Wrestling's seniors go out with a bang

One came rather quickly, the other with precious few seconds remaining, but for Mike Fickell and Tim Ortman all that mattered was that they got it done. In their last-ever dual meet at Palestra last night, the two seniors on the Penn wrestling team scored pins to not only lead the Quakers (6-6, 4-1 Ivy League) to an Ivy-title-clinching, 34-6 win over Princeton (2-2, 1-1), but to, more importantly, fulfill the heavy expectations placed on them by Penn coach Roger Reina. "Coach always has a thing where all the seniors have to get a pin in their last dual meet at the Palestra," said No. 11 Fickell, who pinned Princeton 197-pounder Chris McLaughlin with just 41 seconds remaining in the match after lifting and slamming the Tigers wrestler back-first onto the mat. "Tim and I both got them tonight, so it was a little something special." It was Fickell's ninth pin of the season, just two shy of tying teammate Rick Springman's school record of 11 falls from last year. Springman is redshirting this season. "I'm kind of chasing Springman," said Fickell, a Penn co-captain. "It just gives you a little incentive to get your extra pins." While No. 20 Ortman's pin came less than 30 seconds into the second round of his 165-pound match, it was no less spectacular than his teammate's. With Princeton's Ryan Bonfiglio down to start the period, it took Ortman only a few seconds to get the Tigers senior into a cradle hold and flip him onto his back. From there, Ortman just worked his opponent's shoulders onto the mat until the referee awarded the Penn senior his third pin of the season. But the pair of seniors weren't the only ones scoring extra points for the Quakers last night. Penn freshman Mason Lenhard -- the EIWA's No. 1-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds -- recorded the first pin of his collegiate career against Princeton freshman Brian Kirschbaum in the match following Red and Blue heavyweight Mike Faust's 3-2 comeback win over the Tigers' Joe Ryback. Entering the second round of his match with a 9-3 advantage, Lenhard took down Kirschbaum just a minute into the period with a wicked arm move that forced the Princeton freshman's back to the mat with his arms locked spread-eagle. The pin came just 10 seconds later. "He just came in, did something stupid and I just took advantage of it," Lehnard said. Reina was very pleased with the freshman's effort. "I think if he continues on this pace, not only is he going to be in the driver's seat for the [EIWA] championship in his weight, but he's going to be very competitive for All-American honors in the NCAA's as a freshman," Reina said. "That's a big statement." Some Quakers, though, could not make big statements against their Princeton opponents with extra points. Penn 174-pounder Josh Henson, who beat Princeton's Greg Parker in a 10-6 decision, had the most missed chances for scoring extra points for the Red and Blue. Twice in the first round, the Quakers junior had Parker in what seemed to be sure cradle pins, but had to settle for near falls as the Tigers sophomore weasled his way out of both holds. "You've got to take advantage of the situation when you get someone on their back," said Henson, who despite the victory was disappointed in his performance. "You've got to put them away and he just wiggled his way out." Penn co-captain No. 2 Yoshi Nakamura upped his record to 19-0, scoring a major decision by wrestling with high intensity through all seven minutes.

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