Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
EIWA Championships
As Historic Season Continues, Wrestlers Head for EIWA Championships
March 04, 2020 | Wrestling
The 2019-20 Princeton wrestling season has already seen the Tigers sweep through the Ivy League for the first time since 1986, defeat Cornell for the first time since 1986 on the way to that first-since-'86 Ivy League title, end Cornell's 92-match Ivy League winning streak that began in 2002, beat Rutgers for the first time since 1990, complete the New Jersey sweep of Rider and Rutgers for the first time since 1983, and now, Princeton can aim for more history this weekend at the EIWA Championships hosted by Lehigh.
The event will begin Friday at 11 a.m. with the first session and continue Friday at 6 p.m. with the second session. Saturday, competition will begin at 10 a.m. with finals (first, third, fifth) beginning at 2:30 p.m., all at Lehigh's Stabler Arena.
The event will be streamed via FloWrestling, and brackets will be available here when complete.
The EIWA has received the following allocations for number of bids per weight class to the NCAA championships:
125: 7; 133: 2; 141: 5; 149: 4; 157: 3; 165: 6; 174: 4; 184: 4; 197: 6; 285: 3.
There will also be anywhere from four to six at-large bids across the seven wrestling conferences, depending on weight class. NCAA selections will be announced Wednesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Seven of the 10 Tigers set to compete at the EIWAs are among the pre-seeded eight in each weight class, including Patrick Glory, seeded first at 125, Matthew Kolodzik, seeded fourth at 149, Quincy Monday, seeded second at 157, Grant Cuomo, seeded sixth at 165, Kevin Parker, seeded seventh at 174, Travis Stefanik, seeded sixth at 184, and Patrick Brucki, seeded first at 197. Ty Agaisse (133), Marshall Keller (141) and Aidan Conner (HWT) are expected to complete the Tigers' 10.
Looking ahead to the championships, here are some notes on where the Tigers stand and what's at stake:
It's Not Where You Start...: Princeton has finished third at the EIWAs in each of the last three years, behind Lehigh and Cornell in either order. The finishes are Princeton's best since its last EIWA title, in 1978.
Individual Champ: Princeton had two EIWA individual champs in 2019 (Glory, 125; Brucki, 197) and 2017 (Kolodzik, 141; Laster, 149), the program's most in any year since two in 1978. Princeton has had more than two only twice, in 1938 (three) and 1911 (four).
Dual Indication • It's a different format, but Princeton defeated both Lehigh and Cornell in dual matches this year, beating Lehigh 18-14 in Jadwin and Cornell 18-15 in Jadwin. The win over Lehigh was Princeton's second straight, a year after beating the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 1968, and it marked Princeton's first consecutive wins over Lehigh since the 1930s. Princeton's win over Cornell was its first since 1986, and with it, Princeton clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title for the first time since 1986. The next week, Princeton completed the outright Ivy title win, sweeping the league with a win over Penn.
Run of Dominance: No team other than Cornell and Lehigh have finished in the top two at EIWAs since 2013, when Navy finished second. No team other than Lehigh, which has won the last two EIWA titles, and Cornell, which won the 11 before that to end a Lehigh streak of five before that, has won the EIWA title since 2001, when Harvard won.
Familiar Faces: Princeton will return seven of its 10 competitors from last year's EIWAs, including Patrick Glory at 125, Marshall Keller at 141, Matthew Kolodzik at 149, Quincy Monday at 157, Kevin Parker at 174 (was 184), Travis Stefanik at 184 (was 174), and Patrick Brucki at 197. Princeton has two titles to defend, with Brucki's at 197 and Glory's at 125, and Kolodzik is a past champion, having won at 141 in 2017 and 149 in 2018.
What a Season Already!: Even before the potential that the EIWA and NCAA championships bring, 2019-20 has already been a season to remember. Beyond winning back-to-back matches against Lehigh for the first time since the 1930s, Princeton beat Cornell for the first time since 1986, won its first Ivy title since 1986, beat Rutgers for the first time since 1990, and swept New Jersey's other two Division I wrestling programs, Rutgers and Rider, for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
Coach Ayres: This will be Princeton's third visit to Lehigh for the EIWAs since 2001 Lehigh alum Chris Ayres took over. Princeton finished 12th in 2010 and seventh in 2015 under the 1998 EIWA champion at 150. With the 2020 honors still to be announced, Ayres is a three-time Ivy Coach of the Year (2016, 2017, 2019) and a 2017 EIWA Co-Coach of the Year.
Players Mentioned
