Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Midlands Championships
Players Mentioned
Four Will Wrestle For Placewinner Status Tuesday At Midlands
December 30, 2014 | Wrestling
Four Princeton wrestlers will enter Tuesday's final day of the 52nd Midlands Championships with an opportunity to place at one of the nation's most prestigious wrestling tournaments.
Though none of the four remain alive in the main draw, freshmen Francesco Fabozzi (157) and Jonathan Schleifer (165) will join sophomore Brett Harner (184) and junior Abram Ayala (197) in the hunt for a spot on the medal podium.
While the latter three were all considered strong possibilities to make a run at placewinner status, the performance of Fabozzi may be the highlight of the day for Princeton. The freshman fell by major decision to 12th-seeded Jake Danishek of Indiana in the opener, but he bounced back in his opening consolation match to knock off 11th-seeded Edwin Cooper of Iowa 15-12.
That victory ignited Fabozzi to a run of three straight wins, including a fall over Air Force's Samuel Kreimier. He needs one more win to assure himself a Top-8 finish, though it will take his highest-ranked win of the weekend. Fabozzi opens Tuesday against ninth-seeded Brandon Zeerip of Eastern Michigan.
Fabozzi's classmate, Schleifer, was one of two Princeton wrestlers to make the championship quarterfinals Monday. The eighth seed began his day with a 12-4 major over Zack Zupan of Binghamton, and then he pulled out a 4-3 victory over Chad Strube of Virginia Tech in the Round of 16.
That set him up against top-seeded Taylor Walsh, the nation's fourth-ranked wrestler. Walsh had pinned both of his first two opponents in the opening round, but Schleifer made him go the distance before eventually falling 3-0.
Schleifer returns to the mat Tuesday against unseeded Pat Smith of Minnesota.
Harner earned the 12th seed and began his tournament with a 10-2 major over Zen Ikehara of Air Force. Despite a good battle, Harner was knocked off by fifth-seeded Ricky Robertson of Wisconsin, but he showed good resilience with back-to-back consolation wins. He concluded his day in style with a first-period pin of Northern Illinois' Quinton Rosser, and he will open his Tuesday schedule against seventh-seeded Austin Gabel of Virginia Tech.
Ayala was Princeton's other quarterfinalist, and he found himself in three tight matches during the day. He knocked off Penn's Canaan Bethea 6-5 in the opener, and then scored an overtime takedown of Old Dominion's Kevin Beazley to reach the quarterfinals.
The third-seeded Ayala then met sixth-seeded Timmy McCall in a showdown of two guys ranked in the national Top 15. This time, the close decision went against Ayala, who fell to the consolation bracket in a 3-2 loss. He will compete Tuesday against unseeded Frank Mattiace of Penn.
All other Princeton wrestlers were eliminated from competition with two losses; senior Adam Krop, currently ranked 19th at 149, was held out of the tournament due to injury.