“¢ Penn (7-3) opens the 2006 Ivy League campaign with dual meets at Brown (4-6) and Harvard (1-4) this weekend. The Quakers have had great success over their two Ancient Eight foes from New England, winning 12 straight against the Bears and 15 straight versus the Crimson.
“¢ The Quakers hold a 27-19 advantage in the all-time series with the Bears after defeating them 19-12 at The Palestra on Feb. 5, 2005. The two teams met for the first time in Weightman Gym on Jan. 23, 1926, with Brown taking home a 15-11 victory.
“¢ Penn took hold of the overall series with the Crimson last season, improving to 31-30-2 with a 28-15 win at The Palestra. Both seniors Mike Silengo and Dustin Wiles competed in that dual, winning both matches. Penn won the first meeting between the two schools on March 2, 1929.
“¢ The Quakers have a .908 winning percentage against Ivy League opponents in the last 11 years. Penn holds a 59-6-1 record against Ancient Eight foes from 1994-2005.
“¢ Penn has won 11 Ivy League titles and seven of the last 10. The Quakers won seven-straight crowns from 1993-94 to 2001-02.
“¢ Two grapplers have already faced wrestlers from Harvard. Junior Gene Zannetti lost a 4-3 match to Andrew Flanagen at the Las Vegas Invitational, and Wiles dropped a 3-2 decision to Luis Caputo at the same meet.
“¢ The Crimson boast two ranked wrestlers in Robbie Preston and Bode Ogunwole. Both grapplers are ranked eighth at 133 and 285 pounds, respectively.
“¢ The Penn wrestling team is ranked 22nd in this week’s USA Today/NWCA/Intermat Poll and the Amateur Wrestling News and 24th in the W.I.N. Poll. Amateur Wrestling News ranks lightweights Matt Valenti and Silengo ninth and 13th, respectively, in their latest poll. It is the highest ranking of the season for Silengo.
“¢ The Quakers are coming off a tough match at No. 21 Hofstra. Sophomore Lior Zamir won the first match, 4-3, at 165 pounds. The Pride forfeited at 125 pounds and 133 pounds, and took the other seven bouts. The Quakers had several close matches, including three that were decided by three points or less .
“¢ Prior to the Hofstra match, The Red and Blue had won 56 of their last 70 bouts. In their six wins in 2006, they have won 51 of 60 bouts. Penn has won eight or more matches in five of the last seven dual meets.
“¢ Wiles is the only grappler in Penn’s current lineup who consistently competed in the starting lineup last season.
“¢ The Quakers have nine wrestlers ranked in the latest Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) poll. Valenti and freshman Matt Dragon are ranked first at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively. Senior Mike Silengo (125), freshman Cesar Grajales (141) and senior Paul Velekei (197) are second at their respective weight classes. Gene Zannetti (157), Zamir (165), junior Matt Herrington (174) and Dustin Wiles (184) are all fifth in their respective weight classes.
“¢ The last time the Quakers defeated a ranked opponent was No. 14 West Virginia on Jan. 17, 2004 at the Cliff Keen Duals in Cleveland, Ohio.
“¢ Penn also defeated No. 3 Iowa State, 26-15 at that meet. It is the highest ranked opponent the Red and Blue have defeated in program history.
“¢ Penn’s only losses of the season have come against ranked opponents. In the first dual of the season the Quakers fell to No. 13 Penn State. At the Virginia Duals, the Quakers nearly handed the 11th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers their first loss of the season, falling 18-15 in that match. No. 21 Hofstra was too much for the Red and Blue who fell, 25-15. Penn will have two more chances this season to knock off a higher-ranked opponent in No. 13 Cornell and No. 14 Lehigh.
“¢ Valenti is 21-2 on the season which gives him 90 wins for his career. He needs just 10 more to become the first Penn wrestler to reach 100 as a junior. Five other Quakers have garnered 100 wins in their careers at Penn.
“¢ Valenti’s 90 career victories is eighth all-time at Penn. Mark Piotrowsky, a 1999 graduate, is seventh on the list with 94 wins. Brett Matter, W’00, is the program recordholder in wins with 128.
“¢ Wiles leads the team in falls with five, while Valenti has four and Dragon has three pins. Herrington is fourth with two falls. Seven other grapplers have one pin each.
“¢ Valenti lead the team in wins with 21. Dragon and Wiles have 20 wins this season.
“¢ Herrington is 7-1 in dual meets this season. The junior returned to the mat at Midlands for the first time since the 2004 NCAA Championships.
“¢ The Quaker have three sets on brothers on their roster for the first time in program history. Penn has had 14 sets of siblings in its 102-year history. Eleven of those pairs have come since the early 1990’s. This year’s twosomes are Colin and Rob Hitschler, Matt and Andrew Valenti, and Gene and Jeff Zannetti.
“¢ Head Coach Zeke Jones was named the U.S. National Freestyle coach for the Pan American Championships. This is Jones’ second time coaching at the Pan American Championships; in 2003 he coached the United State to the team title, four golds, a silver and two bronzes. The Championships will take place in Rio de Janiero, Brazil from May 31 to June 4, 2006.
