Rutgers, Princeton wrestling to compete in Garden State Grapple

Steven Falk, Asbury Park Press
·2 min read

The Rutgers University and Princeton University wrestling teams will be two of the eight teams participating in the Garden State Grapple, presented by Spartan Combat, on Dec. 4 at the Prudential Center, Newark, it was officially announced Wednesday.

The event will consist of four teams from the Big Ten Conference wrestling against four teams from the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA). There will be two rounds of wrestling at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Rutgers will wrestle the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel. It defeated Hofstra and North Carolina in last year’s event.

“We’re excited to return to Prudential Center to compete in the Garden State Grapple right in our own backyard,” Rutgers coach Scott Goodale said. “Last year’s inaugural event at “The Rock’’ was an electric atmosphere, and the Garden State Grapple provides our program with another opportunity to compete with high-quality competition at a top-level venue.”

The Scarlet Knights will return three previous All-Americans in John Poznanski (fourth at 184 pounds in 2021); Jackson Turley (eighth at 174 in 2021) and Sammy Alvarez, who was named an All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2020 when the pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament.

Princeton, with returning national runner-up Pat Glory (right) and Rutgers, with Dylan Shawver (left) will be two of the eight teams competing in the Garden State Grapple Dec. 4 at the Prudential Center.
Princeton, with returning national runner-up Pat Glory (right) and Rutgers, with Dylan Shawver (left) will be two of the eight teams competing in the Garden State Grapple Dec. 4 at the Prudential Center.

Princeton, which returns two national runners-up in Pat Glory and Quincy Monday, will wrestle Wisconsin and Michigan State. Glory was second to Nick Suriano of Michgan at 125 last year and Monday was second to Ryan Deakin of Northwestern at 157 last season. They were Princeton's first national finalists since 2002.

More:Nick Suriano hangs on to defeat Pat Glory and win second national wrestling championship

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Garden State Grapple,” Princeton coach Chris Ayres said.  “The teams in the event are some of the most recognizable in the sport and I expect that this will draw a great crowd. New Jersey has some of the best wrestling in the country, so it makes sense to bring in some great teams for this event.”

Wisconsin, which participated in last year’s event, has the most returning All-Americans of the eight teams with five.

The schedule is as follows:

2 p.m.

Mat 1: Indiana vs. Drexel.

Mat 2: Rutgers vs. Penn.

Mat 3: Wisconsin vs. Princeton.

Mat 4: Michigan State vs. Binghamton.

4 p.m.

Mat 1: Indiana vs. Binghamton.

Mat 2: Rutgers vs. Drexel.

Mat 3: Wisconsin vs. Penn.

Mat 4: Michigan State vs. Princeton.

Tickets are available starting Sept. 7 at TicketMaster.com and the Prudential Center’s box office.

For group sales consisting of nine or more people call 973-757-60000 or e-mail GroupEvents@PruCenter.com. For premium seating opportunities, visit PruCenter.com/Premium.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers Wrestling: Scarlet Knights, Princeton in Garden State Grapple