Patrick Brucki Claims Tiger Open In Collegiate Debut; 3 Others Make Finals On Eve Of Classic

Saturday, November 4

Princeton, N.J.

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Princeton University

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Patrick Brucki won the 197-pound title in the Tiger Open in his collegiate debut.

Photo by: Lisa Elfstrum

Patrick Brucki Claims Tiger Open In Collegiate Debut; 3 Others Make Finals On Eve Of Classic

November 04, 2017 | Wrestling

Freshman Patrick Brucki was one of Princeton's most highly touted recruits over the last five years, and he fills in a void left after a brilliant All-American career by Brett Harner. If that was supposed to be a pressure-packed spot for the Tigers' 197-pounder, he certainly didn't show it in his collegiate debut.

Brucki won the 2017 Tiger Open with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Etiini Udott of Centenary, while three of his teammates (Pat D'Arcy, Mike D'Angelo, and Christian Araneo) each made their respective finals but fell one win short of a title. Brucki had a dominant run to the finals with two majors and a fall, but he showed poise in his one-point final.

Both D'Arcy and D'Angelo are juniors coming off their debuts at the NCAA Championships, and both made impressive first impressions for the 2017-18 season. D'Arcy won his first four matches to reach the 141-pound final, but Lehigh's Ryan Pomrinca got an overtime takedown to claim a 4-2 tiebreaker win. D'Angelo had two tech falls and a decision to reach the championship match against Ohio State All-American Micah Jordan, who placed fourth at the 2017 NCAA Championships. D'Angelo showed good fight in the match, but Jordan had enough answers for a 14-7 win.

Araneo, who takes over the heavyweight position for two-time NCAA qualifier Ray O'Donnell, also had a very productive 2017 debut. He won his first four matches before losing to Ohio State's Chase Singletary in the final.

Princeton also got three more Top-4 finishes, including a third-place performance by freshman Johnathan Gomez. Freshman John Pipa and sophomore Carlin Powell both placed fourth.

The Tigers' top two wrestlers remained on the sideline Saturday, and for good reason. Matthew Kolodzik and Jonathan Schleifer, who are the only Princeton wrestlers to have earned Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, will be the sixth and seventh Tigers to ever compete in the main event of the All-Star Classic, which will be held Sunday at 3 pm in Jadwin Gym. Last year, All-American Brett Harner earned an invite and lost a tightly contested 7-4 decision to Minnesota's Brett Pfarr.

Kolodzik carried lofty expectations as a freshman last season, but he more than surpassed them. A 30-match winner, he placed seventh at the NCAA Championships to become Princeton's 10^th All-American, and its first as a freshman. Kolodzik won the 2017 EIWA title with a 3-2 decision over Lehigh's Randy Cruz (whose brother, Darren, won the 2017 NCAA title and will compete at 125 in the all-Star Classic), and he had six wins over wrestlers who were ranked in the Top 20.

The Princeton sophomore moved up to 149 in the offseason, where he is ranked fifth in the InterMat preseason ranks, and he will face a sophomore who excelled at that weight last season. Thomsen, the 24th wrestler to win four high school state championships in Iowa, placed fifth at the 2017 NCAA Championships and is currently ranked third at 149. He defeated four Top-20 wrestlers in St. Louis, and both of his losses came at the hands of wrestlers seeded in the Top 4.

While Thomsen may be an unknown to the local fans, the Schleifer-Walsh match will be the complete opposite. Schleifer, a starter from Day 1 of his Princeton career, enters his senior season with 66 victories and three trips to the NCAA Championships — no Tiger wrestler has ever gone four times. Schleifer, a 2014 New Jersey state champion, became the first Princeton wrestler to reach the finals at Midlands (2015), and he had a pair of Top-20 wins last season.

While Kolodzik moved up a weight in the offseason, Schleifer actually moved down a weight. He will wrestle at 165 this season, the same weight he competed at during his freshman season, and he enters the season ranked 18th at the weight.

Walsh, a four-time New Jersey state placewinner, is a returning All-American for nearby Rider, and he had a memorable run in St. Louis with wins over three of the top seven seeds at the NCAA Championships. Walsh, currently No. 5 at the weight, is 3-0 in duals against Princeton, including winning the deciding match in a 17-16 comeback win over the Tigers in 2016, but he didn't face Schleifer in any of those matches.