Wrestling pins down perfect season

Intheir last meet before the EIWAs the Quakers picked up two wins in the seniors' final matches at the Palestra. The Penn wrestling team and its 197-pounder Andrei Rodzianko both had little trouble wrapping up undefeated seasons yesterday. The No. 14 Quakers (10-0-2, 4-0-1 Ivy League) disposed of Princeton (7-11, 0-5) and George Mason (7-4) yesterday at the Palestra, 31-7 and 30-13, respectively. Rodzianko, for his part, needed only a combined 3:35 to defeat Princeton's Joe Ryabacki and George Mason's Micah Morris. He tech-falled Ryabacki and pinned Morris to bring his record for the season to a perfect 17-0. "It's nice," Rodzianko said of his undefeated season, "but the important stuff is up ahead. Maybe I'll reflect more after it's all over, but it's still the middle of the season for me. I don't want to be content with anything now." The Quakers, even after posting their first undefeated season in over 50 years, are not content either. "It's the first time [we've been undefeated] in a while," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Even with the strength of our recent teams, none of them had accomplished that. But at this point it's time to focus on the tournaments." Reina tried to both prepare for the EIWAs and give his seniors and backups opportunities to wrestle yesterday. "We got another opportunity to practice some things in competition that we worked on in the practice room," Reina said. "A lot of our seniors were going out trying to pin their opponent in their final dual meet, an aspect of the game we've been working on more." Seniors Rodzianko, Mark Piotrowsky (141 lbs.) and Randall Braunfeld (125 lbs.) all earned pins in their final dual meets at the Palestra. Fellow senior Ryan Slack (174 lbs.) also won big, shutting out Princeton's Scott Pasquini, 13-0. "It was nice to go out that way," Slack said. "It's in the back of my mind now, but maybe it'll all hit me later." Penn used five non-regulars in the two meets, including seniors Braunfeld and Nick Drakos (197 lbs.). The five combined to post a 5-3 record, outscoring opponents 18-11. Braunfeld led the way with two victories. Reina was also impressed with sophomore Joe Chandler's victory over George Mason's Nate Becker at 165 pounds. Chandler trailed 3-2 after two periods, but came back to win 8-4. The biggest match of the day was not a Quakers victory, however. Penn's Jason Nagle (133 lbs.) faced off against EIWA No. 1 Juan Venturi of Princeton. Nagle kept the match close early, as neither wrestler had scored after one period, but Venturi pulled away in the second period en route to a 5-2 victory. Penn suffered a bigger loss the day before, however. Heavyweight Bandele Adeniyi-Bada sustained a hand injury in practice on Saturday that required eight stitches and four hours in the hospital. The Quakers senior watched both meets from the stands with his left arm in a sling but expects to be back at practice by mid-week. "The doctor and the trainer both tell me different things," Adeniyi-Bada said, "but it all depends on just how my hand feels, how it heals itself. I've just got to make sure I don't get behind on my conditioning." According to both Reina and Adeniyi-Bada, the Penn heavyweight will be back for the EIWAs. Rodzianko moved up to heavyweight to fill in for Adeniyi-Bada against Princeton, but Penn forfeited at heavyweight against George Mason. The Quakers lost only four matches on the day. Besides Chris Wynne (174 lbs.), who had a tough 0-2 day, the only other losses were by Nagle and Drakos. Penn's Yoshi Nakamura (157 lbs.) scored two vastly different victories yesterday. He easily defeated Princeton's Albert Pendleton in a 17-6 major decision, but had much more trouble against George Mason's Mark Weader. Tied 2-2 going into the third period, Nakamura scored a quick escape and barely held on for a narrow 3-2 victory. Penn's next meet will be the EIWA tournament at West Point, N.Y., on March 5-6. The EIWAs also serve as qualifiers for Nationals.