Quakers look to repeat as Keystone champs

The reigning Keystone Classic Champs are poised for their first test at home.

On Saturday, the Penn wrestling team hosts nine squads which are looking to knock off the defending champs at the Palestra. American, Appalachian State, Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Mercyhurst, Rider and VMI come to town in hopes of success against each other and the No. 14 Quakers.

Penn, led by second-year coach Zeke Jones, feels prepared to handle the challenge.

"The Keystone Classic has historically been a good competition," Jones said. "It gives us an opportunity to wrestle against some of the better teams in the East."

The Quakers look to ride the momentum of an impressive performance at the Michigan State Open last week. At the event, Matt Herrington brought home first place in the 174-pound weightclass. While Herrington and defending national champion Matt Valenti are not wrestling at the Classic this weekend because they are preparing for Monday's NWCA All-Star Classic, the two team leaders feel that the Keystone will be a good opportunity for freshmen to really get the feel of the collegiate wrestling atmosphere.

"It will be the first time our freshmen wrestle in the Palestra," Herrington said. "I think it is definitely going to be a very positive experience."

Valenti, who earned first place at the Keystone Classic last year at 133 pounds, feels confident about his team at this weekend's event and beyond.

"I expect our team to do very well," Valenti said. "We have some very tough new guys on the team this year."

Last season was the first Keystone Classic title for the Quakers since 2002. Four individual first-place finishes from Andrew Gold (125), Matt Eveleth (133), Matt Valenti (133) and Cesar Grajales (141) sealed the win for Penn.

This year's event will last all day, with the first rounds beginning at 10 a.m. and the finals commencing at 5:30 p.m.

The Keystone Classic continues a run of four consecutive tournaments for the Quakers before the beginning of the dual-meet season. The team believes that these events are good preparation for the post-season tournaments in which it expects to be participating.

"We find out what our strengths and weaknesses are as a team after we get three or four tournaments under our belt," Jones said. "We use these tournaments to evaluate ourselves."

If last year's event was any indication of the success of the 2005-06 team, the Quakers hope to repeat the same result again this year. Penn used the Keystone Classic as a building block to an eventual 12th-place finish in the NCAA Tournament. Defending the title at home may be paramount in gaining confidence for the rest of the season.

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