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Harner Earns Seventh Seed As Tiger Quartet Learns NCAA Championship Bracket
March 10, 2016 | Wrestling
Princeton co-captain Brett Harner, the 2016 EIWA champion at 197 pounds, earned the seventh seed at the 2016 NCAA Championships, while three of his teammates found out that they would be opening next week's national championships against wrestlers seeded 14th-16th.
Harner joins Jordan Laster, Ray O'Donnell and Jonathan Schleifer at the 2016 NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday, March 17, at Madison Square Garden. The six-session, three-day event will culminate with the championship finals March 19 on ESPN.
Those four will be looking to become Princeton's first All-American since Greg Parker earned that achievement in back-to-back years (2002-03). Parker was also Princeton's last NCAA finalist (2002); the only Tiger to ever win an NCAA championship was Bradley Glass, who won the unlimited title in 1951.
Senior Abram Ayala earned an at-large berth at 184 pounds for next week, but he withdrew from the Championships via medical default.
Here is a closer look at each of the four Princeton qualifiers:
Brett Harner
Weight: 197
Record: 33-3
NCAA Appearances: 2nd
How He Got Here: EIWA champion
Ironically, this is the second straight year that a Princeton wrestler has been seeded seventh at 197 (Ayala in 2015). Harner received an at-large bid last year after suffering an injury and missing the EIWAs, but he returned in style last weekend to win the 197-pound title in Jadwin. At 33-3, he'll open with Joshua DaSilveira, a senior from Arizona State.
If Harner wins, he could face 10th-seeded Maxwell Huntley of Michigan.
Jordan Laster
Weight: 141
Record: 22-12
NCAA Appearances: 2nd
How He Got Here: EIWA champion
Laster won't need much work scouting his first opponent at the NCAA Championships. He'll face 16th-seeded Randy Cruz for the fourth time in the last 13 months. Cruz defeated Laster in the 2014 EIWA final, and he has two wins over him this season. One of them came by a 3-1 score in sudden victory at the Bearcat Open.
The winner will likely face top-seeded Dean Heil of Oklahoma State.
Ray O'Donnell
Weight: 285
Record: 27-11
NCAA Appearances: 1st
How He Got Here: 4th-place finish at EIWAs
The only member of this foursome to be making his NCAA Championships debut, O'Donnell will make his debut against 16th-seeded Nathan Butler of Stanford. Butler was the runner-up at the Pac-12 Championships.
The winner is likely to face top-seeded Nick Gwiazdowski, the reigning two-time NCAA champion at the weight.
Jonathan Schleifer
Weight: 174
Record: 21-9
NCAA Appearances: 2nd
How He Got Here: At-large bid
Schleifer earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, and he'll open with a new opponent, Nick Kee of Appalachian State. The two did not face each other this year. The last time Schleifer was in a tournament situation, he became Princeton's first ever Midlands finalist.
The winner is likely to see third-seeded Blaise Butler of Missouri.