After a dismantling of Columbia over the weekend, by a score of 31-6, the Red grapplers find themselves at No. 15 in the latest InterMat National Team Rankings. The Red is one spot above Ivy-rival Penn, who posted a 29-8 victory over Harvard this past weekend for its third straight win.
The Red has also won three straight, including a 17-15 victory over Penn, and now find itself at 6-6 on the season overall, and 3-0 in the Ivy League.
Individually, both the Red and the Quakers account for eight out of the 13 nationally ranked Ivy wrestlers. Each squad boasts four apiece — junior Travis Lee, sophomore Dustin Manotti, and seniors Tyler Baier and Matt Greenberg for the Red, and sophomores Matt Valenti and Matt Herrington, and seniors Doug McGraw and Marcus Schontube for Penn.
Lee, the defending national champion at the 125-lb. weight class, finds himself ranked No. 1 at the 133-lb. level. Lee won his bout in style this weekend, pinning his opponent in just a minute and a half. The win was Lee’s 27th on the year, good for fourth in the country in that category, while his .960 win percentage is tops in the nation.
Manotti, who achieved All-American status last season, finds himself in the sixth spot at the 149-lb. weight class after earning a 6-1 victory over the Lions’ Erik Norgaard. Manotti is currently tied for ninth in the country with 24 victories, and third in winnning percentage with a .920 mark.
Also in the 149-lb. rankings are Harvard senior Jesse Jantzen at No. 1, and Brown senior David Dies at No. 17. Jantzen is currently tied for second in victories nationally, with 26, and in pins, with 10. He is also tied for first in winning percentage (.960). Dies is tied with Manotti for ninth place in wins (24), and has a 24-6 record on the season, giving him a .800 win percentage and the No. 5 ranking. Both Jantzen and Dies will be in Ithaca over the weekend as the Red play host to both Harvard and Brown.
Baier remains at the No. 16 spot in the nation after his major decision over Columbia’s Sven Hafemeister at the 174-lb. weight class.
Matt Greenberg finds himself ranked sixth nationally in the 197-lb. weight class after earning a technical fall against Ben Tecmire at the 6:25 mark — his fifth technical fall of the season.
Also posting wins for the Red this weekend against the Lions were — junior Mike Mormile, who posted a 3-0 decision at the 125-lb. weight class, senior tri-captain Scott Roth, with a 4-0 victory at 157 lbs., sophomore Dan Miracola, who won his 165-lb. match by a major decision, 10-2, and freshman Jerry Rinaldi, who defeated Justin Barent of the Lions, 7-2.
Looking ahead, the Red will see the Crimson — with Jantzen and No. 12 ranked sophomore Max Meltzer (141 lbs.) — and the Bears — with Dies and the No. 18 ranked senior Nick Ciarcia (184 lbs.). Both squads will try to knock off the Red when they visit the Friedman Wrestling Center this weekend.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro