The Columbia wrestling team will take on three teams this weekend as it competes on Friday against Philadelphia schools Penn and Drexel and on Saturday against Princeton. The three opponents will all provide different levels of competition for Columbia, but the Light Blue hopes to be able to use these meets to gain a winning record this season.
Coming off a 24-15 win over the Binghamton Bearcats, the Lions will need to continue this momentum to improve its 4-5 overall record. Its first match against Penn, however, will be tough for the team. Although last season the Lions managed to defeat the Quakers in a 22-12 dual meet victory and in final Ivy League standings, Penn is currently ranked 25th in the NCAA Division I polls, while Columbia is currently unranked. The Quakers, who finished third in the Ivy League in 2007 behind the second-place Lions, also have three nationally ranked wrestlers. Penn is coming off a winning streak over Brown and Harvard and is currently 11-4 on the season in dual meets. Sophomore Rollie Peterkin in the 125-pound group, sophomore Cesar Grajales in the 149-pound weight class, and junior Zach Shanaman in the 165-pound competition will be strong assets for the Quakers.
Drexel, the Lions’ second competitor on Friday, is not performing nearly as well as its neighbor. Currently 9-12 overall, the Dragons are walking off their fourth consecutive loss this season, falling most recently to Hofstra. Ranked 16th in the most recent Division I poll, Hofstra defeated Drexel in a painful 39-0 victory. Drexel does, however, have two nationally ranked wrestlers, so it will be interesting to see if Columbia will be able to handle the competition.
Princeton is perhaps the worst off of all of this weekend’s opponents. Currently 0-14 overall, the Tigers are still looking for a win. Freshman duo Travis Erdman and Tony Comunale are currently 2-0 in Ivy matches, but aside from those two athletes, Princeton does not have a strong foundation. In their most recent loss to Harvard, the Tigers only won two matches, those of the freshmen. Columbia should be able to defeat Princeton in its match this weekend.
Columbia will compete at Penn at 2 p.m. and then move on to Drexel at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Lions will take on the Tigers at Princeton at 1 p.m. on Saturday.