As college programs gain national prominence it can become difficult to sustain improvement, but over the semester break the Penn wrestling team continued to take strides forward at the Midlands Championships and the Lone Star Duals.
The No. 18 Quakers placed 12th at Midlands and finished 1-2 at the Lone Stars, as they continued to gain respect from the top national programs.
Penn tied a school record by sending four wrestlers to the podium at Midlands, including Matt Herrington, Matt Valenti, Paul Velekei and Matt Feast. Valenti, the No. 2 seed, won his first three matches at 125 pounds to advance to the semifinals, but lost to No. 3 Tom Noto of Hofstra, who he had previously defeated on his way to capturing a title at the Keystone Classic. Valenti, previously undefeated on the season, then fell in two close matches, including a loss to Penn State's Matt Smith, who Valenti defeated earlier in the tournament, on his way to taking sixth place.
Herrington upset the No. 2 seeded Sean Harrington of the New York Athletic Club at 174 pounds to advance to the semifinals before falling to Iowa's Tyler Nixt. After another loss, Herrington again faced Harrington in a battle for fifth place and again pulled out the victory in an 8-7 decision.
Velekei, seeded eighth, won his first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Greg Jones of West Virginia. Velekei finished in eighth, but managed to defeat No. 7 Paul Bradley of Iowa along the way.
Feast also advanced to the semifinals, but like Herrington and Valenti, was stopped there -- Ohio State's Tommy Rolands, who was unseeded, earned a 5-3 decision over Feast. He then lost to No. 2 Pat Cummins of Penn State, before defeating Sunkist's Nik Fekete to take fifth place.
The Quakers finished with 53.5 points, but Illinois took the tournament with 107.5. Iowa State placed second and Penn State, Hofstra and Iowa finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
The Quakers were set to face off in four dual meets while visiting Texas for the Lone Stars on Jan. 3, but only faced three opponents after Boise State withdrew. In their first match against No. 7 Michigan, the Red and Blue fell 28-16, but they came from eight points down in their middle match against Northern Illinois to win, 22-20. In their final match of the day, the Quakers were topped, 25-15, by Central Oklahoma, the defending Division II National Champions.
Valenti and Feast continued their dominance during the dual meet season, as both remained undefeated. Valenti pinned all three opponents he faced at Lone Stars, while Feast, who only participated against Michigan and Northern Illinois, countered with two pins of his own.
