Wrestling: Lions Break Top 25 in Rankings

For the wrestling team, the 2006-07 season was one for the history books. Midway through the season, the Lions emerged on the national stage, gaining the first top-25 national ranking in team history. Columbia featured three nationally ranked wrestlers on the roster, and the Light Blue amassed a 3-2 record in Ivy League play and a 7-5 record overall.

Columbia started the season off with a stunning win at the Keystone Classic tournament in Philadelphia on Nov. 19, placing first among ten teams. The Light Blue continued the momentum on a California road trip during winter break, racking up four straight wins against Stanford, UC Davis, Cal State Bakersfield, and San Francisco State. With a 4-0 record to start the dual-meet season, the team returned to New York ranked 24th in the nation. Seniors Matt Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, and Justin Barent were each within the top 20 for their classes nationwide. After taking first place at the New York State Championships on Jan. 20, the team looked forward to its league season.

But for the Lions, maintaining the winning streak turned out to be easier said than done. After a series of close individual matches, Columbia fell to Lehigh 19-16 on Jan. 28. The loss seemed to be emotionally draining for the Lions, who dropped the next two league meets-an upset by Army and a rout at the hands of Ivy powerhouse Cornell. It took a win against the hapless Princeton Tigers on Feb. 9 for the Lions to regain their confidence, and they followed by knocking off 16th-ranked Penn the next night, giving Columbia its first win over the Quakers in fourteen years. The Light Blue split the last two league meets of their season, losing to Brown and beating Harvard, finishing the season tied with Penn for second place in the Ivy League behind Cornell. A fifth-place finish by the Lions at the EIWA Championships sent four wrestlers to the national tournament: Palmer, senior Devin Mesanko, junior Brandon Kinney, and freshman Matt Dunn. Only Palmer lasted into the final stretches of the tournament, capturing eighth place at 174 pounds and securing All-American honors.

Palmer also led the team in wins, going 5-0 in Ivy League meets and 8-1 overall. Barent and Kinney each went 4-1 in league play while amassing 8-2 and 5-3 overall records for the season. As freshmen, Kevin Lester and Dunn had strong individual performances, providing a glimpse of what the future holds in store for Columbia wrestling. With a national ranking, a second-place Ivy record, and an All-American to boot, this season did much to raise the profile of wrestling on Columbia's campus.