Wrestling coach Zeke Jones has had many firsts so far this season -- and he's due for another this weekend.
When the No. 22 Quakers (USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Poll) travel to Brown this afternoon and Harvard tomorrow, Jones will lead the team into the first Ivy matches of his inaugural season at the helm of the program.
While Ancient Eight wrestling doesn't have any defining characteristics like Big 5 basketball's scrappy play or the Pac 10's high-powered offense, Jones knows that it's still a league with significant history. However, he views the beginning of conference play practically.
"The tradition and history of the Ivy League are obviously tremendous," Jones said. "Having an opportunity to compete for the next two weeks within our conference gives us an indicator of where we're at."
While this weekend's matches against the Bears (4-6) and the Crimson (1-4) may be the first in the Ivy schedule, they are far from the most crucial.
Since the league officially became an athletic conference for wrestling in 1955, Brown has not won any titles and Harvard has won just one. That came in 2000-01, when the Crimson tied Cornell and Penn for the championship. The Quakers, on the other hand, have won the title 11 times.
Since 1986, no team has won an outright conference championship besides Penn and Cornell. It's only fitting then that this year's championship should look like a two-horse race, at least from the start.
The Quakers (7-3) and the Big Red are the only top-25 squads in the conference, with Cornell coming in ranked No. 13.
At least for now, neither Harvard nor Brown -- especially with their pair of losing records -- look particularly threatening to Penn, historically a league powerhouse. As a sign of its recent dominance, the Red and Blue has won 12 straight against Brown and 15 in a row against Harvard.
Still, as any coach would likely say going into a league match, Jones assures that the Quakers are not looking past anybody.
"All of those [Ivy] teams are certainly worthy opponents." Jones said. "That's sort of been our approach throughout the season -- not to decide how good a team is until after we wrestle them."
Penn does, in fact, have some significant experience against Brown this season, although not in the context of a dual meet. The Bears competed in the Keystone Classic and the Brockport Oklahoma Gold, both of which the Quakers were present for.
Last season, Penn defeated the Bears 19-12 at the Palestra, and looks likely to do the same in head-to-head competition on the road this time. The overall series between the two Ivy squads is 27-19 in favor of the Quakers.
The second match of the weekend is probably the most intriguing, especially on an individual level. The headline bout coming in has to be Penn's No. 10 Matt Valenti, a junior, against Harvard's No. 8 Robbie Preston at 133 pounds.
The two have already wrestled once -- two years ago when both competed in the 125-pound weightclass. Valenti came away with the victory by one point in a match that could have gone either way, according to him.
Now, the league's best two wrestlers in their weightclass will clash again, and Valenti knows the stakes.
"It's always exciting to wrestle someone ranked so high," the junior co-captain said. "It always makes for a good match, and it's a good chance for me to show how much I've improved since the last time we wrestled."
Valenti is 21-2 on the season, and has won nine in a row since a loss to now-No. 9 Jake Strayer of Penn State. He has been utterly dominant since that loss.
"You always have to rise to the occasion a little bit, but if I keep wrestling like I've been for the entire season, then I think it will go well," he said of the imminent matchup against Preston.
As a team, the Quakers are looking to rebound from a difficult loss to No. 21 Hofstra, a match that they dropped 25-15.
Ovrall, however, Valenti and the Red and Blue are confident heading into their conference schedule despite their tough loss.
"We're coming off of a tough loss, but if it's anything like the last time we had a tough loss, we'll come back for the rest of the season fired up and ready to make a mark and also win the Ivies," Valenti said.
