Army Grapplers Take Light Classes To Give Varsity First Loss of Year

A clean sweep in the lighter positions gave West Point's rugged wrestling team a 19 to 11 win over a fighting, well-conditioned Crimson squad Saturday afternoon before a capacity crowd in the Indoor Athletic Building. Forced to give away five points in the 121-pound class by default, the varsity handed the Cadets an early lead which they only partially made up in the heavier weights.

Crimson heavyweight Pete Fuller got the only fall for Harvard when he caught Army's Linn Mather in an over-the-head hold and pinned him after a bruising eight and a half minutes. Previous to that Fuller had almost pinned the bulky Cadet with a shoulder stand variation.

With the meet score standing at 13 to 0 for Army, Dan Ray, Crimson 145-pounder, won a decisive 10 to 5 decision over the Cadet captain, John Mock. Probably the strongest man for his weight on either squad, Mock did not have the skill or balance of his opponent. Don Louria, the Crimson captain, had an easy time with stocky Cadet Chuck Olentine in the 165-pound class, winning an 11 to 2 decision after taking Olentine down with a winglock.

Fern Pins Bowditch

In the 128-pound class Al Fern of Army pinned Pat Bowditch with a body press in 7:05 of the third period while Frank Trinkle dropped a 10 to 9 overtime decision to Ed Robertson of Army in a bout decided by time advantage.

Stand Thevenet, West Point's ace 155-pounder, rated this year's probable Intercollegiate champ at that weight, rode Connie Tyng to a punishing 6 to 0 decision. At the 175-pound weight Bob Claflin, wrestling his first match for the Crimson, lost a 6 to 0 decision to Jack Finley.