Two leser Ivy teams host No. 14 Wrestling

The Penn wrestling team feels like it has something to prove. The Quakers placed respectably at two of the premier tournaments in the country -- the Midlands and the Tournament of Champions, won the Keystone Classic and beat Ivy rivals Cornell and Columbia. But the Quakers are only ranked second in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association and they are back at their preseason national rank of No. 14. This weekend, Penn travels to Brown and Harvard looking to show the wrestling world that it is a force to be reckoned with. Neither of the teams are strangers to Penn, who saw both at the Ivy League Kickoff Classic in November. Penn finished second at the Kickoff Classic, while Harvard and Brown tied for third. Penn also saw Harvard in action at the Midlands, where Penn finished eighth, well ahead of the Crimson. This weekend's action proves to be another test of Penn's progress. The Quakers handled Columbia easily last weekend, but had some trouble with one of their tougher Ivy opponents, Cornell, which they beat 22-15. "We're pretty confident, but we feel like we have something to prove," heavyweight Bandele Adeniyi-Bada said. "Cornell wasn't our best match as a team." Senior captain Mark Piotrowsky said the Quakers will try to set a more aggressive pace for the matches, something he feels they did not do against Cornell. "We have to go out there [against Brown and Harvard] and wrestle our style," he said. "Cornell is a more defensive team and we wrestled their way. We want to be more offensive and score a lot of points." Penn travels to Brown tonight, but its main focus lies squarely on the Crimson. The Quakers are not overlooking Brown, however, according to freshman Yoshi Nakamura. The Bears have the top-ranked EIWA wrestlers in Pete Poretta at 118 pounds and Tivon Abel at 158 pounds. Harvard is coming off an 18-15 upset over Lehigh, ranked No. 1 in the EIWA. "I have 110 percent confidence that we will come out on top [this weekend]," Nakamura said. "We will come out with a full head of steam and show them who the real No. 1 is in the Ivies and the East. "We don't want to take a back seat to anybody." Highlighting the Quakers stop in Cambridge, where they will also face UMass-Lowell, is Piotrowsky's match at 134 pounds with rival Dustin DeNunzio of Harvard. DeNunzio has had Piotrowsky's number this year, beating him twice already. In the first match, Piotrowsky gave up a pin, but in the second match he took DeNunzio to overtime. Piotrowsky hopes the third time will be the charm Saturday. "This time," said Piotrowsky, "I plan to be more offensive and keep after him." Nakamura showed the utmost confidence in his captain. "I have faith in Pio," said Nakamura. "When it's time for him to step up, I think he will." The Quakers want to get their No. 1 preseason EIWA ranking back from Lehigh, but they will first have to show they can beat Harvard, currently ranked fourth in the East. "We have the talent," Adeniyi-Bada said. "Therefore, we expect to get the results."

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