Jan. 29, 2005
Still smarting from Friday's disappointing loss to Penn in the Ivy League opener, the Columbia wrestling team bounced back with style, defeating Princeton, 32-13 at University Gym to even its Ivy record at 1-1.
"We wrestled well," head coach Brendan Buckley said. "I really liked the way we bounced back from the Penn match."
Columbia appeared headed for difficulty in the opening bout, at 157 pounds, when senior Golden Baker (Moses Lake, Wash.), substituting for the injured Devin Mesanko (Toms River, N.J.), fell behind Alex Enriquez, 4-1. But Baker fought back to tie the bout at 4-4, and then powered to a 12-5 victory. Sophomore Matt Palmer (Germantown, Md.), who had missed much of the season with injuries, pinned Charlie Wiggins in 5:39 at 165 pounds to give Columbia a 9-0 lead.
"Golden was getting beat, but he stayed in the match and got the victory," Buckley said, beaming. "Coaches love seeing that."
Sophomore Kirk Davis (Pismo Beach, Calif.) won his first bout of the year at 184, 13-8 over Jack Fleming. However, it was sandwiched between two Princeton wins, at 174 and 197. The latter, an 18-4 major decision by Jake Butler over Jed Wade (Wasilla, Alaska), allowed Princeton to draw within five at 12-7.
Senior Bart Seemen (Suffern, N.Y.) gave Columbia some breathing room when he pinned Kristopher Berr in the heavyweight bout, in just 21 seconds, as the Lions took an 18-7 lead. They extended it to 32-7 on a Princeton forfeit at 125 and major decisions by first-year Derek Francavilla (Scotch Plains, N.J.) at 133, 8-0, and sophomore Anthony Constantino (Kirtland, Ohio) at 141, 14-4. Princeton scored the last points on a fall by Andrew Iannuzzi.
Three of the Columbia bouts were wrestled by back-ups to the usual starters, with Baker and Francavilla both winning. "It really helps us when the back-up guys do well," Buckley noted. "When our starters are pushed by their teammates, it helps the starters."
Columbia remains at home next Saturday, February 5, to meet Cornell, the Ivy League leader, ranked 11th nationally. The 7 PM match is Columbia's Wrestling Homecoming.
The results (# - EIWA ranking):
#6 COLUMBIA 32, PRINCETON 13
157 - Golden Baker, Columbia, dec. Alex Enriquez, 12-5
165 - #2 Matt Palmer, Columbia, pinned Charlie Wiggins, 5:39
174 - Matt DeNichilo, Princeton, dec. Sven Hafemeister, 6-4
184 - Kirk Davis, Columbia, dec. Jack Fleming, 13-8
197 - #6 Jake Butler, Princeton, dec. Jed Wade, 18-4
Hwt - Bart Seemen, Columbia, dec. Kristopher Berr, 0:21
125 - #3 Jeff Sato, Columbia, won by forfeit
133 - Derek Francavilla, Columbia, dec. Greg Redman, 8-0
141 - #6 Anthony Constantino, Columbia, dec. Matthew Piselli, 14-4
149 - Andrew Iannuzzi, Princeton, pinned Arash Najafi, 2:59
January 29, 2005, at New York, N.Y. (University Gym)
Records: Columbia 4-2, 1-1 Ivy; Princeton 4-5, 0-2 Ivy
