Princeton University Athletics
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Wrestling Makes Home Debut In Saturday Quad At Dillon Gym
December 12, 2008 | Wrestling
Coming off its first win under head coach Chris Ayres, the Princeton wrestling team will look to build the positive momentum when it makes its 2008-09 Dillon Gym debut Saturday. The Tigers will host a quad-meet against the U.S. Merchant Marines Academy, Delaware State and Binghamton.
Dillon Gym will have two mats running Saturday afternoon, when the four teams will face off against each other, starting at 1 p.m. The schedule is as follows:
1:00 PM: Princeton vs. USMMA; Binghamton vs. Delaware State
2:30 PM: Princeton vs. Delaware State; Binghamton vs USMMA
4:00 PM: Princeton vs Binghamton; USMMA vs Delaware State
A look at the four teams involved this weekend:
Princeton
Coming off its first EIWA victory since 2005, the Princeton wrestling team is looking to build even greater momentum heading into the second half of its season. Despite a forfeit at heavyweight, Princeton topped Franklin & Marshall 25-14 during a tri-meet at Rutgers. The Tigers won seven of nine matches, including all three that were decided by three points or fewer.
The junior class pulled out the tight wins, including a 3-2 win at 133 pounds by Nikhil Pereira. Two matches later, Danny Scotton outlasted Al Gianforti to earn an 11-9 decision at 149 pounds; Scotton also won his match against Rutgers and would earn GoPrincetonTigers.com Athlete of the Week honors. Michael Alvarez won the thriller of the afternoon, overcoming a late deficit with a takedown and back points to win 9-6 at 165 pounds.
Senior captain Marty Everin and junior Zach Morse, both experienced members of the team, picked up wins, as did a pair of the impressive freshman class. Two-time Ohio state champion Daniel Kolodzik earned an 18-2 technical fall at 141 pounds, while 184-pounder Kurt Brendel ? the only other Tiger to go 2-0 at Rutgers ? earned a 14-3 major decision.
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
The United States Merchant Marine Academy wrestling team was ranked #13 in the preseason Division III national poll, which wasreleased by Brute-Adidas National Wrestling Coaches Association. USMMA also had four individual wrestlers ranked in their weight classes.
The four individual Mariners ranked are Philip Greene, James Beshada, Dan Twito and Eric Vincent. Greene is ranked 8th in the 133-pound weight class, Beshada is ranked 5th in the 141-pound weight class, Twito is ranked 4th in the 149-pound weight class and Vincent takes the 5th spot at the 197-pound weight class. All four Mariners were national qualifiers last season.
Beshada and 165-pounder Vincent Renaut both won their respective weight classes to help lead USMMA to a team victory at the 2008 Doug Parker Invitational, held at Springfield College on Nov. 23.
Delaware State
Delaware State comes into the weekend with a 2-1 team record, which includes a 20-16 victory over the same Franklin & Marshall team Princeton defeated last weekend. The Hornets are led by first-year head coach Ken Melchior, a highly-successful high school coach in South Jersey for decades.
Delaware State might have the most impressive wrestler in Dillon Gym today. Sophomore Matt Cathell is currently 8-0 on the season and is ranked 10th in the latest national rankings. Of his eight wins, three are by fall, one is by technical fall and two are by major decision. His closest match of the season was a 9-6 win over Al Gianforti of Franklin & Marshall, the same competitor Princeton's Danny Scotton defeated 11-9 last weekend.
Shawn Nowrey and Brandon Gardner also come into the weekend with 6-2 records, and both picked up key major decisions in Delaware State's 20-16 victory over the Diplomats.
Binghamton
Binghamton comes into the weekend as one of the more battle-tested teams in the East. The Bearcats have taken on No. 1 Iowa, No. 9 Lehigh, No. 15 Penn State and a talented North Carolina squad already this season. Binghamton has one victory over an Ivy League team (31-9 over Brown) and competed with Princeton in the Tigers' season-opening tournament, which was held in the Bearcats' own home gym.
The Bearcats are 5-4 on the season and are led by 184-pound junior Joshua Patterson, who is 18-2 on the season and ranked 15th in the latest national polls. His two losses have come to nationally ranked opponents, including a 4-1 loss to No. 3 Phil Keddy of Iowa, and he has won 11 of his 18 matches by fall, including eight of his last 10. Patterson is coming off a victory at the Nittany Lion open last weekend,
Freshman Matt Kaylor has also gotten off to a good start; the 149-pounder is 13-7 and has won four of his last five, including two over EIWA rivals.