Opportunity Abounds For Wrestling, Which Welcomes #5 Lehigh To Jadwin For Dual Opener

Head coach Chris Ayres wanted to test his guys early and often to have them prepared for the 2018 postseason. Check out the schedule … often is happening.

As for early? Well, the first match of the season seems early enough.

Princeton opens its 2017-18 dual match schedule Friday night at 7 pm against the fifth-ranked Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The match, originally set for Dillon Gym, has been moved to Jadwin Gym and will be streamed live on the Ivy League Network (subscription required).

The Tigers have competed in a pair of early-season tournaments, including the 2017 Princeton Open at Jadwin Gym. Four Tigers reached their respective finals, and freshman Patrick Brucki completed an impressive debut weekend by winning the 197-pound weight class. One day later, sophomore All-American Matthew Kolodzik and senior captain Jonathan Schleifer both competed in the main event of the NWCA All-Star Classic. Both dropped one-point matches to higher-ranked opponents, but both also showed that they are threats to the top wrestlers in their weight classes this season.

Princeton followed that up with a fifth-place finish at the Navy Classic, which included a 149-pound title for Kolodzik, currently the fourth-ranked wrestler at his weight class.

While this will be the first team match of the season for Princeton, Lehigh enters with a 3-0 record and produced arguably the most impressive team win of the season, a 27-8 win over fourth-ranked Michigan. The Mountain Hawks have one of the most dominant 1-2 punches to start their lineup, with reigning NCAA champion Darian Cruz at 125 and third-ranked Scott Parker at 133. It doesn't get any easier near the top of the lineup, as both Jordan Kutler (174) and Ryan Preisch (184) are ranked in the Top 5, while freshman heavyweight Jordan Wood is No. 14, the highest ranking for any underclassman at the weight.

Lehigh junior Gordon Wolf is currently ranked 15th at 165, and his match with Schleifer could have major ramifications for both rankings and EIWA seeding purposes down the road, as well as it being one of the highlight matches of the night.

Projected Matchups

Lehigh		Princeton
Darian Cruz	125	Jonathan Gomez or Matteo DeVincenzo
Scott Parker	133	Trey Aslanian
Luke Karam	141	Pat D'Arcy
Jonathan Mele or Cortlandt Schuyler	149	Matthew Kolodzik
Ian Brown	157	Mike D'Angelo
Gordon Wolf, Cole Walter or Drew Longo	165	Jonathan Schleifer
Jordan Kutler	174	Carlin Powell, Riley DeMoss, or Matthew Gancayco
Ryan Preisch	184	Kevin Parker or Kendall Elfstrum
Jake Jakobsen or Chris Weiler	197	Patrick Brucki
Jordan Wood	285	Christian Araneo or Michael Markulec

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