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Wrestling Team Sweeps Harvard, Brown In Program Milestone Day
February 06, 2010 | Wrestling
Since the 1992-93 season, the Princeton wrestling team has won three Ivy League matches total. On one memorable Saturday in New England, Princeton won two in a five-hour span. Following a 35-10 victory over Harvard, Princeton won a 21-15 thriller over Brown to claim an early and unlikely share of first place in the Ivy League.
PRINCETON 35, HARVARD 10
"This is easily the best we've wrestled since I've been here," said Ayres, who led Princeton to its sixth win of the season Saturday morning. "I saw a lot more confidence from them on the mat. I told them that in the last few weeks, we've made a lot of progress, but most of it has been internal. It isn't the kind of things others can see. It was time for us to go out there and have some external success. I told them we need to make this happen."
If Ayres was looking for a positive spark to start the match, he got it once again from freshman Garrett Frey. Down three points in the third period of his match at 125, Frey scored a reversal and followed with a pin to give Princeton a 6-0 lead. Sophomore Tony Comunale followed with a first-period pin at 133, and freshman Luis Ramos recorded a forfeit win at 141 to open an 18-0 lead for the Tigers.
Sophomore Daniel Kolodzik followed his Friday night victory with a 13-3 win at 149, extending the lead to 22-0. Harvard got on the scoreboard when the NCAA's top-ranked wrestler at 157 pounds, J.P. O'Connor, recorded a 14-0 major decision over Danny Scotton. Even that loss was a victory of sorts for Princeton, as Scotton held off a potential national champion from scoring more than four team points.
"That was huge for us," Ayres said. "At the time, I thought those points could make a big difference."
Two upperclassmen made sure it wouldn't come down to two points. Senior Mike Alvarez got those points back with a 13-3 win at 165, and junior Travis Erdman pinned in 1:40 to make the score 32-4 and clinch the team win for Princeton.
Sophomore Kurt Brendel lost 6-1 to Louis Caputo, the nation's sixth-ranked wrestler at 184, but Princeton freshman Charles Fox followed with a 9-3 win over Sean Murphy. That victory avenged an earlier loss to Murphy in Binghamton and is the ninth of the season for Fox. Freshman Bobby Grogan lost 7-0 at heavyweight in the final match of the day.
125- Garrett Frey (Princeton) Fall Steven Keith (Harvard) 5:40
133- Tony Communale (Princeton) Fall Chad Eason (Harvard) 1:42
141- Luis Ramos (Princeton) win by Forfeit
149- Dan Kolodzik (Princeton) MD Paul Liguori (Harvard) 13-3
157- JP O'Connor (Harvard) MD Dan Scotton (Princeton) 14-0
165- Mike Alvarez (Princeton) MD Nick Brazeau (Harvard) 13-3
174- Travis Erdman (Princeton) Fall Bryan Panzano (Harvard) 1:40
184- Louis Caputo (Harvard) Dec Kurt Brendel (Princeton) 6-1
197- Charles Fox (Princeton) Dec Sean Murphy (Harvard) 9-2
Hwt- Spencer DeSena (Harvard) Dec Bobby Grogan (Princeton) 7-0
PRINCETON 21, BROWN 15
While Princeton's victory over Harvard might have been dominant, its afternoon victory at Brown was the one Ayres has been waiting for since he took over as head coach.
"This was a little like the Rider match," he said. "That was an opportunity for a statement win, and when our backs were against the wall, we didn't get it done. Our backs were against the wall today, and we found a way to win. You just can't replace the moments like what we had at Brown."
After a match-opening loss at heavyweight, Princeton got a 5-3 victory from Frey at 125 and a 6-2 win from Comunale at 133 to take a 6-3 lead. The latter win came after Comunale scored four points in the third period to clinch the win.
Ramos shut out a former Pennsylvania state champion 5-0 to open a 9-3 lead, and Kolodzik made it 12-3 with a thriller of his own. After leading 9-1 early, Kolodzik gave up a takedown and near fall, but fought off a pin and eventually got off his back. He scored late points to clinch the match and build a 12-3 victory.
Scotton then found himself down early at 157, but a late reversal sent the Princeton senior into overtime. In the second sudden victory session, Scotton recorded a takedown to grab a 9-7 win and open a 15-3 lead.
Sophomore Andy Lowy got pinned at 165 to cut the Princeton lead to 15-9, and with stronger Brown upperweights still on the horizon, Ayres knew the match was still up for grabs. Erdman trailed 6-1 at 174, but in the second period, he hit a move that will have long-lasting effects for the program. He caught a headlock for a takedown with 40 seconds left and fought until he scored a pin and clinched at least a tie for Princeton.
Ahead 21-9 at that point, Princeton needed to avoid two losses by fall to clinch the win. Brendel took the mat against an opponent who pinned him earlier this season and battled for seven minutes before falling by decision.
"He took one for the team," Ayres said. "Princeton kids are smart and can do the math. His opponent was tough, but perhaps in a different situation, Kurt tries a couple other things. He knew he couldn't get pinned. He wrestled hard, but probably a little cautious."
Fox also wrestled a hard-fought match before losing by decision.
Ayres, who has excitedly talked about the youth in the program throughout the season, proudly pointed out the performances of two seniors who stuck it out through multiple winless seasons and helped Princeton to its proudest day in decades.
"I couldn't be happier for Mike and Danny," Ayres said of Alvarez and Scotton, both of whom won key matches Saturday. "Mike was winless as a freshman, and now he is scoring a major at Harvard. And Danny just showed incredible guts in a win we needed at Brown. Those two persevered through a lot, and I'm glad they got to lead us through the experience of today."
Princeton has now won three straight matches and can complete a 4-0 weekend in New England with a win Sunday at Sacred Heart.
125: Frey, Garrett (P) DEC Einfrank, Greg(Brown) 5-3
133: Comunale, Anthony (P) DEC Popolizio, Teodoro(Brown ) 6-2
141: Ramos, Luis (P) DEC Choate, Cortlandt(Brown ) 5-0
149: Kolodzik, Daniel (P) DEC Marano, Philip(Brown ) 12-7
157: Scotton, Danny (P) TB Tracy, Bryan(Brown ) 9-7
165: Lemmer, Jeffrey (B) FALL Lowy, Andrew(Princeton University) 3:36
174: Erdman, Travis (P) FALL Kharbush, Ziad(Brown ) 4:39
184: Crudden, Bran (B) DEC Brendel, Kurt(Princeton University) 4-2
197: Stearns, Branden (B) DEC Fox, Charles(Princeton University) 3-1
285: Otsuka, Larry (B) DEC Grogan, Robert(Princeton University) 5-3