Cornell Downs Matmen, Dashes Ivy Hopes, 20-16

Harvard's dreams of an Ivy League wrestling championship evaporated in a few bruising minutes at Ithaca Saturday night as Cornell rallied to defeat the Crimson 20 to 16.

A rally of Harvard's own had brought the team into an 11-9 lead when the axe fell. First, at 167 pounds, Cornell star Jeff Stephens downed Dave Worcester 6 to 2 to give the Big Red a one point margin.

But the next match was the real crusher, an Cornell's Fran Ferraro pinned Jeff Grant at 6:10 in the 177 pound match to swell the lead to a virtually Impregnable six points Bob Buchwald then shut out Bill Malugen. Harvard's inexperienced 191 pounder, 7 to 0 and Cornell had the match, and probably the title, pocketed.

The match began as though the Crimson were on its way to a debacle on the scale of its 33-0 trouncing in Ithaca two years ago. At 123, Bob Stock of Cornell outclassed Bowie Henjyoji 6 to 0, and the Big Red's Bick Beck followed with a 2-1 speaker over Bing Sung at 130. Harvard captain Tom Gilmore halted the stampede temporarily by blanking Dick Fox 6 to 0 at 137, but Cornell's Don New sent his team into a 9.3 advantage by beating Bowie Durfee 6 to 2 at 145.

Durfee's loss may have been the crucial blow for Harvard, since the Crimson needed to accumulate a substantial lend in the higher weights to withstand Cornell's strength in the higher classes. The Durfee loss was doubly painful because New broke a 2-2 tie in the second period by taking. Durfee down when the Harvard wrestler was off guard, apparently thinking the referee had blown his whistle.

Ed Franquemont and Paul Padiak did their best to rescue the Crimson, but it wasn't enough Franquemont planed Cornell's Josh Knight at 8:19 of their 152 pound contest, and Padiak, a sophomere, whitewashed Tom Southworth 5-0 at 150. Harvard sported ahead by two points but not for long.

Tuck Chace, the Harvard heavyweight, gained a measure of retribution by pinning Dick Moore at 7:38. At one time in the match, Chace was behind 7 to 0.

In an unofficial match the night before, Harvard downed Cortland State 24-19 as Chace, Henjyoji, and Franquemont recorded pins.