Wrestlers win tournament

The Penn wrestling team won yesterday's inaugural Keystone Classic at the Palestra in convincing fashion, placing wrestlers in the finals in seven of 10 weight classes and winning four individual titles. Led by tournament champions Ben Hata (118 pounds), Brian Eveleth (126), Brett Matter (142) and Clinton Matter (177), the Red and Blue finished with a total of 160 team points. Army finished second with 124.5 points, while Virginia, ranked 27th in the country, placed third with 105 points. "We all expected to do this," said co-captain Clinton Matter, who, along with Seton Hall's Emilio Nardone, was voted Champion of Champions by the 10 individual champions. "This is not a surprise to me. Hopefully this is just the first of many good things that will happen for us." "We showed some really good signs of winning in critical situations," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "We had some pretty good come-from-behind wins." One such win took place in the 177-pound semifinals, when Clinton Matter fought back from a deficit to defeat Seton Hall's powerful Kesner DuFresne, 8-7. Matter then went on to major decision Jim Villa of Central Connecticut 15-4 in the finals. "In the semis, I didn't wrestle my match. In the finals, I went out there and felt solid and was able to take my shots." Eveleth, Penn's other captain, dominated his weight class with superior strength and mat skills. He defeated Central Connecticut's Isaiah Cardinale 6-2 in the finals. "I wanted to come out and set the tone for the rest of the year," he said. While Matter and Eveleth didn't surprise many people in winning their respective weight classes, Hata and Matter's younger brother, Brett, turned some heads en route to their first-ever collegiate tournament titles. Hata, a sophomore, was the Quakers' third-string 118-pounder last year. After the graduation of co-captain Gary Baker, and after defeating teammate Randall Braunfeld in wrestle-offs last week, Hata earned the team's starting spot. Hatta advanced to the finals, where he defeated Central Connecticut's Rodney Frey 15-10. Using a lightning-quick single-leg, he put on a takedown clinic that left Frey bewildered and unvictorious. "There's a lot of people I had to prove myself to today," Hata said. "I wanted to make my presence known and have a good tournament." Highly-touted freshman Brett Matter defeated four Army opponents on the day. In the finals, he decisioned Army's Eric McAllister, 7-5, to join big brother Clinton on the victory platform. "I knew he was very talented and a good athlete, but it's hard to determine how good someone is just from practice," said Penn assistant Brian Dolph. "Today I realized how good he is and can be?He has all-American potential. Maybe even this year or next." Mark Piotrowsky (134), Alex Boisvert (150) and Josh Bailer (167) were Penn's other finalists. Piotrowsky lost a hard-fought 3-2 battle to Nardone and Boisvert lost 4-2 to Army's Brad Fenske. Bailer was pinned in 1:28 by American's Brett Ruth. Braunfeld (118), Bart Murphy (150) and freshman surprise Andre Rodzianko (190) each placed third in their respective weight classes. Sean O'Hara (134), Eric Stultz (150), and Ryan Slack (167) took fourth, and Nick Drakos (167), Keith Reynolds (190) and Taki Miller (275) took sixth. For Penn, the 1995 Keystone Classic will hopefully be a stepping stone towards being recognized as one of the nation's top-20 teams. "It was very satisfying to beat Virginia," said Eveleth. "Maybe now we'll get the respect we deserve."