“¢ Penn is coming off its best finish in program history at the Virginia Duals last weekend. The Red and Blue placed second, falling to No. 15 Indiana, 18-15, in the final. The Quakers defeated North Dakota State, 38-3, and Drexel, 37-2, on the first day of competition and defeated Ohio State, 23-15, in the semifinal round.
“¢ Penn recorded riding-time points in 16 matches over the first three dual meets at the Virginia Duals and only gave it up once – Penn, however, still won that match.
“¢ The Quakers had a five-match win streak heading into the Indiana dual. Last year the Quakers won five straight from Jan. 16 to Feb. 19, including a win over the Tar Heels.
“¢ The Quakers demolished Maryland, 34-6, on Jan. 7. Penn won eight matches including five matches with bonus points. Valenti and Wiles won their matches by falls, Velekei earned a technical fall and two Quakers won by major decision.
“¢ Over the holiday break, three grapplers competed at the 43rd Midland Championships. Silengo finished fourth at 125 pounds in his first action of the 2005-06 season. Silengo defeated No. 10 Tanner Gardner of Stanford to advance to the third-place bout where he fell, 3-2, to No. 14 Luke Smith of Central Michigan. Sophomore Rob Hitschler went 3-2 at 149 bounds, while Herrington posted a 2-2 mark in his first action on the mat since March 2004.
“¢ The Quakers defeated Drexel, 21-15, on Dec. 10. Penn won three weight classes with bonus points and gave up bonus points on only one match. junior Gene Zannetti (157), freshman Colin Hitschler (165) and Velekei (197) won their matches by decision, while Matt Valenti (133), Grajales (141) and Wiles (184) earned major decisions.
“¢ The Red and Blue had a very successful showing at the 2005 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3 and 4. It took the No. 1 wrestler in the nation to take down Matt Valenti. Valenti went 12-0 to start the 2005-06 campaign, falling only to top-ranked Shawn Bunch of Edinboro at 133 lbs. in the championship bout, 4-2.
“¢ Penn had three other wrestlers place at the Vegas tournament. Wiles took fifth at 184 pounds, defeating three top-10 wrestlers along the way. Zannetti placed sixth at 157 lbs. and defeated No. 7 James Strousse of Hosftra in overtime. Zamir picked up a seventh-place finish at 174 lbs.
“¢ As a team the Red and Blue finished 10th overall. Nine nationally ranked teams competed at the meet according to the USA Today/NWCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ Poll from Nov. 28. In order of finish – No. 3 Michigan (1), No. 11 Cornell (2), No. 15 Missouri (3), No. 22 Edinboro (4), No. 18 Arizona State (5), No. 2 Illinois (6), No. 25 Penn (10) and No. 19 Hofstra (11).
“¢ Eveleth and Dragon competed at the Penn State Nittany Lion Open, taking second and third place, respectively. Eveleth fell to Joe Baker, 7-4, in the championship bout. Dragon was third at 149 lbs. Dragon went 5-1 on the day and had four major decisions. His only loss was to Brent Metcalf, the eventual winner, a 7-5 defeat. Dragon beat Patrick Simpson of Army in the third-place match, 8-6.
“¢ After finishing the season 1-10 against ranked opponents last season, Wiles is 3-3 against nationally-ranked grapplers at 184 lbs. In 2005, Wiles has defeated the No. 12, No. 14 and No. 16 wrestlers. His three losses were against No. 5, No. 8 and No. 11.
“¢ Four Quakers won individual titles at the Keystone Classic – Andrew Gold (125) and Grajales (141), while Matt Eveleth (133) and Matt Valenti (133) were named co-champions.
“¢ Penn won the Keystone Classic for the first time since 2002. Penn put up 151 points, 42 points more than runner-up Virginia. American was third with four individual winners, while Appalachian State and Boston University rounded out the top-five.
“¢ Penn opened the season with a second-place showing at the Oklahoma Brockport Gold on Nov. 12. The Quakers finished just five points behind No. 2 Oklahoma. Penn had 11 placewinners.
“¢ Penn returns four NCAA Qualifiers to the line-up this season in Matt Valenti, Herrington, Velekei and Wiles.
“¢ Head Coach Zeke Jones is in his first season at the helm of the Red and Blue. The former standout at Arizona State comes to Philadelphia after serving as an assistant coach at West Virginia for seven years.
“¢ Last year, Wiles led the Red and Blue in falls and takedowns. The then-174 pounder had eight falls and 73 takedowns.
“¢ Intermatwrestle.com ranked Penn’s incoming class as the No. 4 recruiting class in the country behind Iowa State, Virginia Tech and Cornell. It is the highest-ranked incoming class for the Quakers since the 2002 group was named the No. 1 recruiting class.
“¢ A common name – there are six grapplers on the Penn roster (of 36) who have the name Matt.
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