Princeton University Athletics
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Wrestlers Make Home Debut This Weekend, Will Face Three Teams Over Two Days
January 04, 2008 | Wrestling
The 2008 portion of the Princeton wrestling season will begin in Dillon Gym Saturday afternoon, when the Princeton wrestling team opens a full home weekend against EIWA rival Rutgers at 3 p.m. The Tigers, who will also face Stanford (1:30) and East Stroudsburg (3:00) on Sunday, remain shorthanded due to injuries, but have made positive strides since last season.
Princeton has been led by its lineup bookends this season. Freshman Tony Comunale claimed the 125-pound starting spot immediately and even grabbed a tournament title at the Central Jersey Open. He is 3-0 in dual meets this season, including an overtime win at Duquesne. Newcomer Sam Ritter, the starting heavyweight, is also unbeaten in dual meets and, like Comunale, picked up multiple wins at the loaded Nittany Lion Open in December. Freshman 184-pounder Travis Erdman, the reigning GoPrincetonTigers.com Athlete of the Week, swept both ends of a tri-meet in December with a pin and a technical fall.
Rutgers, which makes its home debut Friday with matches against Wagner and Lock Haven, dropped a tight EIWA opener to perennial league powerhouse Lehigh. In a 24-13 road loss, the Scarlet Knights lost six matches by four points or less. Rutgers is led by senior 141-pounder Steve Adamscik, who is broken into the national Top 15 in the latest InterMat/NWCA/NWMA Division I Individual Rankings.
East Stroudsburg is 0-5 on the season, although it got a strong performance from Shane Mallory at the Wilkes Open. The sophomore placed second in the 174-pound weight class. ESU will open Sunday's tri-meet with a noon showdown against Stanford. The Cardinal (2-0) will wrestle five matches during an East Coast weekend, including Friday night contests against Drexel and Lehigh. Stanford is led by Tanner Gardner, a two-time All-America, who is 20-1 on the year and ranked fourth nationally at 125 pounds. He will provide Comunale with his stiffest challenge of his young collegiate career. All-America Josh Zupancic enters the weekend with a 19-5 record at 157 pounds.
GoPrincetonTigers.com will provide recaps following both days.