Home Showdown vs Oklahoma State, Road Match At Iowa Highlight Exciting 2018-19 Schedule

When Chris Ayres announced the 2017-18 Princeton wrestling schedule, the skeptics came out and questioned how his program could possibly handle it. Then the Tigers placed third at the EIWA Championships, finished just outside the Top 25 at the NCAA Championships, had its first Top-3 individual finisher at NCAAs, and welcomed its highest-ranked recruiting class ever.

Care to guess whether Ayres eased up on the 2018-19 schedule?

Not so much.

Princeton will face seven teams who finished in the Top 20 at the 2018 NCAA Championships, including its first ever road match in Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the historic Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished third at the NCAA Championships. The Tigers will also face another of the most tradition-rich programs in the sport, Oklahoma State, for the first time — and that match will take place inside Jadwin Gym. You can see the full schedule here, but here is a month-by-month look at the highlights for what promises to be a wild 2018-19 season.

NOVEMBER
Princeton at Iowa, Nov. 16. You don't need to say much more than that, even though we will. This will be the Tigers' first dual against the Hawkeyes, winners of 23 NCAA team championships. Iowa will be led by sophomore Spencer Lee, the reigning NCAA champion at 125 pounds, which could make for an interesting dual match debut for the highest-ranked member of the Princeton Class of 2022, Patrick Glory.

We're not finished with November … we aren't even finished with that weekend. Two days later, Princeton makes its way to Madison to face a Wisconsin program that placed 17th at the NCAA Championships. Like Princeton, Wisconsin will have a junior coming off a third-place finish at NCAAs (165-pounder Evan Wick). Princeton is 0-2 all-time against Wisconsin.

The Princeton Open returns to Jadwin Gym (Nov. 4) after a successful debut, and it is expected to draw an even greater field this season.

Princeton closes the month at reigning EIWA champion Lehigh (Nov. 30), where the Tigers will look for their first win over the Mountain Hawks in more than 50 years. Lehigh returns an NCAA placewinner in Jordan Kutler, and is building off the momentum of ending Cornell's long reign atop the EIWA.

DECEMBER
Princeton makes its way to Virginia for a pair of matches Dec. 7-8, starting with a Friday night showdown against Virginia Tech, alma mater of associate head coach Sean Gray. The Hokies return two NCAA placewinners and finished eighth at the national championships. The next day, Princeton travels to Charlottesville to face Virginia.

Princeton makes its home dual debut Dec. 20 against Rider, and then turns its focus to the 56th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, which return to the Sears Centre Arena. Princeton has never had an individual Midlands champion, but it has put one wrestler in the finals in each of the last three years, including two-time All-American Matthew Kolodzik (2016).

JANUARY
The weekend to circle is Jan. 11-12, and the place to be will be Princeton. It starts off Friday night in Dillon Gym, where the Tigers will wrestle North Carolina, which placed 20th at the NCAA Championships. Princeton actually ended the 2017-18 season with a win over the Tar Heels, as Kolodzik defeated Troy Heilmann to finish third at 149 pounds in Cleveland.

The next day, all eyes will be on Jadwin Gym, as Princeton will host Oklahoma State at 1 pm. The Cowboys, winners of 34 NCAA Championships, placed 13th in Cleveland last season and return four NCAA placewinners, and are led by legendary head coach John Smith, who will likely have won his 400th match as head coach by that point.

FEBRUARY
The first of three team titles is up for grabs in February, as Princeton will take aim at the Ivy League championship when it faces all five league rivals. The run starts with a home doubleheader against both Harvard and Brown Feb. 2, and will include a match Feb. 9 at Cornell. The Big Red, who have won the last 16 Ivy League team titles, will be led by reigning 141-pound national champion Yianni Diakomihalis.

The Ivy season concludes Feb. 16 at 1 pm at Penn, and the dual season closes Feb. 22 at Drexel.

MARCH
Championship season arrives with the two biggest weekends of the year. Princeton heads to Binghamton March 8-9 to compete at the EIWA Championships, and then will head to Pittsburgh March 21-23 to compete in the NCAA Championships.

If the regular season gauntlet prepares Princeton for March the same way it did in 2017-18, get ready for another thrilling final month for the Tigers.

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