Princeton University Athletics
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Wrestling Returns Saturday For Final Pre-Ivy Dual At Virginia
January 27, 2011 | Wrestling
The Princeton wrestling team started to catch fire around the start of the Ivy League season last year, and the Tigers are hoping for similar success when the league season opens next weekend. A perfect springboard to the Ivy season could come with a premier effort at Virginia Saturday at 1.
Princeton is 3-6 on the season, although it has won two of its last three matches, including an 18-16 thriller at Bucknell. In its final tri-meet before finals, the Tigers took care of Franklin & Marshall 34-6 and lost a disappointing 22-15 decision to Clarion. That match left head coach Chris Ayres frustrated with his team's inability to show consistency.
With what the team has upcoming in the next six weeks, there is no time like the present for Princeton to find that consistency. It needs to look no further than sophomore Garrett Frey, who has been ranked among the Top 20 for much of the season at 125 pounds. Ranked 14th in the latest InterMat rankings, Frey is 21-4 on the season. Another Princeton wrestler who is showing good consistency this season is junior Daniel Kolodzik, who has broken into a handful of national polls at 157 pounds recently. He has won six straight matches coming into the weekend and is second on the team with 17 victories.
While those are two of Princeton's most experienced starters, Ayres will be hoping for strong outings from a pair of inexperienced probable starters as well. Freshman Joe DeQuinzio, a New Jersey state placewinner last year, has come on strong recently at 133, while classmate Dan Santoro is holding the 197 position. A win for either would provide a major boost in this upset attempt.
Virginia is 14-5 this season, including an undefeated record in the ACC, and is led by senior Chris Henrich, the nation's fourth-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds. Henrich will likely see another Princeton freshman in Ryan Callahan, one of two full-season freshman starters this season (Brandon Rolnick, 149).
Princeton returns to Dillon Gym next week for a huge Ivy League weekend for the program. Princeton will host Harvard (10 a.m.) and Brown (5 p.m.) on Saturday during Alumni Day, and will make a Super Sunday trip to The Palestra for a showdown with Penn.