As the 19th ranked team in the nation, Penn wrestling will head to Tulsa, Okla. this weekend for the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships. After what has been a rather successful season, Penn will field eight wrestlers — the most out of all Ivy League and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association teams.
Of those eight wrestlers, five secured their automatic bids during the 119th EIWA Championships, which took place last weekend at the Palestra. As a team, Penn finished third with five wrestlers placing in the top three for their weight class. Most recently, eight members of the wrestling team were honored with All-Ivy accolades. Of those eight, seven of the them will be competing at the championships this upcoming weekend.
The five wrestlers who locked down automatic bids include senior Anthony Artalona, senior Ben Goldin, senior Carmen Ferrante, junior Michael Colaiocco, and sophomore Ryan Miller. Three more wrestlers — senior Doug Zapf, junior Cole Urbas, and sophomore Nick Incontrera — will also be traveling west after earning at-large bids.
As the seventh seed in his weight group, Colaiocco has the honor of entering the tournament as Penn’s highest seeded wrestler. He will face off against Missouri’s Connor Brown in the round of 32. Zapf also enters the championships as a top-15 seed, coming in as the 11th seed in the 149-pound weight class. His first opponent of the tournament will be Michigan’s Chance Lamer.
The championships will also see an Ivy-Ivy matchup, with Miller facing off against Cornell’s Brett Ungar in the round of 32. Ferrante will take the mat against Missouri’s Allan Hart while Artalona will take on Missouri’s Jarrett Jacques. Incontrera is set to face Minnesota’s Bailee O’Reilly, and Urbas will being competing with North Carolina’s Max Shaw. To wrap up Penn’s matchups on Thursday, Goldin will head to the mat to go against another conference foe, Harvard’s Yaraslau Slavikouski.
Friday features both the quarterfinals and the semifinals while the finals will take place on Saturday evening. With eight wrestlers making the trip — none of them being strangers to an NCAA championship mat either — the chances are high for Penn to return its first NCAA title since 2007.
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