Powerful Rutgers Wallops Harvard's Wrestlers, 26-3

The roof fell in on the Crimson wrestling team again last night.

A month ago it was Cornell that buried the Crimson 33-0, ending Harvard's hopes of its first Ivy League wrestling title ever. Last night a powerful Rutgers team put on a display of strength almost equal to the one Harvard ran into in Ithaca.

Only sophomore 137-pounder Howard Durfee survived the onslaught, as he turned in a 6-5 decision over Sam Gramiccioni. The win was a bit tainted--Durfee won on time advantage after blowing a two-point lead in the last 15 seconds. But Harvard was taking anything it could get.

Even Captain Fred Pereira dropped his second match of the year, a 4-2 decision to the Scarlet Knights' John Welch. Pereira got behind 2-0 in the first period and never could get the third period reversal he needed to tie the match.

The meet wasn't as utterly devastating as the tragedy at Cornell; some of the individual matches were close. 120-pounder Brian Smith dropped a 7-4 decision to John Damico after almost pinning him in the last minute. Jack Mamana lost a 8-7 decision to Tom Healey at 157 after scoring a last-minute reversal to tie the match.

But several of the Rutgers wins were easy. Don Pike 9122) blasted Peter Keeler, 9-2. Gene O'Donnell (147) put on a dazzling exhibition of leg riding before pinning Brian Conley in 5:53. Ron Gelser (177) trounced newcomer John Ashby, 114, and Rutgers stars Bob Rader (191) and Ed Scarer (Hwt.) won decisions by 5-0 and 8-3 scores respectively.