Wrestling | Breaking even in Vegas

Las Vegas is very familiar with the concept of redemption in the face of long, daunting odds.

So it should come as no surprise that redemption was on the minds of Penn wrestlers Rollie Peterkin, Cesar Grajales and Matthew Dragon as the No. 23 Quakers competed in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past weekend.

Although those three wrestlers did find their redemption, the team didn't make good on its goal to improve on last year's 14th place finish, instead coming in 15th with 64 points. Nebraska won with 124.5.

"It's definitely satisfying to come back and stand on top of the podium," said Peterkin, who won his weight class after finishing third last year.

The sixth-ranked junior earned the No. 1 seed in the 125-pound weight class, partially because neither Michael Watts of Michigan - who beat Peterkin earlier this year - nor top-ranked Angel Escobedo of Indiana competed. He won the crown with a 10-6 decision over No. 6 seed Zachary Sanders of Minnesota in the finals.

Peterkin set the pace from the beginning of the match, putting an appropriate cap on a dominating overall performance.

The Wellesley, Mass., native beat three seeded wrestlers on his way to a 5-0 record for the tournament.

"He had a great semifinal match," Penn coach Robert Eiter said in reference to Peterkin's 12-5 victory over No. 4 seed Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech. "That was probably the best I've seen him wrestle this year."

And if Peterkin won the jackpot, then Grajales and Dragon at least made some moderate gains: each wrestler finished sixth in his weight class.

The finish was particularly sweet for Dragon, who spent last season out of commission with an injured shoulder.

"It definitely feels good [after] coming into the season, questioning if my shoulder would hold up against the toughest competition," Dragon said. "Everything seems to be fine. It's not everyday you get to wrestle the top guys in the country."

Dragon answered a lot of his questions over the weekend, winning four matches to out-perform his No. 9 seeding by three places.

Senior 149-pounder Cesar Grajales also answered some questions. He came back to Vegas after receiving a tough draw and getting bounced early from last year's field.

Grajales made up for last year's misfortunes and more, winning three matches, two of which were against in-conference Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponents.

He did, however, lose three matches, including the fifth-place bout with EIWA rival Trevor Chinn of Lehigh.

In addition to the three wrestlers who placed, 133-pound grappler Byran Ortenzio managed to win three matches despite his No. 11 seed.

Yet outside of those four, there wasn't much to celebrate. The other five wrestlers only had a combined seven wins.

"They hung in there, they fought every match," Eiter said. "That's what we were looking for, and that's what we were happy with."

"It was a learning experience," Dragon added.

Now, after their grueling opening stretch - two tournaments and two duals in just over two weeks - the Quakers have two sets of multiple dual matches over winter break to help keep them warm while the temperature drops.

First, the Quakers get some home cooking with the Penn Duals on Jan. 3 as four teams, including two from the EIWA, enter the Palestra for a full day of wrestling.

After cutting their teeth against the likes of No. 6 Nebraska, No. 4 Cornell and No. 12 Michigan, the Red and Blue will get some respite in the forms of Franklin & Marshall, Delaware State, East Stroudsburg and Gloucester.

After that, the Quakers have the Virginia Duals on Jan. 9 and 10 to wrap up their winter break campaign.

Eiter has got a pretty solid strategy for keeping his team on the right track as break looms.

"[We are] trying to score first [and] trying to score last," he said.

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