Princeton Makes Debut Trip To Carver-Hawkeye To Open Weekend Pair vs. #3 Iowa, #19 Wisconsin

Princeton showed last March exactly why it wrestled one of the nation's toughest regular-season schedules. Head coach Chris Ayres isn't about to back off that philosophy, but he also might have the kind of lineup that can pull out some head-turning victories. The Tigers will get their first two chances during their opening weekend of dual meet competition in the heart of Big Ten Country.

The 17th-ranked Princeton wrestling team will open its season Friday night (7 pm CT/8 pm ET) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the #3 Iowa Hawkeyes. This will be the second meeting ever between the two programs (Iowa beat Princeton 36-7 in a 2001 neutral-site match), and it will be Princeton's first match at the University of Iowa. The Tigers began their season two weeks ago with an impressive showing at the Tiger Open, where a trio of Princeton starters earned tournament wins, but this will be the first chance to see a talented, young Princeton starting lineup in action.

Opponent	Watch Live	Follow Live
#3 Iowa	FloWrestling	@tigerwrestling
#19 Wisconsin	FloWrestling	@tigerwrestling

From there, Princeton will head to Madison for a Sunday (12 pm CT/1 pm ET) match with the #19 Wisconsin Badgers. Princeton is 0-2 against Wisconsin, including a 29-9 Badger win in Lawrenceville, N.J., early in the 2011-12 season. Like Iowa, this will also be Princeton's first ever match in the Field House.

Both matches will be streamed live on FloWrestling (see links above).

MATCHES TO WATCH • IOWA
• Princeton freshman Patrick Glory went through the field at the Tiger Open to win his first collegiate tournament and break into the national Top 20. If he follows that with a win Friday night, he'll skyrocket up the rankings even more. Glory is likely to face reigning NCAA champion Spencer Lee at 125; Lee went 22-2 as a freshman last season and defeated Nick Suriano of Rutgers to win the national title; he is the consensus No. 1 wrestler in the nation at 125, while Glory is the highest-ranked freshman at the weight.

• Princeton also has a top-ranked wrestler in junior Matthew Kolodzik, whose run to a third-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships included a victory over #2 seed Brandon Sorensen of Iowa. He will likely face 12th-ranked Pat Lugo on Friday, and Lugo comes in with the momentum of a victory over Kolodzik at the 2017 Midlands. Kolodzik turned into a new wrestler after Midlands and won 18 of the final 20 matches of his sophomore season. This will be his official debut in 2018-19, though he did defeat #9 Mitch Finesilver of Duke 12-7 at the NWCA All-Star Classic.

• Another Princeton junior who got off to a strong start this season is Kevin Parker, one of three host winners at the Tiger Open. Parker could crash the Top 20 with a win over Iowa sophomore Cash Wilcke, who is ranked in the Top 10 by TrackWrestling.

MATCHES TO WATCH • WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin also has a Top-20 opponent for Glory at 125, as sophomore Connor Brown comes into the weekend with a 3-0 record. Brown reached the NCAA Championships as a freshman and even picked up a win in Cleveland.

• Another impressive freshman for Princeton is 174-pounder Travis Stefanik, and he'll face 15th-ranked veteran Ryan Christensen, a three-time NCAA Championships qualifier. Stefanik only dropped one match at the Tiger Open.

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