The Columbia wrestling team (7-7, 3-2 Ivy) has concluded its dual meet season with a strong finish heading into the championships. After winning their last three matches in a row, the Lions are feeling confident heading into the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships this weekend in Lancaster, Pa. They will face off against schools from all around the East coast such as fellow Ivy League schools, Lehigh, Franklin and Marshall, and Rutgers. While the final seedings will not take place until next Tuesday, Columbia will most likely be right in the middle of the pack, ranked around seventh or eighth going into the tournament. Hopefully, the Light Blue will be able to bring everything it has worked for this season together and finish higher than it ever has before.
The team has had a rough season with injuries to many wrestlers, so the fact that it dominated the last three dual meets of the season—against conference rivals Princeton, Harvard, and Brown—is impressive. The Lions won each match by many points with the final scores being 35-12, 26-14, and 23-14, respectively.
While the lineups have been shuffled all season, with several different wrestlers taking on starting roles, the Light Blue will be looking to several team members with national tournament experience to gain points at the EIWA. Namely, Brandon Kinney, CC ’08 in the 125-pound weight class, Anthony Constantino, CC ’08 at 149, Matt Dunn, CC ’10 at 189, and Nick Sommerfield, who is a past conference winner at 197, will be expected to produce. Head coach Brendan Buckley is optimistic about the upcoming tournament, especially considering his team’s recent wins.
“We’re really gunning for the national tournament, and it will be great if we can put together a good weekend going into NCAA’s,” he said. “I am very pleased with how the dual meet season ended and it came at a very good time. We really just dominated the last couple of matches.”
The Lions continued their hard training right through the tournament, with swim workouts a few mornings a week in addition to normal practices in the afternoons. The championships will be held at Franklin and Marshall College from March 8-9 in Lancaster, Pa.