Wrestling Faces Off Against No. 13 Rutgers in Friday Night Rivalry

Friday, December 8

Piscataway, N.J.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

Rutgers

Buy Tickets

Wrestling Faces Off Against No. 13 Rutgers in Friday Night Rivalry

December 06, 2023 | Wrestling

vs. No. 13 Rutgers
December 8 (Fri.) | 6:00 p.m. | Jersey Mike's Arena
B TN+ | Tickets | Live Stats

PRINCETON, NJ - The Princeton wrestling team (0-1, 0-0) will travel north to take on in-state rival Rutgers (3-1, 0-0) on Friday. With another Big Ten test ahead of them, the wrestling action will begin at 6:00 P.M. on Friday, December 8th in Jersey Mike's Arena and will be streamed on BTN+.

The upcoming dual between Rutgers and Princeton will be their 86th meeting since the 1930-31 season. In the all-time series, Rutgers is ahead with a record of 46 wins, 34 losses, and 5 ties, having secured victories in 24 of the last 25 matchups. Last season, the Scarlet Knights barely edged the Tigers with a 17-16 victory at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Rutgers came in at No. 13 in the most recent NWCA Coaches Poll and have all 10 starters ranked by Intermat.

Probables

Princeton	Weight	No. 13 Rutgers
Drew Heethuis	125	7/9 Dean Peterson
Sean Pierson or Nick Kayal	133	26/28 Dylan Shaver
Tyler Vazquez or Christopher Martino	141	16/21 Mitch Moore or Joe Fongaro
12 Eligh Rivera	149	32/NR Jacob Butler or Michael Cetta
Rocco Camillaci	157	24/20 Andrew Clark or Al DeSantis
Blaine Bergey or Holden Garcia	165	25/29 Anthony White
Mikey Squires	174	29/23 Jackson Turley or Shane Cartagena-Walsh
28/29 Nate Dugan	184	12/18 Brian Soldano
10/11 Luke Stout	197	8/13 John Poznanski
Matt Cover	285	7/7 Yaraslau Slavikouski or John O'Donnell

Dubuque's Debrief

"The battle for New Jersey starts Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena," said head coach Joe Dubuque. "The B1G-IVY trophy is important to us, and the rivalry is important to us. It's always a great atmosphere. Being from New Jersey, there's a sense of pride on the line that you wanna win in the state for the fans. It's going to be a great night."

Princeton head coach Joe Dubuque clinched dual NCAA titles during his stint at Indiana, claiming victories at 125 in both 2005 and 2006. He shares the distinction of being a two-time NCAA champion in Indiana's wrestling history with Charlie McDaniel (275, 1935 & 38). Notably, Dubuque is Indiana's second-most recent NCAA champion, succeeded by Angel Escobedo, the current head coach, who secured his victory at 125 in 2008. Dubuque, a three-time All-American, secured an eighth-place finish in 2004 and concluded his collegiate career with an impressive 114-18 record.

Know Your Tigers

The Princeton Tigers kicked off their dual schedule with a competitive match against Indiana and only lost by a close margin of 18-15. However, they managed to achieve a split in match victories, securing five wins in competition.
125: Freshman Drew Heethuis holds a 8-1 record this season following his first collegiate dual victory in a 10-8 decision over the weekend.
133: Sean Pierson placed 5th at this year's Navy Classic having three wins by decision and one win by technical fall, 18-2 in 6 minutes and 31 seconds.
149: Freshman No. 12 Eligh Rivera set the tone for his start of the dual season with an impressive win overcoming a 3-1 deficit and securing a 7-4 (SV) decision victory and knocking off No. 8 Graham Rooks of Indiana. He adds one ranked victory to his collegiate career. Rivera also notably took 4th place at the Navy Classic.
174: Mikey Squires' record this season is 7-3. At the Princeton Open, Squires showcased his dominance by securing a notable 5th place finish after a series of three impressive victories by technical fall in a row. At the Navy Classic he had three victories and took 3rd place.
184: No. 28 Nate Dugan scored four takedowns and a reversal on his way to a 15-10 decision over Roman Rogotzkeof of Indiana this weekend. He currently holds a 7-1 record this season notably taking first place at this year's Princeton Open and securing third place at the Navy Classic.
197: No. 10 Luke Stout gutted his way to a 3-1 win over Gabe Sollars of Indiana in the team's first dual of the season. The junior and two-time NCAA qualifier maintains a 10-1 record this season while also taking first place at the Navy Classic and placing 6th at the Princeton Open.
285: Matt Cover dug deep for a 5-4 win over No. 32 Nick Wilhelm from Indiana at heavyweight. Cover has gone 9-2 since the start of the 2023-24 season and placed 3rd at the Princeton Open and 5th at the Navy Classic

In The Rankings

As of December 4th, the Tigers have three wrestlers ranked by national media outlets. Luke Stout, the junior and two-time NCAA Qualifier, ranked No. 10, along with senior Nate Dugan who came in at a ranking of No. 28. Eligh Rivera joins the rankings after his victory against Indiana and sits at No. 12.

Season Tickets

Don't miss out on any home meet action. All eight Princeton home duals will be ticketed events. Purchase your season, group or individual tickets for Princeton duals here.

Social Media

For the latest news and updates, follow along with the Princeton wrestling social media.

Twitter: @tigerwrestling

Instagram: @princetonwrestling

Up Next

The Princeton wrestling squad will travel to Midlands and compete from December 29h to the 30th hosted by Northwestern.