Tigers Kick Off 2024-25 Season With Princeton Open

Princeton Open
Sunday, Nov. 3rd | 9 a.m. | Jadwin Gymnasium
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PRINCETON, N.J. – Princeton wrestling will begin the 2024-25 season with the Princeton Open on Sunday in Jadwin Gymnasium.

The 10-mat open tournament will feature eight college teams and over 200 wrestlers as they compete to take the title in each weight class. The action will begin at 9:00 a.m.

With new faces on the mat and on the bench, the Tigers are eager to kick off the season and continue to build excitement around the program.

Looking Back at Last Season

Princeton finished 8th of 17 teams at the 2023 EIWA Championships, with five placewinners.
At the 2023 Midlands, Princeton finished in 10th place with three placewinners.
The Tigers went 6-7 in dual meets last season, going 3-2 in the Ivy League.
Three Tigers qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships as returner Luke Stout joined now-former teammates Matt Cover and Nate Dugan at the tournament.

About the Returning Tigers

Senior captain Stout was ranked in a number of preseason polls, including no. 14 by Flowrestling, no. 15 by The Open Mat and Amateur Wrestling News, and no. 18 by Intermat. The 197lb Pennsylvania native is a three time Second Team All-Ivy honoree and a three time NCAA qualifier. In 2023, Stout finished with a 21-7 record while taking sixth at the EIWA Championships
Fellow senior Blaine Bergey enters his second season as captain after competing at the Princeton Open, Navy Classic, and all thirteen dual matches in 2023-24 with a record of 13-14 at 157 and 165, including a win against Rutgers's no. 25 Anthony White.
Drew Heethuis returns to the mat after an impressive freshman season in 2023, taking fifth at the Navy Classic and the Franklin & Marshall Open while going 6-5 across 11 dual meets. With 8 pins on the season and an overall record of 15-9, the 125lb sophomore will be looking to build on last year's successes.
Zander Silva enters his second year at Princeton after going 3-4 last season, wrestling at 157, while going 1-2 in the 2023 Princeton Open and 2-2 at the the Franklin and Marshall Open with two wins in the championship bracket. Before Princeton, Silva had a 170-10 prep record and won the 2022 and 2023 National Prep Championship titles.
Junior Mikey Squires enters the season after going 11-14 in 2023, competing in 11 dual matches with a 4-7 record, all at 174. Squires placed 5th at the Princeton Open and placed 3rd at the Navy Classic, going 3-1, during 2023.
Jacob Mann (141) enters the 2024-25 season after not competing last year, although the junior competed in three tournaments during 2022-23. Mann went 2-1 at the Southeast Open, 0-2 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and 2-2 the MatMen Open for a 5-7 record on the season.
Sebastian Garibaldi enters his junior year at Princeton after going 10-10 in the 2023 season across three dual meets, also going 1-2 at both the Princeton Open and the Navy Classic and going 3-2 at the Midlands Championships, all at 285.

About the Newcomers

149lb sophomore Ty Whalen joins the Tigers this year, coming in at 8th on Flowrestling, 9th on Intermat and 13th on The Open Mat in preseason rankings.
Dan Jones comes to Princeton after winning the New Jersey State Championship and going 90-12 at the Delbarton School. The 133lb freshman was ranked 96th in the class of 2024 by Flowrestling.
Ethan Rivera joins his older brother Eligh on the Princeton wrestling squad, bringing an impressive resume as the 64th overall class of 2024 recruit by Flowrestling, also being a two-time Fargo All-American, three-time Prep All-American, Super 32 All-American, and going 152-24 in high school.
Xavier Giles will be another Tiger to watch in the 174 weight class, as the two-time New England Champion and two-time National Prep Finalist enters his first year at Princeton. Giles was also a Super 32 All-American, NHSCA All-American, and was ranked 16th in the 165 lb class by Matscouts.
Will Sather, a two-time Minnesota State Champion and three-time State Finalist, comes to Princeton ranked 23rd by Matscouts in the 285lb class. Sather is also a Cadet Fargo Finalist and went 186-39 in high school, and enters his first wrestling season for the Tigers while closing out football season at Princeton as well.

About the Coaches

Head Coach Joe Dubuque is in his second season at the helm of Princeton Wrestling despite being an assistant coach for the Tigers since 2016. The two-time NCAA Champion at Indiana has transferred his impressive wrestling career into an equally impressive coaching one, bringing the Tigers to new national and regional heights. Dubuque helped coach Princeton's first NCAA champion since 1951 and second ever (Patrick Glory) in 2023, also having the Tigers take 13th place nationally that year. He also helped Princeton take the Ivy League Title in 2020, the program's first since 1986.
Head Assistant Coach Cody Brewer joins Princeton this season after spending five years at Virginia Tech, where he helped Joey Prata ascend the national rankings and achieve a third-place finish at the 2020 ACC Championships. Before that, Brewer spent three seasons on staff at Northwestern following a standout career at Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Brewer was a two-time Big 12 champion, a four-time All-American and an NCAA champion in 2015.
Anthony Ashnault also joins Princeton as an assistant coach this year, bringing experience from an extraordinary college career into his first coaching position. Ashnault was the 2019 NCAA Champion (149 lbs), and he leads Rutgers in all-time wins with 123 victories. The Hodge Trophy finalist, four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten will stay in his home state of New Jersey as he joins the Tiger bench this year.
Nate Jackson rounds out the Princeton coaching staff, entering his 8th year with the Tigers. Alongside Dubuque, Jackson helped the program achieve its successes since 2016. Specifically, his work with Patrick Brucki '20 helped lead the Class of 2021 wrestler high into the national rankings, as well as berths in each of his first three NCAA Championships and 2019 All-America honors with a fourth-place finish. Jackson, also an alum of Indiana, was a two-time All-American honoree at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

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