Friday, February 10
New York, NY
6:00 PM
Princeton University
at
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Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Wrestling Team Eyes Top Of Ivy Mountain, Looks To End League's Longest Championship Win Streak
February 08, 2017 | Wrestling
WATCH: Princeton at Columbia l Princeton at Cornell
Opportunities to compete for the Ivy League championship are earned, not given. The Princeton wrestling team earned a chance to go through New York this weekend and walk away with the Ivy League crown.
It won't be easy, of course, but after a 30-year drought without a single opportunity to compete for the Ivy title, the Tigers value every chance they get. And knocking off the longest championship reign in any sport in Ivy history … well, that will make three decades of waiting all the sweeter.
Last season, Princeton welcomed Cornell to Dillon Gym for a winner-take-all showdown for the Ivy League title. It was the first time since Princeton won the 1986 league crown — its most recent of the program's 11 Ivy titles — faced a match of that consequence, but Cornell proved too strong in a 23-16 win and claimed its 14th consecutive league title.
After sweeping Brown and Harvard this past weekend — following an Ivy-opening 28-8 win at The Palestra in mid-January — Princeton will get another shot at ending that Big Red reign.
Both Cornell and Princeton enter the weekend with matching 3-0 Ivy records. The Tigers open their weekend Friday night in New York City, where they take on Columbia at 6 pm. The Big Red hosts Penn Friday night as well. If both win — and both will be strong favorites — then another winner-take-all showdown will be set for the Friedman Wrestling Center this Saturday at 3 pm. Both matches will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (see links above).
Cornell, currently ranked ninth nationally, enters the weekend on a five-match win streak, including an impressive 21-20 comeback win at Lehigh. The Big Red is led by two-time NCAA champion Gabe Dean (184), as well as former NCAA finalist Brian Realbuto (174) and reigning All-American Dylan Palacio (157). The Big Red has won 76 straight Ivy League matches entering the weekend, and it has never lost an Ivy match inside the Friedman Wrestling Center.
Is Princeton the team to break those streaks?
They have earned the right to find out.
The 2016-17 Tigers have a strong combination of veteran experience and talented youth, and they hope that will be enough to shock the Big Red. The quartet of Brett Harner, Jordan Laster, Ray O'Donnell and Jonathan Schleifer both wrestled in this title dual and at the NCAA Championships last season, so they won't be overwhelmed by the moment. Laster, Harner and O'Donnell were all individual winners against the Big Red last year, while Schleifer will be looking for his second win over a Top-10 Ivy foe this season.
As for that youth, head coach Chris Ayres isn't expecting them to be overwhelmed either. Freshman Matthew Kolodzik, currently ranked fourth nationally at 141, has handled the highest of expectations this season in extraordinary fashion, but classmate Ty Agaisse (125) has quietly gotten the job done as well. Agaisse, who wrestled in three straight New Jersey state finals, has a 7-2 record in dual matches this season, including a ranked win over Stanford.
To pull this off, though, Ayres will need a supreme effort from the full 10-man lineup. Whether it means a surprising win or simply fighting off bonus points, Princeton understands that this will take a maximum 70-minute effort to walk out of Friedman as Ivy champions.
Will it be easy? Of course not.
But it sure wasn't easy to get here either.
WEEKEND PROBABLES
Opportunities to compete for the Ivy League championship are earned, not given. The Princeton wrestling team earned a chance to go through New York this weekend and walk away with the Ivy League crown.
It won't be easy, of course, but after a 30-year drought without a single opportunity to compete for the Ivy title, the Tigers value every chance they get. And knocking off the longest championship reign in any sport in Ivy history … well, that will make three decades of waiting all the sweeter.
Last season, Princeton welcomed Cornell to Dillon Gym for a winner-take-all showdown for the Ivy League title. It was the first time since Princeton won the 1986 league crown — its most recent of the program's 11 Ivy titles — faced a match of that consequence, but Cornell proved too strong in a 23-16 win and claimed its 14th consecutive league title.
After sweeping Brown and Harvard this past weekend — following an Ivy-opening 28-8 win at The Palestra in mid-January — Princeton will get another shot at ending that Big Red reign.
Both Cornell and Princeton enter the weekend with matching 3-0 Ivy records. The Tigers open their weekend Friday night in New York City, where they take on Columbia at 6 pm. The Big Red hosts Penn Friday night as well. If both win — and both will be strong favorites — then another winner-take-all showdown will be set for the Friedman Wrestling Center this Saturday at 3 pm. Both matches will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network (see links above).
Cornell, currently ranked ninth nationally, enters the weekend on a five-match win streak, including an impressive 21-20 comeback win at Lehigh. The Big Red is led by two-time NCAA champion Gabe Dean (184), as well as former NCAA finalist Brian Realbuto (174) and reigning All-American Dylan Palacio (157). The Big Red has won 76 straight Ivy League matches entering the weekend, and it has never lost an Ivy match inside the Friedman Wrestling Center.
Is Princeton the team to break those streaks?
They have earned the right to find out.
The 2016-17 Tigers have a strong combination of veteran experience and talented youth, and they hope that will be enough to shock the Big Red. The quartet of Brett Harner, Jordan Laster, Ray O'Donnell and Jonathan Schleifer both wrestled in this title dual and at the NCAA Championships last season, so they won't be overwhelmed by the moment. Laster, Harner and O'Donnell were all individual winners against the Big Red last year, while Schleifer will be looking for his second win over a Top-10 Ivy foe this season.
As for that youth, head coach Chris Ayres isn't expecting them to be overwhelmed either. Freshman Matthew Kolodzik, currently ranked fourth nationally at 141, has handled the highest of expectations this season in extraordinary fashion, but classmate Ty Agaisse (125) has quietly gotten the job done as well. Agaisse, who wrestled in three straight New Jersey state finals, has a 7-2 record in dual matches this season, including a ranked win over Stanford.
To pull this off, though, Ayres will need a supreme effort from the full 10-man lineup. Whether it means a surprising win or simply fighting off bonus points, Princeton understands that this will take a maximum 70-minute effort to walk out of Friedman as Ivy champions.
Will it be easy? Of course not.
But it sure wasn't easy to get here either.
WEEKEND PROBABLES
| Weight | Princeton | Columbia | Cornell |
| 125 | Ty Agaisse (10-4) | Johnson Mai (3-7) | Noah Baughman (19-11) |
| 133 | Pat D'Arcy (8-11) | Alec Kelly (8-11) | #20 Mark Grey (16-7) |
| 141 | #4 Matthew Kolodzik (20-2) | Jacob Macalolooy (13-9) | Will Koll (16-12) |
| 149 | #17 Jordan Laster (14-7) | Sam Ward (5-7) | Joey Galasso (11-5) or Jonathan Furnas (14-7) |
| 157 | Mike D'Angelo (7-6) | Tyler Ponte (6-10) or Laurence Kosoy (9-4) | Taylor Simaz (22-10) |
| 165 | Leonard Merkin (9-8) | Tyrel White (16-11) | Brandon Womack (24-8) |
| 174 | Jonathan Schleifer (12-5) | Austin Coniker (5-13) or Max Elling (7-7) | #3 Brian Realbuto (16-1) |
| 184 | Ian Baker (5-8) or Kevin Parker (11-11) | Jacob Young (0-8) | #1 Gabe Dean (24-0) |
| 197 | #10 Brett Harner (11-5) | Michael Bulkin (4-8) | #19 Owen Scott (8-4) or Ben Honis (19-11) |
| 285 | #17 Ray O'Donnell (10-5) | Garrett Ryan (19-7) | Craig Scott (7-4) |
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