Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
InterMat Ranks 5 Tigers In Preseason Top 20; All-American Harner Heads To Cleveland For All-Star Classic
October 18, 2016 | Wrestling
Senior All-American Brett Harner was ranked fourth in the preseason InterMat Top 20 at 197 pounds, which you'd figure means he'd be a strong favorite for the first collegiate match of his senior season.
Instead, he'll be looking to spring a minor upset in one of the biggest showdowns of the 2016 NWCA All-Star Classic.
Harner, one of five Tigers to be ranked in a preseason Top 20 by InterMat, will face Minnesota senior Brett Pfarr, the second-ranked wrestler at the weight class, Nov. 5 in Cleveland at the annual All-Star Classic. Harner is the fifth Princeton wrestler to compete in the main event portion of this event, though teammates Chris Perez (2014) and Jordan Laster (2015) have competed in the preliminary matches.
Harner went 36-6 and broke two 13-year droughts during a historic senior season. He won an individual EIWA championship when the event was held at Jadwin Gym last March, and then he became the ninth man in program history to win All-America honors three weeks later at Madison Square Garden; both achievements were firsts since Greg Parker '03 did both his senior year.
Pfarr went 40-4 last season and placed third at the NCAA Championships; Harner finished eighth.
"This is a dynamic matchup that shows how great the sport of wrestling can be, no matter what type of institution," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "It's a great thing for our sport when we can pair an All-American wrestler from a powerhouse program from the Big Ten and an All-American from one of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions. They also like to score points. They combined for 45 bonus victories last year."
While Harner is the highest-ranked Tiger wrestler, he is far from the only one. Classmates Ray O'Donnell (18th, 285) and Jordan Laster (20th, 149) are in the poll after reaching the NCAA Championships, as is junior Jon Schleifer (13th, 174). The newcomer to the poll is highly touted freshman Matthew Kolodzik, who enters the poll ranked 11th at 141. He is the highest-ranked freshman at the weight and the third-highest ranked underclassman.
As a team, Princeton is 21st in the tournament ranking and 25th in the dual meet ranking. The team will open competition Nov. 6 at the Hokie Open.
Instead, he'll be looking to spring a minor upset in one of the biggest showdowns of the 2016 NWCA All-Star Classic.
Harner, one of five Tigers to be ranked in a preseason Top 20 by InterMat, will face Minnesota senior Brett Pfarr, the second-ranked wrestler at the weight class, Nov. 5 in Cleveland at the annual All-Star Classic. Harner is the fifth Princeton wrestler to compete in the main event portion of this event, though teammates Chris Perez (2014) and Jordan Laster (2015) have competed in the preliminary matches.
Harner went 36-6 and broke two 13-year droughts during a historic senior season. He won an individual EIWA championship when the event was held at Jadwin Gym last March, and then he became the ninth man in program history to win All-America honors three weeks later at Madison Square Garden; both achievements were firsts since Greg Parker '03 did both his senior year.
Pfarr went 40-4 last season and placed third at the NCAA Championships; Harner finished eighth.
"This is a dynamic matchup that shows how great the sport of wrestling can be, no matter what type of institution," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "It's a great thing for our sport when we can pair an All-American wrestler from a powerhouse program from the Big Ten and an All-American from one of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions. They also like to score points. They combined for 45 bonus victories last year."
While Harner is the highest-ranked Tiger wrestler, he is far from the only one. Classmates Ray O'Donnell (18th, 285) and Jordan Laster (20th, 149) are in the poll after reaching the NCAA Championships, as is junior Jon Schleifer (13th, 174). The newcomer to the poll is highly touted freshman Matthew Kolodzik, who enters the poll ranked 11th at 141. He is the highest-ranked freshman at the weight and the third-highest ranked underclassman.
As a team, Princeton is 21st in the tournament ranking and 25th in the dual meet ranking. The team will open competition Nov. 6 at the Hokie Open.