Wrestling's upset bid at Lehigh comes up short

Penn wrestler Jody Giuricich returned to the lineup in style yesterday. Sidelined for two weeks with a knee injury, the senior captain won by fall 52 seconds into his match against Lehigh's Aaron Kling. For the Quakers (8-3, 5-1 Ivy), however, Giuricich's victory climaxed a weekend that quickly slid into falling action. The Red and Blue, ranked No. 16 nationally, defeated Princeton (5-12, 1-4 Ivy), 25-15, at the Palestra Saturday before losing to the No. 3 ranked Engineers (17-3), 24-18, in Bethlehem, Pa. The Quakers rested three of their starters against the Tigers. Princeton's Charles Wiggins started the dual meet with a 7-4 victory over Penn's Richard Ferguson at 165 pounds. Paul Velekei, with a 13-8 decision at 197 pounds, jumpstarted the Red and Blue after a slow start. The Quakers won the following five matches. Penn heavyweight Matt Feast dominated Princeton's Joe Looke, 16-3. Three of Feast's points came on stalling penalties. After Feast, two of the Quakers' lauded freshmen forced back-to-back falls at 125 and 133 pounds. Matt Valenti pinned Princeton's Kenny Chew in 1:29 and Matt Eveleth did the same to Seth Dunnipace in 1:32. "I think [the Princeton wrestlers] were stalling a lot and trying to kept it close," Eveleth said. "We just stuck to our game plan and made it happen." The Quakers did not lose again until the last match of the day when Penn's Brett Vanderveer dropped a 4-3 decision to Milo Adams. "I think that to a certain extent, it looked like some of our guys were looking past today to [Sunday]," Penn head coach Roger Reina said after the Princeton match. "They pulled two big upsets at 141 against Doug McGraw and at 157 against Brett Vanderveer." Eveleth agreed that the Quakers' performance was not indicative of their potential. "I think we're a much better team than the score," he said. "They caught a couple of our guys off-guard, but we came out with a win just like we do every year." The Red and Blue resumed competition the following afternoon. Valenti, currently No. 15 nationally, won 3-2 to open the day. After Eveleth lost to No. 7 Corey Cooperman, McGraw took a 5-0 decision. The No. 16 wrestler in his weight class, McGraw was happy to rebound from his previous day's upset loss. "It felt pretty good," McGraw said. "I've been having a pretty good couple weeks of practice, but [Saturday] I felt awful. "It made me ask a lot of questions about where I was at, but I think I answered them today." The Quakers continued to win in impressive fashion as Giuricich pinned Kling. In the next two matches, the Penn wrestlers got to face the Engineers' own highly-touted freshmen. Vanderveer was pitted against Derek Zinck, and Penn's Aaron Bethea took on Troy Letters. Zinck and Letters are No. 8 and No. 3 nationally. Vanderveer lost by fall, Aaron Bethea by technical fall. "I knew that the middle of the lineup was really tough," Penn's Matt Herrington said. The Quakers' 174-pounder, himself No. 17 in the country, lost to Brad Dillon, who is No. 9. "I made him look a lot better than he is," Herrington said, citing his average pre-match warmup as a contributing factor to the 10-5 defeat. "He didn't do anything I didn't expect him to do," he added. "It gives me a bit of motivation to work really hard for the [Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships]. "If I wrestle real well, it'll be me against Dillon again in the [EIWA] finals." The dual-meet against Lehigh concluded the Quakers' dual meet season. For the first time in seven years, the Quakers do not sit atop the Ivy League standings. That honor, instead, belongs to Cornell. The Big Red's 22-10 victory over the Quakers earlier this season, Penn's first Ancient Eight loss in seven years, proved to be the difference in the Ivy League standings.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.