(Penn - 45, Columbia - 0) (Penn - 21, Cornell - 9)
Penn's wrestling team started off this Ivy League season the way it anticipated it would -- in dominating fashion, followed by a tight win.
The Quakers, ranked No. 8 in the nation, dismantled Columbia to the tune of a 46-0 win Saturday, before pulling out a 21-9 decision over Cornell.
"I think we came out a little bit flat," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "For that last several weeks we've been training really hard... and we really didn't taper for these matches at all."
Reina's captain echoed that sentiment.
"I still think we can do better than that," said senior co-captain Yoshi Nakamura, referring to the Columbia win. "To wrestle to our potential we'd have gotten 10 pins and won, 60-0. We strive to dominate our opponents, and there's definitely room for improvement."
The Red and Blue (5-4, 2-0) showed its improvement over last season when they defeated Cornell, the only Ivy team to defeat them last season and one of the squads with whom they shared league title.
"We knew that would've have many close bouts, but if we wrestled to our potential than the result need not be that close," Reina said. "Eight out of the 10 matches were two points or less, and we won six of those eight."
Penn managed to wrestle in the style preferable to the Big Red and still pull out a reasonably comfortable win.
"We could've spread the lead more," Nakamura said. "They try and hold on and hang in there and never give up the major points. They did a good job of it."
Indicative of the close wins fought out by the Penn team were those won by senior co-captain Rick Springman and sophomore Jeff Eveleth.
Springman, who is No. 3 in the nation in the 174-pound weight class, pulled out a hard fought match over No. 10 Jim Stanes by an 8-6 margin to kick off the match.
The win was also personally important for Springman as it is his 99th career victory at Penn, leaving him one short of joining elite company, including Nakamura and Olympic Gold Medalist Brandon Slay.
"It's a terrific milestone and it's a real credit to his success and consistency," Reina said.
Eveleth pulled out a thrilling win, erasing a 7-3 deficit with only 30 seconds remaining in the match against Alejandro Alvarez to win, 8-7. Alvarez is the second-ranked wrestler in the East.
"It definitely had a big impact on the match," Eveleth said. "We knew it would be a big one in the whole match coming in."
Reina also praised Eveleth's comeback.
"That was a nice job," Reina said. "If he doesn't pull that out the meet's a lot closer. He wrestled hard for seven minutes, and it's a great example of what can happen when you do that."
Penn sophomore Mason Lenhard, No. 8 in the nation at 125, also defeated a ranked opponent in Cornell's Travis Lee, No. 16.
The Quakers continue their Ivy season next weekend against Brown and Harvard with the same confidence with which they entered the Ancient Eight.
"We've been through the tough part of our season, facing... all the top teams," Nakamura said. "I'm not saying the Ivy is a walk in the park -- but we should be dominant."
