Another open to look forward to this weekend is the Princeton Open. While not as hot and heavy as some of the other NCAA Division I tournaments, there is still plenty of interesting things that will unfold in New Jersey.
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| 125 lbs |
Patrick Glory comes into this season with perhaps the hardest to reach goal of anyone in the entirety of collegiate wrestling. His determination is to knock off three time NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa & prevent him from winning his fourth title. Now before he starts to channel the spirit of Larry Owings, he has some other tasks to complete. It starts off with a challenge from Lock Haven's Anthony Noto. A sensational freshman last season, he won an MAC title on a 31-3 record. He'll make like Meatloaf & come at Glory like a bat out of Hell. Glory should be ready.
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| 133 lbs |
Richie Koehler of Lock Haven should enter the tournament with the #1 seed although he'll have a heck of time keeping it as well as his ranking. Gable Strickland of Lock Haven has wrestled him to some close decisions, 4-0 & 3-2. As to Josh Jones of George Mason? The last time he met Koehler he won via technical fall 15-0.
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| 141 lbs |
I believe the final here will be between to talented wrestlers who are currently out of the rankings, but who both have the potential to make the rankings before season's end. I would give the edge here to Bell.
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| 149 lbs |
The obvious favorite here for the #1 seed & to win a title is Rider's Quinn Kinner. The real question is, who will face him in the finals? A good pick might be Princeton's Marshall Keller who really Frankensteined at last year's EIWA championships capturing a 4th place finish and NCAA qualification. Will he show us some magic here? Two other tough competitors that will be in this bracket are George Mason's Kaden Cassidy and Lock Haven's Connor Eck.
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| 157 lbs |
This tournament may be taking place on a Sunday but I rest assure you when it comes to 157 lbs, it's going to be all Monday. While there is quality talent in this bracket, no one can match up with the nation's #1 wrestler head to head. The #2 seed and likely opponent of Monday in the finals will be Ashton Eyler of Lock Haven. What I'm very excited to see is how Peter Pappas of George Mason performs. I have been unabashedly backing Pappas for a long time now. I know the kind of ability that he possess and what he is capable of. Finally, it'll either happen or it won't. Another tough wrestler to watch in this bracket is Rider's Jake Silverstein.
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| 165 lbs |
We could see a two Tiger final here at 165 lbs as both Jake Marsh & Grant Cuomo of Princeton are two of the best wrestlers that will be in this bracket. Cuomo has an NCAA qualification from 2020, but Marsh owns a 9-4 head to head decision. Looking to cancel an all Princeton final, will be Lock Haven's Avery Bassett.
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| 174 lbs Logan Messer George Mason |
Don't have a whole heck of a lot to say about 174 lbs here, other than I think our champion will be Logan Messer of George Mason.
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| 184 lbs |
I believe the #1 seed will go to Hofstra's Jacob Ferreira & I am excited to see what I believe will be a final against George Mason's Kyle Davis. I would look to Nate Dugan to finish a strong 3rd.
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| 197 lbs |
Here's another potential final that I look forward to. Princeton's Luke Stout against Rider's Ethan Laird. An opportunity for the Tiger to win his home open & to also advance in the rankings. Easier said than done, as Laird is a very tough wrestler. I don't Hofstra's Trey Rogers upsetting Stout or Laird (matter of fact Laird owns a 10-4 victory over him) but if you want a strong candidate for the bronze position, here you go.
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| HWT |
Princeton certainly has some talent in the room at HWT. I'm anxious to see who the starter is by year's end. Matt Cover has thus far earned the position as well as his ranking, but Travis Stefanik didn't put on all of that weight for nothing. I can't help but think of years past to a wrestler from Indiana named Pat DeGain of Indiana. Like Stefanik he had done well at lower weight classes, but hadn't reached the pinnacle of his success yet. He decided to pack on the weight & give HWT a try. It paid off as he finished 3rd in the nation. Will history repeat itself with Stefanik? We could see a sign of it here at the Princeton open.
With that said, he not only has Cover as well as teammate Jack DelGarbino to contend with, but he also has Lock Haven's Isaac Reid and Hofstra's Zachary Knighton-Ward. They should be our #1 & #3 seeds, with Cover being our #2. A semi between Cover & Knighton-Ward will be good as Cover edged ZKW 3-1 the last time they two met. Reid for the record owns a 5-2 decision of ZKW.
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