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Tiger Wrestling Brings New Expectations, Same Goals, Into 2015-16 Season
November 06, 2015 | Wrestling
TEAM PRESEASON VIDEO
For as long as Chris Ayres has been head coach at Princeton, and this will be his tenth season upcoming, the goals for the Tiger wrestling program have always been great.
Those certainly didn't change this preseason, but there has been something different so far. A new accountability, a new expectation of oneself and each other — those are just a little higher than they've been before.
Why not? In one corner of the room, two EIWA finalists are challenging each other. In another, a two-time NCAA qualifier is working with somebody who knocked off two returning All-Americans in a single month. Princeton Wrestling's first Ivy League Rookie of the Year is in another area, while the program's highest-ranked recruiting class in decades is pushing to make their own mark on the program.
No, the goals haven't changed.
Ayres just believes he has the level of talent to turn them into reality now.
The 2015-16 Princeton wrestling season will begin Sunday at the Binghamton Open, one of the top early-season tournaments in the sport. That is just one of many exciting dates on the schedule — the Grapple at the Garden, a Lehigh-Northwestern home doubleheader and Midlands all come before the New Year — all of which point to the two biggest ones, the EIWA Championships and the NCAA Championships.
And if you're going to make this a special season, you might as well do it in your own backyard.
The EIWAs return to Jadwin Gym for a sixth time overall, and the first since 2012, while the NCAA Championships are coming to Madison Square Garden. Princeton has a ways to go before it is ready to truly challenge in both events, and the path will undoubtedly be bumpy at times, but Ayres and his dedicated coaching staff believes that there is just something different about this group.
And they can't wait to see what that difference could bring.
Many wrestlers will challenge for starting spots throughout the season, but here are a few names to watch, especially this weekend in Binghamton.
125 • Freshman Pat D'Arcy looks like the lone freshman to begin the season as a starter. The 2015 New Jersey state champion was ranked 16th last year by InterMat, and he enters Princeton after three straight top-three finishes at the state championships, as well as placing three times at the Beast of the East. Classmate Noah Ajram, a Fargo Junior Freestyle All-American, will also challenge for time at the weight.
133 • Sophomore Trey Aslanian earned limited time as a starter last season, but a good offseason has earned him the nod at 133. The former New York state champion has both gotten stronger and shown improvement in his overall technique, and he could be one of the surprises in the league this season. Three-time All-Ohio standout Jake Adkins is a freshman who will compete with Aslanian at the position.
141 • The first of the five returning NCAA qualifiers, junior Jordan Laster ranked second on the team with 30 victories last season. He reached his first EIWA final, and then reached the fourth round of the consolation draw — one match short of All-America honors. A second-team All-Ivy honoree, Laster is currently 19th in the InterMat rankings. How challenging will Laster's season be? The EIWA has more wrestlers ranked in the preseason Top 20 (six) than the Big Ten (five).
149 • Senior Chris Perez went from non-starter midseason to EIWA finalist and one of Princeton's toughest outs at the NCAA tournament. He upset two of the top seeds to reach the final, and he led early in both of his NCAA losses to opponents who finished as All-Americas. Now comfortable both with his weight and as a starter, Perez — also ranked 19th by InterMat — could be poised for something special.
157 • One of the early-season battles for a starting spot could come down to either senior Kevin Moylan or sophomore Francesco Fabozzi. Moylan missed most of last season, but he has been an All-Ivy honoree and an EIWA placewinner during his Tiger career. Fabozzi had some bright spots during his freshman season, when he went 15-11, and he is a two-time Pennsylvania placewinner.
165 • Senior Judd Ziegler has 55 wins throughout his career, and he's the only person on the roster who has competed in three EIWA Championships. He has come back to 165 after a year at 174, and that is probably the best situation for the former Maryland state champion; his best season at Princeton was 2013-14, when he won 26 matches at 165.
174 • After becoming Princeton's first Ivy League Rookie of the Year, sophomore Jonathan Schleifer can now build on both a full year of workouts and the experience he earned from the NCAA Championships. Already a technically proficient wrestler, Schleifer has moved up a weight and should be even stronger than he was last season.
184 • After being one of the nation's top-ranked wrestlers at 197 last season, senior Abram Ayala has moved back a weight and will now compete at 184. One of the quickest, most aggressive competitors in the Ivy League, Ayala hopes that he can add a greater strength advantage here. He was seeded sixth at 197 by InterMat, so it will be interesting to see where he moves to eventually at 184; the EIWA currently has three in the Top 10, including returning NCAA champion Gabe Dean of Cornell.
197 • Few are probably looking forward to Binghamton as much as junior Brett Harner, who was on an absolute roll before a freak practice injury cost him an opportunity at the EIWA Championships last year. Harner, who was seeded 16th at 184, has flipped weights with Ayala and has gotten much stronger this offseason, which followed a 28-win performance last year.
285 • Junior Ray O'Donnell has 39 wins at heavyweight over the last two years, and he has placed at EIWAs both times, but a late-season illness probably cost him an opportunity to make real noise in the postseason. O'Donnell should get a good battle from Cole Lampman for the starting spot, but O'Donnell has an athleticism that is rare at this weight, and now brings major experience into the year.