Lions Set To Host American In Home Opener

Sunday, January 19

New York, N.Y.

1:00 p.m.

Columbia University

American

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/David Collins

1/18/2020 1:37:00 PM | Wrestling

Watch (ESPN+)2019-20 Columbia Stats

Columbia Wrestling will open up the Blue Gym for the first time this season, on Sunday, Jan. 19, with a visit from American.

NEW YORK – For the first time in the 2019-20 season Columbia Wrestling (1-2, 1-1 EIWA/0-1 IVY) will finally open up the University "Blue" Gym for its home opener as the Lions welcome onto Morningside the American Eagles (2-4, 2-2 EIWA) for a Sunday, Jan. 19 afternoon Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association dual meet set to get going at 1 p.m.

HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW
vs. American – Watch (ESPN+) | Follow (@ColumbiaWR)

SPLITTING THE DUALS: Columbia opened the EIWA and Ivy League dual meet slate the previous weekend, when the Lions spilt a pair of road matches, first taking down Binghamton, 24-15, on Jan. 10, before falling to No. 19 Cornell, 27-12, on Jan. 11. At Binghamton, sophomore Sam Wustefeld nailed a late takedown in the third period of his match to help lock up the win, while first years Andrew Garr, Kyle Mosher and Angelo Rini, along with sophomore No. 29 Joe Manchio and junior Riley Jacops all collected wins to power the Lions to victory.

While at Cornell, despite strong efforts throughout the lineup, only Wustefeld and Mosher were able to collect wins, with Mosher recording a win via fall at 6:42.

RANKED LIONS: Through the opening two months of the season, sophomore Matt Kazimir (16-4) and Manchio (16-5) have both been impressive, and their strong start has been recognized by the national polls, with Manchio sitting at No. 31 at 125 pounds and Kazimir coming in at No. 24 at 141 pounds in the latest Trackwrestling rankings.

Overall, both Kazimir and Manchio have been off to strong starts, with Kazimir already taking a pair of tournament titles (Princeton Open [Nov. 3], Patriot Open [Dec. 7]) and Manchio knocking off the then-ranked No. 14 125-pounder from Stanford and taking the Roadrunner Open (Nov. 24) title all in the same weekend. Along with those tournament wins, both Kazimir and Manchio lead the Lions in wins so far this season with Kazimir and Manchio's 16 wins leading the way.

MOSH IMPRESSES: Mosher (157 pounds) has had himself a solid start to his collegiate career, going 15-9 over the first three months, that includes a 2-1 record in dual meets, four wins by major decision and four wins via fall. But more recently, Mosher has hit his stride, winning both his matches over the previous weekend, including a win via fall over Adam Santoro at Cornell, and the Columbia first-year has won four out of his last five, with a pair of wins at the Midlands Championships (Dec. 29, 2019) among those four wins.

WHAT THE EAGLES BRING: American enters Sunday's match sitting at 2-4 (2-2 EIWA) having dropped their first match of the weekend at No. 12 Lehigh, 33-8, with that match going on Friday, Jan. 17. In that match, the Eagles' two wins came from a 20-5 TF victory by No. 11 Kizhan Clarke, at 149 pounds, and a 6-3 decision win at 141 pounds by No. 27 Sal Profaci.

Historically, Columbia holds a 7-2 advantage between the two programs, as this will be the tenth meeting all-time between the Lions and the Eagles. American won last season's matchup in Washington, D.C. with a 26-10 victory, and the last time the Eagles made the trip to Morningside was in 2015, where the Lions took a 23-16 victory.

On the Eagles squad, four student-athletes carry a national ranking from Trackwrestling into Sunday's match, with Clarke holding the highest ranking among the bunch, sitting at No. 11 at 149 pounds. At 125 pounds, Gage Curry is currently No. 24, at 141 pounds Profaci sits at No. 27 and at 184 pounds, Tanner Harvey is ranked No. 16 in the nation.

PROBABLE LINEUP

VS. AMERICAN (JAN. 19)
New York, New York (University "Blue" Gym)

125 | No. 31 Joe Manchio (Columbia) vs. No. 24 Gage Curry (American)
133 | Angelo Rini -or- Trent Svingala (Columbia) vs. Daniel Kidd (American)
141 | No. 24 Matt Kazimir -or- Chris Scorese (Columbia) vs. No. 27 Sal Profaci (American)
149 | Andrew Garr (Columbia) vs. No. 11 Kizhan Clarke (American)
157 | Kyle Mosher (Columbia) vs. Elijah Murphy -or- Cole Painter -or- Ethan Karsten (American)
165 | Riley Jacops (Columbia) vs. Tim Fitzpatrick -or- Anthony Wokasch (American)
174 | Lennox Wolak (Columbia) vs. Ben Root -or- Connor Bourne -or- Conner Allshouse (American)
184 | Joe Franzese -or- Michael Baker (Columbia) vs. No. 16 Tanner Harvey (American)
197 | Sam Wustefeld (Columbia) vs. Will Jarrell (American)
285 | Danny Conley (Columbia) vs. Niko Camacho (American)

FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Wrestling by following the Lions on Twitter (@ColumbiaWR), Instagram (@columbiawr) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).