Wrestling hopes to top EIWA field

Good things are happening to the Penn wrestling team as it nears the end of the season. After a Jan. 29 loss at Cornell, the Quakers closed out the regular season with eight straight dual-match victories, a streak that earned them a No. 25 ranking in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll. Now Penn must try to keep the good things coming. The Quakers have spent all year preparing for the season-ending tournaments. The preparation is now over -- the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships begin today in Annapolis, Md., at Navy. "I think we're ready," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Our training has been going well. I think we're excited to get down to Navy and get into the first round of the tournament." After a somewhat lackluster win over Drexel to end the regular season, Penn has spent the last week working to avoid a repeat performance. "We tried to use it as a wake-up call, a positive," Reina said. "I think they were a little embarrassed by their performance and also happy to have it past us so we could concentrate on this tournament." The Championships are an individual event featuring wrestlers from the 14 EIWA schools. The top two finishers in each class and eight wild-card selections earn trips to the NCAA Championships March 16-18 at the University of Iowa. There is also a team competition within the event, with wrestlers accumulating points for every win and fall. Penn's best results at the EIWAs have come in recent years. In 1993, six Quakers placed in the top six and two advanced to the NCAAs; last year five placed and three reached nationals. Those national qualifiers -- senior Gary Baker (118 pounds), junior Joey Allen (heavyweight) and sophomore Brandon Slay (167) -- are back, so Reina is expecting even better results. "I think that's realistic," Reina said. "Going into the tournament, teamwise we're ranked fifth [in the EIWA], and we have seven individuals who are ranked in the top six, so the predictions are calling for that." Besides Baker, Allen and Slay, Penn's other ranked wrestlers are freshman Mark Piotrowsky (134), senior Gonz Medina (142), junior Clinton Matter (177) and senior Brian Butler, who is ranked first at 190. Both Medina and Butler have placed at EIWAs before, as has junior Brian Eveleth (126). With all of the Quakers' talent and experience, Reina is hoping for a better team result as well. Perhaps even a first-place finish, something Penn has never accomplished in the 90-year history of the event. "It's going to be an exciting tournament, because there's more parity than ever before," Reina said. "There's not much separating the top five or six teams." As evidence, Penn has regular season victories over Navy and Brown, who are ranked second and fourth in the EIWA. Cornell, which gave the Quakers their only Ivy League loss, is sixth. Defending champion Syracuse is ranked first. "I really think the tournament is up for grabs in terms of who's going to challenge for the title," Reina said. "This is a group of individuals who, if they all come together and have their best performances on the same days, they're capable of challenging for the team title."