Former gridder helps PU rebuild
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Sam Ritter is helping to turn around the Princeton University wrestling program.
The former PU football player is in his first season wrestling for the Tigers, and he couldn’t have come at a better time. The Tigers were winless last year, and Princeton head coach Chris Ayres was pursuing wrestlers like Ritter who could help to build the program.
”Most times, you’re recruiting (incoming) freshmen,” Ayres said. “I was recruiting someone who was already here.”
Ritter is a Princeton senior now. He played football for two seasons, then played club rugby for a year and a half before studying in Africa as a second-semester junior. Ritter missed competing and fills what was literally a huge void at heavyweight.
”I was really trying to get him to come out last year,” Ayres said. “It frustrated me to know he was out there and he should be here. I think it works out in the end. He’s glad he’s here. And we’re glad he’s here.”
Ritter is one of several wrestlers showing why there is plenty more optimism surrounding the Tigers’ outlook for this season. Ritter won a pair of matches, including a pin over Virginia’s Calvin Cardillo in 2:30, at the Nittany Lion Open on Saturday. Freshman Tony Comunale also won a pair of matches, and Nick Pereira and Travis Erdman each won opening matches as the Tigers’ confidence has grown.
”I think the team felt overall pretty good,” Ritter said. “It was an improvement. We’re much improved upon where we were last year. I think we got a lot of good wins and we’re achieving a lot of the goals we set for the season. At the same time, we see how far we could go and there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
After three invitationals, Ritter and the Tigers open the dual meet season at Duquesne tonight. They won’t wrestle for eight days after the match and Princeton is anxious to start off with a victory after not winning any meets last year.
”It’s a hurdle we have to get over to prove to ourselves and others,” Ritters said. “To get the first one, a lot of wrestling is confidence and experience. The first dual meet is pivotal in defining where we want to be this season and in coming years.”
For Ritter, today is the next match in continuing to find his groove. He is looking forward to continuing to shake off the rust after a three-year layoff.
”I was pretty rusty at the beginning of the year,” Ritter said. “I started getting back in it in August. Both my dad and brother are wrestling coaches and they helped. Over the course of the last three weeks, I’ve become much, much, much better than when I started. I’m still making mistakes. I’ve had a few matches to get my mat sense.”
Ritter was quite a wrestler for his father at Episcopal High in Jacksonville, Fla. He was a four-time district and three-time regional champion. He placed fifth, sixth and third in his final three years of high school wrestling and set an Episcopal record with 180 wins in his high school career.
”I knew the transition from high school to college was enormous,” Ritter said. “I tried not to expect too much, but at the same time, I’m very competitive. I wanted the chance to compete. I was going to try my hardest and I wouldn’t be disappointed if I wasn’t the best on the team. I didn’t really know what to expect. After a couple months and after I’ve had a few matches, now I’m more able to establish my goals and see where I stand.”
Ritter won his first match at the East Stroudsburg Open two weeks before the Nittany Lion Open. With every week and every match, he adds experience and confidence.
”I feel like I’m flowing into it fairly well,” Ritter said. “I used to compete at nationals. I would wrestle the best kids around the nation. It was a huge step up. I’ve had experience at the highest level of my age group before, but everyone gets a level better by training in college.
”Where I am now is a complete testament to Coach Ayres and Coach (Andy) Lausier working with me. They go out of their way to make sure I do everything I can to get better. I’ve come farther than I expected to.”
Lausier, a first-year assistant, and 197-pounder Zach Morse give Ritter his practice challenges. Ritter has seen early benefits.
”He’s doing a great job,” Ayres said. “It just shows, he’s had some success this year and it’s directly due to what we’re doing in training. He’s extremely competitive. He is very into practice and what we’re doing and when you have that, positive results usually occur.”
Ritter is encouraged by his positive results, and he is competitive enough to work on changing the results that don’t satisfy him. He is growing and becoming better at implementing his plan with every match.
”I have to basically eliminate the freshmen errors, the first-year errors that come with inexperience,” Ritter said. “The biggest hurdle is working on perfecting my match planning and my match management capabilities. It’s not as much technical, but being able to translate it into a live match.”
As Ritter improves, so do the Tigers. Their invitational results have been promising.
”Right now, we have maybe three to four times as many individual wins as all of last season,” Ayres said. “That’s a good statistic. That’s one I’m keeping my eye on. We’ve been doing pretty well overall. They’re wrestling a lot better with a lot more confidence. You can feel things are starting to turn.”
Ritter is thrilled to be back wrestling, and likes being a part of a program on the rise.
”It’s really exciting,” he said. “You can see it in the freshmen coming in and you get excited about the possibility it could be as remarkable as some of the other Ivy programs. I’ll only have wrestled for a year, but it’s exciting to be around. Coach Lausier and Coach Ayres are instilling tradition into the wrestling program that hasn’t been there in decades.”
It is a help having big Sam Ritter. Better late than never.
”I wish I had him for four years,” Ayres said. “But he’s doing pretty well now.”

