Courtesy: Tami KnopsnyderSenior Daniel Kolodzik certainly had a different ending planned for the final day of his collegiate career, but it takes nothing away from a fantastic senior season for the First-Team All-Ivy League honoree.
Kolodzik, who fell in the NCAA 157-pound quarterfinal 7-3 to fifth-seeded Sanjabar Ganjaa of American, needed a win in his Friday night consolation match to guarantee a top-eight finish and All-America honors, but he faced a tough rival in sixth-seeded James Fleming of Clarion.
Kolodzik opened the match with a quick takedown, but Fleming eventually escaped and scored a takedown of his own. On an ensuing scramble, Fleming caught Kolodzik and pinned him at the 1:52 mark of the period.
Though Kolodzik will not claim All-America honors, his legacy within the program is unquestionable. The first nationally ranked recruit to choose Princeton under head coach Chris Ayres, he was a freshman on the Princeton team that ended a 2-year dual meet losing streak. He recorded a handful of Top-20 wins in his career, none bigger than his major decision over 2011 and 2012 All-America Walter Peppelman of Harvard, and he reached his first NCAA Championships as a senior.
He scored Princeton's first two NCAA wins in the championship draw since Greg Parker '03 during the 2003 tournament, and he was an instrumental presence on a roster filled with talented youth. He also became the first Princeton wrestler since Parker to earn a spot on the All-Ivy first team.
