Wrestling nears Ivy title

This weekend, the Ivy League champs will be crowned in the Palestra. If you think that it is a little early for the basketball season to be over, you're right. We're not talking about basketball -- men's or women's. We're talking wrestling. Few people realize that wrestling could have such a title. Even fewer non-wrestling fans know that in recent years most Ivy League schools have had top-20 recruiting years. Ivy wrestling does not just mean Penn, Cornell and everyone else. "Harvard and Brown both have decent programs and we can't take them lightly," Penn senior Steve Walker said. In last season's Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships, four of the top six finishers were Ivy League schools, with Penn at No. 1. Friday's dual meet against Harvard at 9:15 p.m. is the first of the three remaining Ivy League meets that are taking place this weekend. Both Cornell and Columbia fell to the Quakers last weekend. While the Big Red are Penn's toughest competition among the Ivies, the Quakers are not looking beyond the upcoming weekend's events. "I'm really excited to decide the Ivy League championship in the Palestra," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Having that opportunity is something that we are really excited about." Friday evening's biggest draw should be Penn tri-captain Josh Bailer's match at the 158-pound weight class. Although Bailer suffered a concussion last Friday night at Cornell, he has practiced all week. Bailer's opponent is Harvard's Ed Mosley. At last year's EIWA's Mosley captured the 158-pound title. Bailer was also an EIWA champion, at 167 lbs. Bailer is wrestling down a weight class this season, so the 167- and 158-pound EIWA champions will meet. "While Harvard has an improving team, our team has been competing against higher competition all year long," Reina said. Saturday afternoon, the Quakers play host to Princeton and Brown. Princeton is the weakest of the three teams Penn is facing this weekend, having nearly lost their program three years ago. After Princeton at noon, Penn moves on to face Brown at 1:30 p.m. Brown's best wrestler is Mike Francesca, who will face Penn's Bart Murphy at 150 pounds. "Bart had a very strong weekend. It should move him up in the EIWA rankings," Reina said. Brown is not ranked nationally, but the Quakers aren't taking any chances with what could be a second consecutive Ivy League Championship. "Competition against Brown is always very intense -- their team fights hard," Reina said. In the process of seeking another Ancient Eight title this weekend, Penn is looking at its earlier matches to get their momentum up. "The most important things is that we get off to a strong start in our first three weight classes," said Reina. The Quakers aren't looking for just another Ivy League title, but a chance to gain some fame as well. Friday's meet is taking place after the Penn men's basketball game. "The real key to the doubleheader with the basketball game is to introduce a lot of students to our team and the sport," Reina said. On Saturday Penn is joined by Olympic gold medalist Kendell Cross, who will be attending the meet. The Red and Blue have a big weekend ahead of them, one with two agendas -- win the Ivies and some fans.