Visit to Ithaca Will Make Or Break Wrestling Team

Schedules, unfortunately, aren't written for dramatic effect. If they were, no self-respecting scheduler would dare place the most important match of the season almost at the beginning. But when the Harvard wrestling team meets Cornell tomorrow at Ithaca, the outcome will, quite simply, make or break the year for the Crimson.

Cornell has been perching stop the Ivy League for so long that no one but a few misty-eyed coaches can remember the time when there was another league champion. Every year, the Big Red muscles aside potential challengers with ease, and the dynasty goes on and on.

This year is Harvard's turn as white hope. The Crimson's strongest team in years has posted convincing wins over M.I.T. and Franklin and Marshall, and has finished fourth in the tough Coast Guard Tournament. Two of Harvard's best wrestlers, captain Tom Gilmore and Howie Durfee, are healthy again after sitting out the F & M match with injuries.

Cornell has lost its first three matches this year, but that's hardly an indication that it's reached the end of its rope. The losses were 26-5 to Oklahoma State, possibly the best team in the nation, 22-16 to Lehigh and 19-16 to Navy, two of the best in the East.

The pattern the match will take seems fairly clear. Harvard's best wrestlers are concentrated in the lighter weight classes, while Cornell solds three powerful men in a row in the upper brackets: Jeff Stephens at 147, Fran Ferrare at 177, and Bob Buchwald at 191.

The Crimson will probably grab an early lead, with Gilmore's match against Cornell star Don New at 127 a crucial one. But then it will be up to Chris Wickens, Jeff Grant, and Bill Malugen to bold off the Cornell triumvirate. The match may well go right down to Tack Chace's heavyweight contest.

Harvard will start its standard lineup with Howie Henjyoji at 123, Bing Hung at 120, Gilmore at 127, Durfee at 145, Ed Franquemont at 152, Paul Padlak at 160, Wickens at 147, Grant at 177, Malugon at 191, and Chace at heavyweight.