Sports Briefly: Wrestling, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis

WRESTLING
In its final weekend of duals action, Columbia (8-5, 3-2 Ivy) won its final two Ivy matches of the season on Saturday before falling to No. 24 Hofstra (12-3) on Sunday. The Light Blue’s first win of the weekend came in a 34-4 blowout of Brown (9-8, 2-3 Ivy). Junior Robert Dyar was the only Lion to drop a match, falling to Bears sophomore Billy Watterson at 125 pounds. Columbia also took the afternoon match handily, trouncing Harvard (5-10, 1-4 Ivy), 30-12. Dyar came back from his loss earlier in the day to kick off the match with a win at 125 pounds, before Harvard evened the tally when No. 12 junior Steven Keith edged Light Blue junior Jake O’Hara at 133 pounds. The Lions led the rest of the way, picking up big wins from seniors Eren Civan and Kevin Lester. Civan took his second match of the day at 165, performing well after having an up-and-down season marred by injuries. Lester pinned Crimson freshman David Ng in 24 seconds to claim the heavyweight match. Only two Lions managed to claim victories versus Hofstra. Junior Stephen West gave the Lions their first points of the match at 174 pounds, pinning freshman Jermaine John. Junior Nick Mills fought through injuries and claimed the 197-pound match in double overtime. The Lions ultimately fell to the Pride, 28-9.
—Eli Schultz

WOMEN'S TENNIS
The Light Blue fared well at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Team Championships this weekend. The Lions fought for every point against second-seeded Brown, but they ultimately fell, 5-2. The team went into third sets in four out of its six singles matches against the Bears. The Lions’ No. 1 singles junior Nicole Bartnik fell after three sets to Brown sophomore Misia Krasowski, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. Columbia sophomores Bianca Sanon and Ioana Alecsiu both won their singles matches, giving Columbia its only two points against Brown. Sanon also found success with doubles partner sophomore Tiana Takenaga against Brown’s No. 1 doubles duo of sophomore Jessica Harrow and senior Cassandra Herzberg. After falling to Brown, Columbia won the doubles point and four singles matches to give it a 5-2 victory over Cornell. Bartnik, Sanon, Takenaga, and junior Katarina Kovacevic all picked up singles wins. In its final match of the weekend, the Light Blue defeated No. 5 Dartmouth, 4-2. By beating the Big Green, the Lions took out the defending Ivy League Champions and took sixth place at the tournament.
—Alison Macke

MEN'S TENNIS
Columbia’s winning streak came to an end this week against Cornell, the defending Ivy League Champions, at the ECAC Indoor Championships. Columbia freshmen Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana had a big 9-8 win in the No. 1 doubles match against the nationally ranked Cornell duo of sophomore Venkat Iyer and freshman Alex Sidney. The Light Blue had another decisive victory from the No. 2 doubles team of junior Nathaniel Gery and sophomore Tizian Bucher. The duo won their match, 8-5. Although Columbia won the doubles point, the Big Red’s singles players clinched Cornell’s 4-2 victory. After the loss to Cornell, the team faced St. John’s. Columbia lost the doubles point, but managed to win No. 2 and No. 3 singles before the Red Storm took the rest of the singles matches. Freshman Winston Lin and junior Nathaniel Gery were the Lions’ two singles winners, winning their matches, 7-6, 6-4 and 6-4, 7-6, respectively. In its final match, the Light Blue picked up a 3-2 victory over No. 8 Yale to take seventh at the tournament.
—Alison Macke