Quakers unhappy with close victory

Last night's wrestling action between Penn and Drexel did not feel like a matchup of two big-city colleges. Instead, it felt like a good old-fashioned high school meet. All the required elements were there. Drexel's Physical Education Athletic Center provided the cozy setting, and fans of both teams rooted intensely. And, of course, the event went back and forth, down to the wire. Each team won five matches, but the Quakers managed to pull out a tough 16-15 win. Things started off as expected for Penn (14-3). Senior co-captain Gary Baker dominated Drexel freshman Mike King for an easy win. The match was stopped midway through the second period with Baker leading 18-3. The large victory gave the Quakers four points instead of the usual three, a key factor in Penn's eventual win. But as in any good high school meet, the underdog home team would not lie down. Just when it appeared the Quakers would run over them, the Dragons (11-8) responded. At 126 pounds, junior Brett Kendall knocked off Penn co-captain Brian Eveleth 7-6, and Drexel was right back in it. "I think one thing that sparked them was that 126- pounds win," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "They felt that gave them a shot of winning it." However, when it appeared the Dragons might have grabbed control of the meet, Penn freshman Mark Piotrowsky took it right back. Piotrowsky's win, followed by senior Gonz Medina's victory, put the Quakers up 10-3. "Piotrowsky did a really good job," Reina said. "Momentum generally was going against us, and yet the freshman Piotrowsky steps right in there and does a great job, winning his match." Drexel still would not die. The Dragons roared back to 10-9 with consecutive wins over Penn's brother tandem of Jeremy and Josh Bailer at 150 and 158 pounds. Drexel even threatened to surge ahead when Scott Morgan led sophomore Brandon Slay 3-1 after two periods. "There was pressure on me -- a lot," Slay said. "It was very important for me to win that match. I knew I had a job to do, to get a win for the team. Slay, who twice lost in sudden-death to Morgan last year, earned three points in the final period with an escape and a takedown, and then rode out the rest of the match to preserve the victory and put Penn up 13-9. "I tried to wrestle a lot better position this match," Slay said, "and I wrestled a lot smarter than I normally do because it was so imperative that I get the win." After Slay's match, a victory by co-captain Brian Butler at 190 put the Quakers ahead 16-12, and when Drexel earned only three points for a win over heavyweight Joey Allen, Penn had its 16-15 triumph. But it was not the performance Reina was looking for in the Quakers' last regular-season meet. What disappointed him the most was the team's lack of aggressiveness, which he guessed was a result of looking ahead. "Overall, I wasn't very happy with the performance," Reina said. "Half of our guys were tentative and gave up early takedowns. That dictated the type of match they ended up wrestling." Slay agreed the match had not gone as the team had expected. "I think definitely as a team we're disappointed with our performance here tonight," Slay said. "We had the potential to blow through this Drexel team tonight. We ended up winning by one point. That's sort of pathetic, I think." Penn now has over a week to prepare for the postseason. The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships will be held at Navy next Friday and Saturday, and top performers there will earn trips to the NCAA Championships March 16-18. "What we need to do is take the negative things that happened tonight and turn them into positive things coming into our EIWA tournament, and use our mistakes to get us focused on that tournament," Slay said. "We have two tournaments left. Basically now, all the practice is over. It's money time."