Wrestling: Princeton tops George Mason, falls to Jersey foes

The wrestling team produced mixed results this weekend, capturing its first victory of the season against George Mason University but falling to Rutgers in a complete rout on Saturday at Rutgers before returning home to face Rider at home in Dillon Gymnasium.

Two overtime victories by sophomore 141-pounder Zach Bintliff and sophomore heavyweight Bobby Grogan were vital in Saturday’s win against George Mason. The Tigers (1-4) started the meet with a huge emotional boost from Grogan’s victory. Unlike most meets that proceed in order of weight class, all of Saturday’s meets featured the heavyweights as the openers.

Opening the meet for Princeton certainly helped Grogan’s confidence. Grogan went into overtime tied at 1-1 after three periods in which neither wrestler appeared to have an advantage, but a quick reversal in the sudden-death period granted him the win.

Sophomore Garrett Frey, currently ranked No. 13 in the country, had a relatively easy match at 125 pounds, pinning his opponent just before the first period expired to give the Tigers a 9-0 lead. A forfeit at 133 pounds pushed the lead to 15-0, setting the stage for the match at 141 pounds.

After losing his first match in the dual meet last weekend, Bintliff had a huge victory against Binghamton that head coach Chris Ayres picked out as a possible turning point for his season, and he rode the momentum from that win through his victory over George Mason’s Danny Herndon. Like Grogan, he was forced to go to overtime but was able to pull out the last-minute victory.

The points from that win gave the Tigers an 18-0 lead, one that proved too much to overcome for the Patriots. A major decision at 149 pounds and a decision at 157 pounds gave George Mason some hope, but senior captain Travis Erdman’s technical fall victory at 165 pounds put the match effectively out of reach for George Mason. Despite getting points from a pin at 174 pounds and a decision at 197 pounds, George Mason’s forfeiture of the 184-pound weight class guaranteed Princeton the 29-16 victory.

The Rutgers match was a completely different story, as the No. 12 Scarlet Knights proved to be too much for the Tigers to handle. In the George Mason match, Ayres moved three of his wrestlers up a weight class to get the win, but against Rutgers he was forced to forfeit the match at 165 pounds.

Despite putting every wrestler at his natural position, the Tigers were simply overpowered by a Rutgers squad with two top-five wrestlers and quality at every position. The Tigers were also hampered by freshman 174-pounder Ryan Callahan’s illness, forcing a second forfeit at the 174-pound weight class.

All the individual matches were kept relatively close, as Rutgers came away with only one pin and one technical fall at the meet, but none of Princeton’s wrestlers was able to come away with a win in the 42-0 defeat.

The match against Rider demonstrated the Tigers’ propensity for keeping matches close and their difficulty in closing them out. Frey opened the meet with a pin in 2 minutes, 36 seconds that gave the Tigers an early lead, but the next three matches all went the Broncs’ way in close decisions.

Erdman wrestled an impressive match that culminated in a major decision that gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead, but he was followed by two forfeit losses and three close decisions in which Rider pulled away for a 30-10 victory. The Tigers were once again hampered by a hole at 165 pounds that has caused them problems in every meet this year, and that was compounded by Callahan’s illness causing a forfeit at 174 pounds.

In a season that is expected to be important for individual development as much as the team’s growth, the Tigers’ greatest focus is now on translating abilities developed in practice to the mat in meets. The youth of the team is still evident in these early meets, and the wrestlers will have to make quick progress if they hope to move up in the Ivy League this season.