Princeton: After 36 Years, an Ivy Title

[NJDan 1,070]

Too bad Cornell didn't pull Max Dean's Olympic redshirt-- would have made the difference. Had Womack not gotten hurt-- that could have made a difference, too.

 

 

[TBar1977 4,499]

Congrats to the Princeton Tigers!

[PUWrestler 24]

Congrats to the Tigers! Coach Ayres has built a wrestling community at Princeton that extends well beyond the team. 

[NJDan 1,070]

It was an exciting match. I have photo of Coach Ayres hugging Stefanik at the end. But apparently it's too big to post. Does anyone know how to do it?

[NJDan 1,070]

Here is Coach Ayres lifting Stefanik after he secured the dual. 

This was also Princeton's 500th Ivy League title (in all sports over the 65 years of the league's existence).

 

[RED 102]

1 hour ago, NJDan said:

Too bad Cornell didn't pull Max Dean's Olympic redshirt-- would have made the difference. Had Womack not gotten hurt-- that could have made a difference, too.

 

 

Or Vito's or Yanni's......  There are bigger fish to fry!!

[witwhiz 45]

Does anybody have a recipe that calls for sour grapes.?

[Cptafw164 130]

On a side note.  Hofstra is 4-0 in the eiwa and has brown, Harvard, and sacred heart left on the schedule.  HOFSTRA, 2020 EIWA DUAL CHAMPIONS!  

[ionel 2,461]

25 minutes ago, witwhiz said:

Does anybody have a recipe that calls for sour grapes.?

Grape Guacamole

1/3 cup red onion (chopped)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
2 avocados (small, or 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and flesh removed)
2 radishes (julienned)
1 jalapeño (finely diced)
2 limes (juiced)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
18 grapes (from California, red, green or a mixture of the two, sliced)

or

Italian Grape Sour
 
1 ounce Moon Mountain Vodka
1/2 ounce amaretto
2 ounces white grape juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice

[russelscout 1,573]

Awesome to see where Ayers has brought this program. I understand the struggles of the Ivies, but what does the rest of league look like as far as potential? Could another program make these kinds of strides? 

[klehner 731]

8 minutes ago, russelscout said:

Awesome to see where Ayers has brought this program. I understand the struggles of the Ivies, but what does the rest of league look like as far as potential? Could another program make these kinds of strides? 

These schools look like they are following the pattern:  https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2019/December/16/Eierman-to-New-England-RTC

That would make each of the Ivy League programs part of an RTC.

[Gambatte 49]

2 hours ago, NJDan said:

Here is Coach Ayres lifting Stefanik after he secured the dual. 

This was also Princeton's 500th Ivy League title (in all sports over the 65 years of the league's existence).

 

It's been 34 years since 1986 and I think that’s Coach Sean Gray. Go Tigers!

[ugarte 515]

game of inches.  stefanek's scramble was the difference. the cradle was just a cherry on top. congrats to him; he deserved it. santoro came shockingly close to a comeback against Monday too.

enjoy it, princeton. 

[red blades 364]

1 hour ago, witwhiz said:

Does anybody have a recipe that calls for sour grapes.?

Whizwit, you of all people should know - you can always find that on the Lehigh forum!! :-P

[wrestlingnerd 3,000]

I am happy to see Princeton’s alumni support be rewarded. It’s great for the sport when another Ivy League school takes the sport so seriously. I am rooting for Princeton to crack the top 10 and make history again. Loved going all in this year and pulling Kolodzik’s redshirt. Glad it paid off.

[Billyhoyle 2,475]

1 hour ago, russelscout said:

Awesome to see where Ayers has brought this program. I understand the struggles of the Ivies, but what does the rest of league look like as far as potential? Could another program make these kinds of strides? 

Any of them could if they get a billionaire backing the program. All it takes is hiring the right people and getting the administration onboard to lower admission standards, but that takes $$$$.

[wrestlingnerd 3,000]

15 minutes ago, Billyhoyle said:

Any of them could if they get a billionaire backing the program. All it takes is hiring the right people and getting the administration onboard to lower admission standards, but that takes $$$$.

Exactly right. Columbia and Penn both have Princeton-like potential at least. While not billionaires, the founder of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club is a Columbia grad who wrestled there and former Schwab CEO David Pottruck is a former Penn wrestler. Penn was at the top of the Ivy heap for a while before Koll became head coach and obviously is in the best possible location from a recurring standpoint. 

