Wrestlers anything but idle during winter break

The Penn wrestling team was busy during its winter break, taking part in three events in the hopes of preparing itself for the heart of its schedule in January, February and March. First on the Penn itinerary was the Midlands Open, held December 29-30 at Northwestern University. Five Quakers made the trip -- co-captains Gary Baker and Brian Butler, along with Gonzalo Medina, Joey Allen and Brandon Slay were selected by a Midlands tournament committee to participate. Only Baker finished in the top eight. "I don't think we wrestled as well as we could have," Allen said. While the results were disappointing, they were not unexpected. The Midlands is truly "open", since competition is not limited to collegiate wrestlers. For that reason the event is as tough as the NCAA championships, if not tougher, according to Allen. The Quakers then rolled to their first team victory of the season, winning the Millersville Tournament January 7, before moving to Hampton, Va., Friday and Saturday to compete in the Virginia Duals. Penn finished seventh in the 16-team field, which was loaded with nationally-ranked teams. The Quakers went 3-2 over the weekend. Penn began with a 22-10 first-round victory over Bloomsburg, in which the Quakers swept every match from the 142-pound class and up. But that victory was followed by a 28-9 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota in the quarterfinals. "They pretty much rolled over us," Allen said. The Quakers rebounded with a 27-12 win over Old Dominion in the consolation bracket, highlighted by pins by freshman Randall Braunfeld at 118 and Butler at 190. Next, however, Penn fell 19-14 to Edinboro in a close match that could have gone either way. Penn closed out the meet with a 29-9 win over Northern Iowa. Top performers for the Quakers during the weekend were Butler, Slay and Medina, all of whom went 4-1 over the two days. Overall, the Quakers had a productive winter break. Their continued exposure to top-notch national talent should pay off during the upcoming season, when the Ivy title and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship will be up for grabs. "We sent only five guys to Midlands," Allen said, "so it was really hard to gauge the strength of the team. We wrestled really well at Millersville, and that carried over into the Virginia Duals. We got progressively better."