When a half-point ain't the point

LANCASTER, Pa., March 9 - Penn last won the team portion of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association's conference tournament in 1999.

And despite three weightclass champions at this year's tournament, the Quakers' drought continued, but only by the smallest margin possible. Cornell outlasted the Quakers 128-127.5, the first time in 104 years the title has been decided by a half-point.

The Red and Blue excelled on the individual level, as eight of a possible 10 wrestlers qualified for the NCAA tournament. In addition, one of the three Quakers champions, 149-pounder Cesar Grajales, earned Outstanding Wrestler of the meet.

"Pretty much the only thing we didn't win was the team title," coach Zeke Jones said. "But sending wrestlers to nationals is the goal, and eight is great."

Ironically, it seemed the Quakers outshone Cornell, despite the margin.

"I'm no bracket expert, but it's hard to believe we didn't win," Jones said.

While Penn qualified eight for nationals and had three champions, Cornell only qualified six and had one champion.

But all of the Big Red wrestlers finished in the top six of their weightclass en route to their second straight team title.

In addition to Grajales, senior captain Lior Zamir at 184 and sophomore Rollie Peterkin at 125 won their respective weightclasses, as Penn earned equaled last year's championship output.

"I'm just really proud of everyone on the team," Peterkin said. "We had five guys in the finals, which was very exciting. I was impressed with a lot of individuals."

Zamir took out the top seed at his weight, but Grajales had the toughest road to a title, beating the sixth, second and first seeds.

Of particular note was Grajales's championship bout against top seed J.P. O'Connor of Harvard, who was previously ranked second in the nation.

With the score tied at one apiece, the game went into sudden victory and then into two 30-second tiebreakers.

O'Connor scored in the first period to take a 3-2 lead. In the second, Grajales tied it up but then fell behind again at 4-3. Yet, with under 10 seconds to go, he scored a takedown on O'Connor, winning the match 5-4.

"I'm so proud of Cesar," Zamir said of the third-seeded junior. "Earning Outstanding Wrestler and getting the upset. He's a great leader. He's young but still a captain."

While Grajales was modest about his award, he still understood why he deserved it.

"Getting a couple of upsets definitely helped," he said. "Also, that last match was one of the most exciting of the tournament, so that gave me the advantage."

Grajales became the fifth Penn wrestler to ever earn the honor of Outstanding Wrestler; Matt Valenti was the most recent Quakers honoree and he did so last year.

Penn will now prepare for the NCAA's in St. Louis Thursday through Saturday.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.