[pamela 1,334]

How about Harvard? I don’t follow the program or its fans but thought that maybe landing the Peppleman bros (except for the UVA one) might lead to relationships or inroads into the pool of high level PA guys.

[wrestlingnerd 3,000]

25 minutes ago, pamela said:

How about Harvard? I don’t follow the program or its fans but thought that maybe landing the Peppleman bros (except for the UVA one) might lead to relationships or inroads into the pool of high level PA guys.

Their alumni collectively have made a semi-push in the past but there's no lynchpin leading the charge, while there are for other sports competing for admissions favors.

[ionel 2,461]

1 hour ago, Billyhoyle said:

Any of them could if they get a billionaire backing the program. All it takes is hiring the right people and getting the administration onboard to lower admission standards, but that takes $$$$.

So all it takes is a some big $s to lower admission standards?  Are you really not aware of the Rick Singer admission scandle?  It's been in the news at least a couple times.  ;_;

[Billyhoyle 2,475]

18 minutes ago, ionel said:

So all it takes is a some big $s to lower admission standards?  Are you really not aware of the Rick Singer admission scandle?  It's been in the news at least a couple times.  ;_;

It also takes hiring the right coaches, as I mentioned in my post (setting up a top RTC is part of this now too). The Rick Singer scam was illegal because it was run behind the backs of the university. Universities lower admission standards for donors and athletes all the time though, and it’s perfectly legal. The degree to which standards are lowered at universities for particular teams  depends on the alumni support for that team and what the goals of the biggest donors are. 

Cornell the university doesn’t have some great need for local community college transfers that happen to be great wrestlers. There is a particular donor whose funds they like though. 

[Billyhoyle 2,475]

32 minutes ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Their alumni collectively have made a semi-push in the past but there's no lynchpin leading the charge, while there are for other sports competing for admissions favors.

I do think Harvard is the most likely team to supplant Cornell/Princeton eventually though. All they really need is this lynchpin, which can happen in a decade from the right alumnus founding the right startup. When it comes to administrations, few are more receptive than Harvard to getting $$$ for the endowment at all costs. 

[wrestlingnerd 3,000]

33 minutes ago, ionel said:

So all it takes is a some big $s to lower admission standards?  Are you really not aware of the Rick Singer admission scandle?  It's been in the news at least a couple times.  ;_;

Dude, it's not like the Ivies are accepting guys with sub-1K SAT scores and C averages. RIck Singer has nothing to do with it. In fact, Singer was trying to use the legitimate admissions loophole of recruited athlete preference ILLICITLY by parading a group of rich clients' children as recruited athletes when none of them were anything remotely close to D1 college athletic. 

"Lowering standards" means 1200ish SATs, not straight As, needing to get in as January admits or deferred admits pending improved GPAs, etc. Generally, the kids getting in are smart, just maybe not Ivy League smart all the time.

There's only so many recruited athlete slots at each Ivy. The sports with the biggest "impact" (read alumni donations) on the university will get favored treatment over all other sports. These sports vary by Ivy. We should all root for the Ivies at which wrestling is one such sport. lest we end up in a situation where Yale and Dartmouth happen to the sport again.

[wrestlingnerd 3,000]

9 minutes ago, Billyhoyle said:

I do think Harvard is the most likely team to supplant Cornell/Princeton eventually though. All they really need is this lynchpin, which can happen in a decade from the right alumnus founding the right startup. When it comes to administrations, few are more receptive than Harvard to getting $$$ for the endowment at all costs. 

Fair enough. No school graduates more "1%er s" than Harvard, so your thought isn't without merit. The Boston RTC is a thing now, after all. That said, there is a LOT of competition from other sports for those coveted recruited athlete slots, and some are completely willing to work the enrollment office a la Rick Singer (e.g. see Harvard fencing).

[Billyhoyle 2,475]

16 minutes ago, wrestlingnerd said:

Fair enough. No school graduates more "1%er s" than Harvard, so your thought isn't without merit. The Boston RTC is a thing now, after all. That said, there is a LOT of competition from other sports for those coveted recruited athlete slots, and some are completely willing to work the enrollment office a la Rick Singer (e.g. see Harvard fencing).

Very true, but it probably only takes 3 to 4 elite recruits a year to build a wrestling team. This isn’t as onerous on admission stats as putting together a football, hockey, baseball, or lacrosse team.