PHILADELPHIA – A pair of dual meets await the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team on the final weekend of the regular season as the Quaker hit the road on February 17 for a pair of rivalry matches – one friendly, and one not-so-much.
Penn (9-6) will open its double-dip at Princeton (12 p.m.) in its final Ivy League dual meet of the season against a Tigers team which is 3-8 overall but tied with Penn for second in the Ivy League at 2-2.
Following the dual with the Tigers, Penn will travel back to Philadelphia to wrestle No. 25 Drexel in the "Abner's Cheesesteak Dual" at 7 p.m. The Dragons are 11-4 overall this season and 5-4 in EIWA duals.
Notes To Know…
- Penn is 51-56-5 all-time against Princeton in dual meets dating back to the start of the series in 1906.
- The Quakers are 26-3 against Princeton since 1989.
- Last season, Princeton jumped out to an 18-0 lead at The Palestra en route to a 28-8 win.
- There are no expected rematches from last year's dual vs. the Tigers.
- Penn will look to flip the result from earlier this season in a few crucial weights as No. 17 May Bethea meets No. 19 Jonathan Schleifer at 165 and Joe Heyob battles Kevin Parker at 184. Schleifer picked up a 10-4 win at Midlands in December while Parker used four nearfall to secure a 6-3 win over Heyob at Midlands.
- Penn is 14-13-1 all-time against Drexel. The Quakers are 13-2 against their neighbors since 1992 and 3-2 since the rivalry resumed in 2013.
- Last year, Drexel picked up a 26-13 win in The Palestra, winning the final five bouts after Penn had opened a 13-3 lead.
- The only scheduled rematch from that dual will come at 184 where Heyob was edged, 3-2, by Alex DeCiantis.
- Bethea wrestled his likely opponent, Ebed Jarrell, at the Keystone Classic and picked up a 14-6 major decision.
- Also at Keystone, No. 9 Frank Mattiace defeated No. 16 Stephen Loiseau, 3-1.
- The "road trip" to Drexel is the shortest in all of Division I wrestling. Door-to-door from Penn's home gym to the Daskalakis Athletic Center is 0.6 miles.
- Penn and Drexel are regular training partners as co-hosts of the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center – home to Olympic wrestling hopefuls.
Frank Thoughts…
No. 9
Frank Mattiace went 1-1 last weekend, improving to 23-4 this season and 90-40 overall for his career … Mattiace is 11-2 in dual meets, scoring a team-high 48 points in dual action … Mattiace is 14-2 overall against EIWA opponents … Mattiace leads the team with eight pins.
Quaker Notes…
Gianni Ghione leads all Penn freshmen with a 15-6 record, the most wins by a Penn freshman since
Frank Mattiace had 16 in 2013-14 … Ghione has seven pinfalls, second on the team … Ghione is 10-3 in dual meets, scoring 45 team points …
May Bethea (38),
Joe Oliva (38), and
Joe Heyob (36) are all within range of scoring 40 team points in dual meets … Seven of Penn's 15 dual meets have been decided by six points or less … Penn is 4-3 in those dual meets.
Penn's Probable Lineup
125:
Daniel Planta, Fr. (7-5)
133:
Gianni Ghione, Fr. (15-6)
141:
Jake Lizak, So. (9-11) or
Tristin DeVincenzo, Jr, (1-11)
149:
Joe Oliva, Sr. (12-5) or
Patrick Munn, So. (0-3)
157:
Joe Velliquette, Sr. (12-10) or
Jon Errico, So. (9-9)
165: No. 17
May Bethea, Sr. (20-6)
174:
Quinton Hiles. Sr. (2-7) or
Brian Krasowski, So. (2-10)
184:
Joe Heyob, Sr. (17-7)
197: No. 9
Frank Mattiace, Sr. (23-4)
285:
Tyler Hall, Jr. (9-10)
Princeton's Probable Lineup
125: Matteo DeVincenzo (6-11)
133: Jonathan Gomez (9-7)
141: Pat D'Arcy (10-11) or Jordan Reich (2-8)
149: No. 9 Matthew Kolodzik (18-5)
157: Mike D'Angelo (18-6)
165: No. 19 Jonathan Schleifer (13-8)
174: Carlin Powell (5-8) or Matthew Gancayco (5-12)
184: Kevin Parker (8-13)
197: No. 17 Patrick Brucki (22-6) or Ian Baker (1-1)
285: Christian Araneo (9-6) or Michael Markulec (4-14)
Drexel's Probable Lineup
125: Zack Fuentes
133: No. 5 Austin DeSanto
141: Julian Flores
149: Evan Barczak or Trevor Elfvin
157: Garett Hammond
165: Ebed Jarrell
174: Austin Rose
184: Alex DeCianits
197: No. 16 Stephen Loiseau
285: Sean O'Malley or Vincenzo Pelusi or Josh Murphy
