Princeton Looks For NCAA Bids, Higher Team Finish At 2019 EIWA Championships In Binghamton

Two years ago, Princeton turned heads nationally by posting a top-three finish at the EIWA Championships and sending a program-record seven wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Last season, the Tigers proved they were here to stay, again placing third and sending three wrestlers into the Eastern finals.

Chris Ayres and the Princeton coaching staff didn't get the Tigers to this point just to be comfortable where they are. That's not how progression works, and if you think this program is satisfied with its current position, you haven't been around the program enough.

As they would say, it's time to get in.

Princeton will head to the 2019 EIWA Championships, held Friday-Saturday in Binghamton, N.Y., with hopes of breaking up the Cornell-Lehigh duo that has reigned atop the league for more than a decade. The Tigers would love nothing more than to match or surpass the 2017 mark of seven qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, which will take place March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Below is more information on the weekend, as well as a look at the projected Princeton starters.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday March 8, 2019 (all times approximate)

10:00 am	Doors open for Session I
11:00 am	Session I begins (first round)
2:15 pm	First wrestlebacks
5:00 pm	Doors open for Session II
6:00 pm	Session II (quarterfinals)
7:30 pm	Second wrestlebacks

Saturday March 9, 2019 (all times approximate)

9:15 am	Doors open for Session III
10:00 am	Session III begins (semifinals/wrestleback quarters)
11:45 am	Wrestleback semifinals
12:35 pm	7th-place matches
2:00 pm	Doors open for Session IIII
2:30 pm	EIWA Hall of Fame Inductions
3:00 pm	Session IIII begins (1st, 3rd & 5th place matches)

ADMISSION
Ticket prices to the 2019 EIWA Wrestling Championship will be as follows:

All Session Passes
Adult Student/Children
All Session Pass – Pre-Sale: $70 $35 (order online here)
All Session Pass – at Door: $80 $40

Individual Session Tickets (adult/youth)
Session 1 - $20 $15
Session 2 - $20 $15
Session 3 - $35 $20
Session 4 - $35 $20

Youth/Student Group Ticket Prices (50+)
Session 1 & 2 $5
Session 3 & 4 $10

For more information please call the Binghamton Athletic Ticket Office at (607) 777-BTIX (2849).

FLOWRESTLING
FloWrestling will be covering the 2019 EIWA Championships LIVE through FloArena. You can access that here.

PRINCETON PREVIEW
Here is a quick look at Princeton's probable lineup for the EIWA Championships, along with the NCAA berths up for grabs this weekend.

125 (4 bids) - #10 Patrick Glory (22-4)
The two-time New Jersey state champion, who joined the Higher Standard podcast earlier this week, leads the highly touted Class of 2022 with 22 wins this season, and he's the likely 2 seed this week. All of Glory's losses this season have come to opponents currently ranked in the Top 7, including Cornell's Vitali Arujau, the likely top seed this week. Glory showed his tournament abilities twice this season; he won his collegiate debut weekend in the Tiger Open, and he placed third at Midlands, with his only loss coming to reigning NCAA champion Spencer Lee.

133 (4 bids) - Jonathan Gomez (6-13)
Gomez may be overlooked heading into the weekend, but he has two things going for him. He showed last season what he can do at EIWAs, when he knocked off a pair of higher-seeded wrestlers to place fifth at the weight. Gomez also brings some momentum into the weekend; not only did he pin Drexel's Alex Salas in the regular season finale, but two of his last three losses were narrow decisions, including a 3-2 loss to likely top seed Chas Tucker of Cornell.

141 (3 bids) - Marshall Keller (20-12)
There aren't many bids up for grabs here, but there is a healthy mix of contenders for at least one of them. Reigning NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis is the top-ranked wrestler in the country, while likely 2 seed Nicholas Gil of Navy has 25 wins this season. Those two are favorites to make the finals, but Keller already has won top-20 win this season (North Carolina's AC Headlee), and he has a 13-4 tournament record this season. He'll likely need to avenge at least 1-2 EIWA losses from the season to make a run at the top three, but he has won four of six entering the weekend.

149 (5 bids) - #3 Matthew Kolodzik (17-2)
The two-time defending EIWA champion has six wins over ranked competition this year, including a 7-5 win over probable 2 seed Anthony Artalona of Penn last month. He may have lost twice after a 15-0 start this season, but Kolodzik has proven himself as an elite postseason performer. He has an outrageous 17-3 record in March over the last two years, including a perfect 8-0 record at the EIWA Championships. Doubt him at your own risk.

157 (6 bids) - Quincy Monday (20-10)
If there's a weight to use the shrug emoji on, it's this one. It's one of three EIWA weights with six NCAA allocations in it, and it's one of only two without a current Top-10 (InterMat) wrestler in the field. Monday could be seeded anywhere from 3-6 most likely, and he comes into the weekend having won 12 of his last 14 matches, including a perfect 5-for-5 against Ivy League competition. Lehigh's Josh Humphreys is the highest-ranked wrestler in the weight, and Monday dropped a 5-4 decision to him in Bethlehem during Princeton's historic win there earlier this season.

165 (4 bids) - Leonard Merkin (6-3)
This weight saw plenty of movement this season, but it looks like Merkin will be the one to compete for an NCAA bid. He'll bring the experience of the 2017 EIWAs — including an incredible :10 pin of a Harvard opponent that weekend — and his status as an ultimate wild card opponent. He's shown the ability to pin at any moment, and of his three losses this season, two came by a single point and the third came to the 15th-ranked wrestler in the nation.

174 (5 bids) - Travis Stefanik (17-10)
Freshman Travis Stefanik earned one of the five EIWA spots at this weight. Since Midlands, he has won 10 of 13 matches, including each of his last three. His only three losses in 2019 are to #5 Joe Smith of Oklahoma State (by an 11-8 score), Joe Grello of Rutgers (in sudden victory) and #14 Brandon Womack of Cornell (by a 7-5 score). Stefanik has wrestled a lot of close matches this year, so he'll be familiar with the pressure of this weekend.

184 (6 bids) - Kevin Parker (18-10)
Parker will be in his third EIWA Championship weekend, so he brings greater experience than the majority of his teammates, and he'll be looking for his first berth at the NCAA Championships. Parker is the highest-ranked wrestler to not earn a bid, so he'll need to take one from a strong, deep field. He's won four of his last six, but the two losses are to wrestlers ranked above him in the field, Cornell's Max Dean and Brown's Christian LaFragola.

197 (6 bids) - #3 Patrick Brucki (25-1)
The Princeton wins leader this season, Brucki is part of arguably the strongest weight class at the 2019 EIWAs. The likely top three seeds are all currently ranked in the InterMat Top 8 (Brucki, #7 Ben Honis of Cornell, #8 Rocco Caywood of Army). The Tiger sophomore is 7-1 against ranked competition this season, with his only loss coming on a late takedown by Honis in Ithaca. Brucki has two wins over Caywood this season, including one en route to his Midlands title, as well as a win over #20 Stephen Loiseau of Drexel last weekend.

285 (4 bids) - Obinna Ajah (2-7)
Ajah has been a tireless worker in the practice room this season as he has helped fill the heavyweight position following injuries to Kendall Elfstrum. While Ajah will enter EIWAs as an underdog, he is wrestling his best of the season and could be a dangerous unseeded competitor.

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