Wrestling hosts Lehigh for EIWA's top tourney seed

The Quakers also head to princeton for a tre-meet with George Mason tomorrow. The Penn wrestling team, currently ranked 14th in the nation, can take a confident step toward securing its destiny in two leagues this weekend. With a win at Princeton on Saturday, the Quakers (7-4, 4-0 Ivy) can capture their fifth straight Ivy League championship and their sixth in seven years. And with a win over Lehigh at the Palestra on Sunday at 2 p.m., the Red and Blue will earn the top seed at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships, which will be held March 3 and 4 in Annapolis, Md. "We're really starting to focus in on the EIWAs and the NCAAs now," senior Brett Matter said. The highlight of the weekend will no doubt be a visit to the Palestra from No. 11 Lehigh (17-2) on Sunday. With EIWA bragging rights on the line, the Engineers will take a crack at dethroning the four-time defending champions. "This is one we've been keying on all year," Lehigh coach Greg Strobel said. "I would imagine Penn has too." The importance of this intra-state rivalry aside, the Penn wrestlers are conducting business as usual in preparation for Sunday's showdown. "This is just another dual meet [for us]," Matter said. "We're going to go out and wrestle hard." Strobel's 11th-ranked Engineers are fast approaching the 20-win plateau with an eight-match winning streak and a school-record 17 dual match victories this season. The only two blemishes on their season came at the hands of No. 8 Edinboro and No. 10 Michigan. Included in Lehigh's list of victims are two opponents that defeated the Red and Blue -- unranked Purdue and No. 13 Arizona State. "On paper this looks like a real good showdown," Strobel said. "[Penn and Lehigh] both beat Penn State this year, and we both beat Cornell by comparable scores." Much of Lehigh's success on Sunday will hinge on the status of one of their best wrestlers, junior Dave Esposito. Esposito, ranked fourth nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, has been sidelined with an ankle injury since an NWCA All-Star match loss to Adam Tirapelle of Illinois. His availability for Sunday is uncertain, and Lehigh hopes to have the meet in hand by the time the 149-pound match is contested so that they can more comfortably go with capable backup Troy Minarovic. "If we have Esposito, it would be a five-five split," Strobel said. "Without Esposito, I see it going six-four in Penn's favor. For us to beat them, we'll have to get some upsets." Recent history would seem to give the Red and Blue a slight edge in the Palestra on Sunday. For one, Penn has not lost a dual meet at home since a defeat at the hands of North Carolina in 1997. Lehigh, who leads the overall series 30-6-2, has also not won a dual meet at the Palestra since 1957. Since the rivalry was renewed in 1996, the Quakers have won three out of four against the Engineers, including a key 21-18 victory last February at Lehigh's Grace Hall. Last year's win was the first by a Red and Blue squad at Lehigh in over 50 years. Before the Engineers come to town, Penn will be looking to ride the wave of its current five-match winning streak with a crucial tri-meet against both Princeton (2-9, 0-4) and George Mason (4-2) on Saturday. The Red and Blue are already assured of at least a tie for the Ivy crown, having defeated Cornell earlier in the season. With a defeat of the Tigers Saturday, Penn can have the title for itself. Princeton is in the middle of yet another in a string of rebuilding years, but the Tigers have been making steady progress in recent weeks. They are led by freshman Joe Clark, who has 21 wins and is currently ranked sixth in the EIWA at 141 pounds. Clark's likely opponent on Saturday will be another freshman, Penn's Jody Giuricich, who has notched thirteen wins of his own. Scott Pasquini has been a standout at 174 this year for the Tigers. This past Monday, he clinched Princeton's win over Duquesne with a stirring technical fall. Still, he has not yet been able to break through into the crowded EIWA rankings. The conference is home to six nationally ranked wrestlers -- national No. 2 Penn junior Rick Springman among them -- who have made it tough for Pasquini to gain much recognition. The Tigers, however, have had some of their best members out of action this year and should be more of a factor in the Ivy League next season. In Saturday's meet, Penn looks to be a heavy favorite at just about every weight class and, with a win, will improve its Ivy record over the last six years to a whopping 33-1-1. The Quakers, though, need to make sure that they are not looking ahead to Sunday's showdown with Lehigh. "There might be a little focus on Lehigh," Matter said. "But we can't do that. We've got to wrestle each match as it comes."