Battle-Tested Tigers Take Aim At Ivy League Race, Starting This Weekend In New England

Saturday, February 3

Cambridge, Mass.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Harvard

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Battle-Tested Tigers Take Aim At Ivy League Race, Starting This Weekend In New England

February 01, 2018 | Wrestling

Chris Ayres wasn't blind to the possibilities that lay ahead for his team when he set his 2017-18 schedule. He knew his Tigers were likely to face all Top-10 teams through the first two months, and they may not face an unranked opponent mid-January. He also understood what that type of schedule could mean if injuries cropped up — and in wrestling, they always crop up.

Does he like the 1-6 record that Princeton took into finals break? Of course not … Ayres is as competitive as they come.

But does he like the direction his team is pointing as it heads into the two most important months of the season? You better believe it.

Princeton, which has currently broken for finals, will resume competition by entering into the Ivy League race Feb. 3 at Harvard. The Tigers will wrestle all five Ivy foes in a 15-day span, including the final three at Dillon Gym. They will do so with four wrestlers ranked in the first Coaches' Panel Rankings, a key piece of the NCAA qualification process: Matthew Kolodzik '20 (9th, 149), Mike D'Angelo '19 (14th, 157), Jonathan Schleifer '18 (20th, 165), and Patrick Brucki '21 (19th, 197).

A big reason for those rankings, besides the strong performance by that Princeton quartet, has been the quality of competition each has faced. Each has at least one win over a Top-20 opponent, and both Schleifer and D'Angelo have two apiece.

Here is a quick primer for both matches, along with links for Saturday's match on the Ivy League Network … weekend probables are below. You can also follow both matches by going to Princeton's official Twitter handle, @tigerwrestling.

Princeton at Harvard • Saturday, Feb. 3 • 12 pm
Live Video Stream

Last Year: PRINCETON 33, Harvard 3
Current Streak: Princeton 4
Harvard enters the Ivy season with a 3-1 record and is led by the 1-2 punch of Josef Johnson (174) and Kanon Dean (184), both of whom have 18 wins already this season. The last time these two teams faced off in Boston, it took a wild overtime win by Schleifer to help Princeton rally past Harvard for the win. The Crimson opened the Ivy League season with a 35-3 loss at Cornell; Johnson picked up Harvard's lone win with a 6-3 decision over 17th-ranked Brandon Womack.

Princeton at Brown • Sunday, Feb. 4 • 12 pm

Last Year: PRINCETON 32, Brown 6
Current Streak: Princeton 4
Brown is 2-5, but has had very tight losses to the likes of Stanford, American, and Maryland. Senior Justin Staudenmayer, a two-time NCAA qualifier, leads the team with 16 wins, including an 11-4 decision in a team loss against Brown. Christian LaBrie (165) and Ian Butterbrodt (285) also earned wins for the Bears in the 27-9 dual loss to Cornell.

WEEKEND PROBABLES

Weight	Princeton	Harvard	Brown
125	Matteo DeVincenzo (4-9)	Nolan Hellickson (13-6)	Trey Keeley (9-14)
133	Jonathan Gomez (5-10) or Mark Schleifer (1-1)	Ryan Friedman (6-10) or Sam Goldman (4-3)	Hunter Kosco (10-9) or Nick Lattanze (6-2)
141	Pat D'Arcy (10-11)	AJ Jaffe (16-8) or Trevor Tarsi (3-9)	Zeke Salvo (6-9) or Jimmy Pawelski (8-14)
149	#10 Matthew Kolodzik (15-4)	Hunter Ladnier (10-9)	Zach Krause (13-11) or Charlie Banaszak (7-2)
157	#19 Mike D'Angelo (16-6) or Leonard Merkin (4-4)	Brock Wilson (12-11)	Justin Staudenmayer (18-8)
165	Jon Schleifer (10-7)	Tyler Tarsi (8-8) or Peter Bearse (1-5)	Jon Viruet (15-9) or Christian LaBrie (6-2)
174	Matthew Gancayco (5-10)	Josef Johnson (19-8) or Spencer Kiehm (0-4)	Bryce Rogers (11-13) or AJ Pedro (10-7)
184	Kevin Parker (7-10)	Kanon Dean (18-11)	CJ LaFragola (10-7) or Nino Bastianelli (12-7)
197	#17 Patrick Brucki (19-5)	Rico Stormer (9-9) or Logan Kirby (4-3)	Tucker Ziegler (12-9) or Austin Pfarr (6-8)
285	Christian Araneo (9-5) or Michael Markulec (4-12)	Angus Cowell (9-10) or Evan Callahan (2-6)	Ian Butterbrodt (13-10)