For a number of college wrestling programs, Madison Square Garden's Grapple at the Garden 4 will be the opening event for the entire season that will ultimately culminate with the 2016 NCAA championships, to be held in the "world's most famous arena" next March 17-19 for the very first time in the 86-year history of the NCAAs.
Cornell was 2-0 at the 2014 Grapple at the Garden, which included wins over Edinboro and UNI (Photo/Juan Garcia)This year's Grapple at the Garden will feature a total of 11 NCAA Division I programs, including five schools which placed among the top 20 in the team standings at the 2015 NCAA championships, including No. 5 Cornell University, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 12 Illinois, and No. 15 Northwestern. In addition, the event will also feature one Division II and seven Division III mat programs, along with three school-affiliated wrestling clubs.
The full roster of participating NCAA programs includes Cornell, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall College, George Mason, Hofstra, Illinois, LIU Post, Maryland, Mount Saint Vincent, Muhlenberg, Nebraska, New York University, Northwestern, Oswego State, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Princeton, Rutgers, Stevens Institute and Wilkes University, as well as wrestling clubs from Penn State, Stony Brook University, and SUNY Farmingdale.
Wrestling being an individual sport, the 2015 edition of Grapple at the Garden will feature some of the most accomplished athletes in college wrestling right now, including 2015 NCAA Champion Gabe Dean and the 2014 Grapple at the Garden Most Outstanding Wrestler Nahshon Garrett from Cornell along with 2015 NCAA and Big Ten Champion Isaiah Martinez from Illinois. Additionally, Anthony Ashnault from Rutgers achieved All-American status as a redshirt freshman, marking two consecutive years for the Scarlet Knights with an AA (Anthony Perrotti, 2014).
In addition to announcing Grapple at the Garden 4 participants, Madison Square Garden also revealed match-ups for the dual-meet-format event. As in the past, there will be three separate sessions for college programs. The first session, which begins at 8 a.m., features Mt. St. Vincent vs. SUNY Farmingdale, and Stony Brook vs. PSU. Session two begins at 10:00 a.m. and will include Cornell vs. Nebraska, George Mason vs. Rutgers, Illinois vs. Maryland, Northwestern vs. Drexel, Hofstra vs. Princeton, Franklin & Marshall vs. Oswego State, LIU Post vs. Wilkes, and NYU vs. Stevens. Session three gets underway at noon, featuring Cornell vs. Rutgers, Princeton vs. Nebraska, Northwestern vs. Franklin & Marshall, Illinois vs. Drexel, Maryland vs. Hofstra, George Mason vs. Pitt - Johnstown, and Muhlenberg vs. Oswego State.
Tickets, priced at $20.00, $35.00 and $55.00, are currently on sale and may be purchased online at www.thegarden.com, all Ticketmaster locations and the Madison Square Garden box office.
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