Sports Briefs: Monday, November 15, 1999

Wrestling begins year Wrestling begins year with win at Ivy Kickoff For the third year in a row, the Quakers entered the tournament as favorites. Unlike in 1997 and 1998, however, this year the Red and Blue grapplers pulled out the win. "It was a good gauge of where we are," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "We had some returning standouts come through and had some fine performances from young guys as well." Penn senior Brett Matter was named the Classic's Outstanding Wrestler on the strength of a 4-0 mark and the 165-pound title. Senior heavyweight Bandele Adeniyi-Bada won his third straight Classic title with a 12-7 finals win over Brown's Bronson Lingamfelter, avenging a surprise loss that he suffered in last year's EIWA Championship. Senior Mike Gadsby and freshman Chris Hanlon also captured top honors in the 184- and 141-pound classes, respectively. Complementing Hanlon's college debut was the performance of freshman Jody Giuricich, a runner-up in the 149-pound class. In the semifinals, Giuricich turned heads by beating Harvard's Max Odom, a fellow freshman. Odom, a first-team high school All-American, pulled off a rare feat in his final year of high school, capturing national championships in both freestyle and folkstyle wrestling. Penn will host the fifth annual Keystone Classic this coming Sunday. -- Will Ulrich