Cobbs (D) tf. Nick Pereira 16-0 (5:29) 5-3
141 Brad Shrum (D) p. Jeff Kirchick 1:22 11-3
149 Nathan Reinhart (D) wins by forfeit 17-3
157 Cody Midlam (D) p. Aaron Casp 4:00 23-3
165 Alex Enriquez (P) md. Ryan Sula 18-6 23-7
174 Scott Black (D) d. Travis Erdman 6-3 26-7
184 Jimmy Ilardi (D) wins by forfeit 32-7
197 Zach Morse (P) d. Dave Mitchell 6-3 32-10
HWT Sam Ritter (P) p. Matthew Richardson 2:34 32-16