PRINCETON, N.J. – The Columbia wrestling team posted nine top-eight performances during today's Princeton Open.
 
First-year Matt Kazimir led the way with a third place finish in the 133 pound weight class, while classmate Danny Fongaro finished fourth at 141, and Dan Reed was fifth at 157.
 
Kazimir may have been the most dominant wrestler throughout all 10 weight classes. The rookie finished his first collegiate tournament with three wins coming via fall, and a fourth from a tech fall. The Auburn Township, Ohio, native started his day with first round pins against Tyler Delaware from Old Dominion and Cole Wyman from West Point, before besting Princeton's Jonathan Gomez with a 17-0 tally. Kazimir was upended by the 133-pound champion in the semifinals, Purdue's Ben Thornton, then pinned Steven Simpson from Old Dominion in the third place match.
 
Fongaro had a similar day to Kazimir's, ending in the third place match with three wins and two losses to his name. After a 19-1 thrashing of Princeton's Noah Ariam in his first match, Fongaro topped Ariam's teammate Pat D'Arcy, 6-5, in the second match. The rookie also came away with a 9-4 win against Austin Harry from West Point before dropping his final two 141-pound bouts of the day.
 
For Reed, a first round loss to Larry Early from Old Dominion was overcome with four straight victories to his name, ending with a win over Gino Fluri from Rutgers in the fifth place match.
 
At 165 pounds, Max Elling posted a sixth place performance, including four straight wins, headlined by a pin against JC Broems from Sacred Heart.
 
Sam Webster and Riley Jacops both went 2-2 at 149 pounds, then did not face each other in the seventh place match. A similar run went down in the heavyweight bracket, with Daniel Herman and Dan Conley going 3-2 on the day. The other placer for Columbia was Joe Manchio, who claimed eight at 3-2 in the 125-pound bracket.
 
Columbia has next weekend off before traveling to Army for the Black Knight Invite on Sunday, Nov. 18.
 
Results

125 – Mike Kelly
W, Richie Koehler (Rider), 11-1
L, Gabriel Townsell (Stanford), Fall (4:20)
W, Sean Foley (Rider) Fall (2:58)
L, Joe Manchio (Columbia), 9-2
 
125 – Joe Manchio (8th)
L, Jonathan Tropea (Rider), 9-5
W, Nick Denora (Rutgers), 4-2
W, Michael Kelly (Columbia), 9-2
W, King Sandoval (Maryland), 3-1
L, Gabriel Townsell (Stanford), 9-7
 
133 – Matt Kazimir (3rd)
W, Tyler Delaware (ODU), Fall (1:50)
W, Cole Wyman (West Point), Fall (1:45)
W, Jonathan Gomez (Princeton), 17-0
L, Ben Thornton (Purdue), 4-2
W, Steven Simpson (ODU), Fall (1:51)
 
141 – JP Ascolese
L, Alec White (Purdue), 7-4
L, Robbie Cleary (Rutgers), Fall (3:44)
 
141 – Chris Scorese
W, Danny Bertoni (Maryland), 11-6
W, Zach Glenn (West Point), 21-8
L, Gerard Daly (Sacred Heart), 8-7
L, Peter Ogunsanya (West Point), Fall (4:12)
 
141 – Christian Briody
L, Danny Moran (Lehigh), 13-4
W, Adrian Nelson (Sacred Heart), 7-3
L, Corey Shie (Wet Point), 12-3 (SV-1)
 
141 – Danny Fongaro (4th)
W, Noah Arjam (Princeton), 19-1
W, Pat D'Arcy (Princeton), 6-5
W, Austin Harry (West Point), 9-4
L, Real Woods (Stanford), 7-2
L, Troy Stanich (Stevens), 18-2
 
141 – Tom Miers
W, Jesse Rodgers (Rider), Fall (6:29)
L, Sa'Derian Perry (ODU), 16-1
L, Michael Doetsch (Maryland), 17-1
 
149 – Sam Webster (T-7th)
L, Brett Kaliner (Stevens), 17-1
W, Chrsitian Innarella (Princeton), 7-2
W, Taylor Brown (West Point), Fall (2:28)
L, Markus Hartman (West Point), 18-0
 
149 – Riley Jacops (T-7th)
W, AJ Burkhart (Lehigh), 5-2
L, Requir Van Der Merwe (Stanford), 4-1
W, Noah Hanau (West Point), 5-2
L, Parker Filius (Purdue), 7-4
 
149 – Cole Corrigan
L, Kenan Carter (ODU), 8-2
L, Markus Hartman (West Point), 9-0
 
157 – Sam Ward
L, Conor Melbourne (Princeton), 11-2
W, TJ Calas (Sacred Heart), 7-2
W, John Pipa (Princeton), 9-3
L, Gino Fluri (Rider), 16-7
 
157 – Dan Reed (5th)
L, Larry Early (ODU), 10-7
W, Joe Casey (Rider), 9-2
W, Chris Mauriello (Hofstra), Inj. (2:22)
W, Kevin Buddock (ODU), 8-3
W, Gino Fluri (Rider), 9-5
 
165 – Laurence Kosoy
L, Cael McCormich (West Point), 10-6
W, Chase Anklam (USMAPS), 21-6
W, Jack Bond (ODU), Fall (1:18)
W, Dom Mandarino (Stanford), 4-3
L, Dale Tiongson (Princeton), 5-4 (TB-1)
 
165 – Max Elling (6th)
L, Dale Tiongson (Princeton), 10-2
W, JC Broems (Sacred Heart), Fall (1:30)
W, Idris White (Maryland), 13-11
W, Tanner Webster (Purdue), 10-2
W, Seldon Wright (ODU), 7-4
L, Dale Tiongson (Princeton), 9-5
 
174 – Donny Donnelly
W, John Ciaramella (Rutgers), Fall (6:52)
L, Sage Heller (Hofstra), 22-4
W, Chris Zaccaria (Sacred Heart), 6-0
L, Sahm AbdulRazzaq (USMAPS), Fall (2:05)
 
184 – Joe Franzese
W, Mike Oxley (Hofstra), Fall (3:39)
L, Kevin Parker (Princeton), 7-1
W, Max Lyon (Purdue), 14-2
 
197 – Sam Wustefeld
L, Ethan Laird (Rider), 12-2
L, Naze Haddad (Hofstra), 9-3
 
197 – Michael Bulkin
L, David-Brian Whisler (Maryland), 6-2
L, Brian Bonino (Columbia), 3-1 (SV-1)
 
197 – Brian Bonino
W, William Baldwin (ODU), 10-0
L, Alex Hopkins (West Point), 3-1
W, Michael Bulkin (Columbia), 3-1 (SV-1)
L, Chris Weiler (Lehigh), 7-0
 
HWT – Daniel Herman (T-7th)
W, Zach Maxwell (West Point), 7-3
W, Omar Haddad (Hofstra), 2-1 (SV-1)
L, Haydn Maley (Stanford), 3-2
W, Jacob Aven (Purdue), 2-1
L, Ben Sullivan (West Point), 2-0
 
HWT – Danny Conley (T-7th)
W, Reggie Poulin (Hofstra), Fall (4:52)
W, Alex Esposito (Rutgers), 8-7
L, Will Hilliard (ODU), 3-2
W, Gavin Berkley (West Point), 3-2
L, Ali Wahab (ODU), 10-1