January 25, 2011

Wrestling Update 2

Portions Courtesy of Columbia Sports Information/Media Relations as well as Cornell and Penn Athletic Communications. Photo courtesy of Penn Athletic Communications.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- While it is still ten days until any of the Ivy League’s wrestling teams will face each other, the squads have had a busy January to date.

On Jan. 18, the first set of Coaches Panel Rankings was released, showcasing the top-33 wrestlers in each weight class - the same amount who will line the field at the NCAA Championships this March in Philadelphia. This panel combines with the official RPI and a wrestler’s win-loss percentage to determine automatic bids for each conference. In all, 22 Ivy student-athletes made the rankings, led by four in the 125-weight class. Cornell leads the way with nine selections, followed by Penn (6), Harvard (3), Columbia (2) and Princeton (2).

Coaches Panel Ranking (Jan. 18, 2011)
NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll
EIWA Homepage

The first round of Ivy League contests will take place on Saturday, Feb. 5 when all six Ivy squads will face at least one League opponent. What follows is a brief team-by-team look at the Ivy League wrestling squads.

Brown (0-5, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: The Bears most recently travelled to Arlington, Texas to take part in the Lone Star Duals, an event that Harvard also appeared in. The Bears dropped contests versus Air Force (36-3), Stanford (26-12) and 16th-ranked Nebraska (37-3) at the event. Against the Cornhuskers, freshman Giuseppi Lanzi recorded an 8-3 win for the Bears at 149. Lanzi’s classmate C.J. Howard picked up a shutout win, 4-0, at 141 against Stanford.

Brown’s Next Match: Jan. 29 at Army (West Point, N.Y.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 at Penn (Philadelphia, Pa.) & at Princeton (Princeton, N.J.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: None

Columbia (3-4, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: Columbia turned in a second-place showing at the New York State Championships, which were contested in Binghamton, N.Y. on Jan. 22-23. The Lions earned 132.5 points to finish ahead of 17 other teams, including third-place Army. Kevin Lester led the Lions by winning the title at heavyweight, while Penn Gottfried, Kyle Gilchrist and Eren Civan each placed second.

Columbia’s Next Match: Jan. 29 vs. Millersville (New York, N.Y.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 vs. Cornell (New York, N.Y.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: Steve Santos (#32 at 149); Kevin Lester (#25 at 285).

#1 Cornell (5-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: After earning wins over Ohio State (27-6), Missouri (18-15), Minnesota (20-16) and ninth-ranked Virginia Tech (25-10) en route to claiming the National Duals team title on Jan. 9 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the top-ranked Big Red were upset at 14th-ranked Lehigh, 17-15 on Jan. 20. In the championship win over the Hokies, Cornell won seven out of 10 weight classes with senior Mack Lewnes leading the way with a pin at 174 pounds. It was the Big Red’s first National Duals team title.

Cornell’s Next Match: Jan. 28 vs. Binghamton (Ithaca, N.Y.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 at Columbia (New York, N.Y.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: Frank Perrelli (#13 at 125); Mike Grey (#26 at 133); Hicks Manson (#25 at 141); Kyle Dake (#1 at 149); DJ Meagher (#10 at 157); Justin Kerber (#3 at 165); Mack Lewnes (#3 at 174); Steve Bosak (#3 at 184); Cam Simaz (#1 at 197).

Harvard (0-8, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: The Crimson most recently made the trek to Arlington, Texas to compete in the Lone Star Duals on Jan. 15, where it dropped contests against Appalachian State (22-17), 11th-ranked Oklahoma (33-8) and Stanford (35-10). Sophomore Walter Peppelman led Harvard the three-match event as he was able to post a 3-0 record at 157 that included an impressive 17-0 win against sixth-ranked Chase Nelson of Oklahoma.

Harvard’s Next Match: Jan. 29 at Army (West Point, N.Y.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 at Penn (Philadelphia, Pa.) & at Princeton (Princeton, N.J.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: Steven Keith (#27 at 125); Corey Jantzen (#17 at 149); Walter Peppelman (#9 at 157).

Penn (5-3, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: Most recently, the Quakers turned in a pair of wins over VMI (33-6) and Virginia (18-15) on Jan. 16. In the narrow victory over the home-standing Cavaliers, freshman heavyweight Kyle Cowan downed Jack Danilkowicz with a 5-1 decision to break an overall 15-15 deadlock, giving Penn the win. Prior to Cowan’s heroics, Micah Burak closed a 15-12 deficit for the Quakers with an 8-3 win over Mike Salopek at 197. Cowan also had a 2-1 upset win over 14th-ranked Josh Wine in Penn’s defeat of VMI.

Penn’s Next Match: Jan. 29 vs. Bucknell (Philadelphia, Pa.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 vs. Brown & Harvard (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: Mark Rappo (#17 at 125); Rollie Peterkin (#4 at 133); Zack Kemmerer (#9 at 141); Stephen Burak (#18 at 165); Scott Giffin (#26 at 174); Micah Burak (#6 at 197).

Princeton (3-6, 0-0 Ivy League)
Recent Results & Highlights: The Tigers scored a 34-6 win at Franklin & Marshall on Jan. 8 before breaking for finals. A day earlier, Princeton dropped a 22-15 decision at Clarion. The win over Franklin & Marshall was highlighted by Luis Ramos’ 11-1 major decision at 141, Brandon Rolnick’s 15-2 win at 149, Daniel Kolodzik’s 16-0 win at 157 and Travis Erdman’s pin at 184.

Princeton’s Next Match: Jan. 29 at Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.)
First Ivy Match: Feb. 5 vs. Harvard & Brown (Princeton, N.J.)
Coaches Panel Rankings: Garrett Frey (#16 at 125); Daniel Kolodzik (#27 at 157).