Wrestling: Lions dominate decimated grapplers

With an inexperienced lineup competing in Friday’s match against Columbia (6-4, 1-2), the Tigers appeared to lack confidence during their individual matches. Only 141-pound sophomore Adam Krop, ranked 13th nationally, and veteran senior Kurt Brendel, a 197-pounder, earned victories on the day.

“It’s not so much the fact that we lost but more the way we lost,” said sophomore Seth Hazleton, who filled in for junior Zach Bintliff at 149 pounds and had the highlights of the weekend with a pin and decision of his own on Sunday. “It was almost like we wrestled like we had already conceded the victory. I don’t think there was any one guy who was happy with his performance against Columbia.”

With Kolodzik and Bintliff sick with gastroenteritis, freshman 133-pounder Chris Perez out with a torn ACL — an injury he suffered against Harvard — and Frey still watching from the bench, Princeton’s more inexperienced wrestlers, such as Hazleton, knew that they were being called upon to do more than just flop around in the ring like a fish out of water and try to avoid getting pinned.

“[Head] Coach [Chris] Ayres has been saying that we need guys to step up and fill those [empty] roles in the lineup. That was kind on my mentality going into the weekend,” Hazleton said.

Despite the loss to Clarion, the young Tiger squad took a step in the right direction. Hazleton, for one, did more than just fill in for the sick Bintliff. After Krop found himself victim of a controversial defensive pin call, putting Princeton down 15-0, a motivated Hazleton stepped into the ring to face the Golden Eagles’ Cameron Moran. Down 3-2 with two seconds remaining in the second period, “Hazy,” as his fellow wrestlers call him, quickly reversed his opponent and stuck his shoulders to the mat for six points as time expired.

“It was definitely the highlight to my college career so far,” Hazleton said of the pin. “It’s one thing going to open tournaments and winning matches for myself, but it’s so much better to score points for my team and be a part of it … It was cool to help get our momentum going.”

Hazleton also noted that he wasn’t the only one to step up, pointing to freshman 157-pounder Kyle Roddy, who had the near-impossible task of filling the shoes of Kolodzik, who is ranked No. 16 in the nation. In addition, Roddy had to face Clarion’s James Fleming, ranked fourth nationally. Roddy got a quick takedown, but despite holding the narrow 2-0 lead for a significant portion of the match, the freshman ended up losing a major decision. Roddy, like many of his teammates, bounced back against Franklin & Marshall, taking an impressive victory by a score of 2-0.

Sophomore 184-pounder Dan Santoro also had a fantastic Sunday. Santoro, who started off the year with impressive tournament performances but has struggled as of late, won both of his matches by a score of 6-4.

The Tigers look to avenge Friday’s loss to Columbia with a win over Penn this weekend. Hoping to boast a stronger and healthier squad, Princeton takes on Penn in its biggest dual of the season on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside Dillon Gymnasium.