Wrestling: Talented freshmen to be tested in 1st home match

With the strongest recruiting class in years, some of the team’s spots have been in flux throughout the preseason. The Central Jersey Open was a good warmup tournament for many of the wrestlers, and four of them came home with titles. The freshmen all had strong showings, foreshadowing their performances at the next two tournaments.

The Binghamton Open was another success, with the team winning considerably more matches overall than it did last year and three wrestlers placing in their respective weight class. Two of those wrestlers, freshmen Adam Krop and Ryan Callahan, have had strong preseason victories in all three tournaments.

The Tigers also had four wrestlers place in the Keystone Open. Krop captured first place in the 133-pound division, while sophomore Garrett Frey finished in the top three for the third time this preseason.

After achieving monumental improvements last season and recruiting a talented freshman class this year, the Tigers are under pressure to take the next step. The strong showings of multiple wrestlers in the preseason, however, have made it much harder for the coaches to choose the starters.

The biggest theme in the undecided weight classes this season is that of freshmen challenging upperclassmen for their spots. This competition will play out over the next few matches before everything is settled.

This weekend will provide an indicator for the squad as it faces two teams that have performed similarly to Princeton in the offseason but are usually huge challenges for the Tigers. Liberty University placed just one spot ahead of the Tigers at the Keystone Open, taking seventh, but it was missing a good portion of its starting roster and did not put its best foot forward at the tournament.

With most of their best wrestlers returning to action following a two-week rest period, the Liberty Flames will be looking to assert themselves against the Tigers as they have in the past. This season, however, Princeton is uniquely prepared for the challenge with a powerful lineup in the lower weight divisions, where Liberty is strongest.

Much of Liberty’s lineup, however, is still undetermined. Due to the team’s large size, it has multiple redshirted wrestlers who have competed in the offseason. But the Tigers will undoubtedly have to contend with both Scott Clymer at 149 pounds and Josh Pelletier at heavyweight, two of the Flames’ strongest performers. Both have placed in this preseason, while many of the Flames’ other wrestlers have been recovering from injury.

After finishing up against Liberty, the Tigers will face off against Binghamton later in the evening. The Bearcats finished 21st in the NCAA team tournament and won the Colonial Athletic Association championship last year. Binghamton will come into Friday’s matchup with 11 wrestlers having placed in two prior tournaments. The team is returning seven starters from last season and poses a serious threat.

Justin Lister is Binghamton’s best wrestler, ranked No. 12 in his 149-pound weight class. Despite being unranked in last year’s NCAA tournament, he managed to make a deep run in the tournament and ended up finishing fourth.

Matt Kaylor is one of the Bearcats’ other top wrestlers. He is currently ranked No. 18 in the 165-pound weight class. Nate Schneidel is Binghamton’s starter at 184 pounds and is also ranked No. 18 in his weight class.

This season promises to be a chance for several individuals on the Princeton wrestling team to step up.

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Unlike last season, when there were no outside expectations, this year the Tigers will be watched and will need to improve. The squad has many freshmen ready to make an immediate impact, and this weekend could be a good sign of which of them will succeed.