Injuries Plague Wrestling Team As Cornell Beats Harvard, 28-12

Injuries dropped the Harvard wrestling team out of contention with Cornell on Saturday, as the Beg Red reasserted its wrestling dominance with a 28-12 victory.

Sophomore Jim Abbott (191) suffered a knee injury during the team's final work-out on Friday. He still began his match with Cornell co-captain Pete Woodworth, but was forced to forfeit early in the second period.

Heavyweight Bob Panoff went into his match still suffering from a Thursday ankle sprain. He lost to Cornell's Tom Havens, 8-2.

Before those final two matches Harvard still had a mathematical chance of overhauling the perennial Ivy League wrestling champions. In fact, at the end of the 100-pound match, Harvard and Cornell were tied in the meet score, 12-12, on the strength of Paul Padlak's (160) 5-4 decision over Cornell's St.John.

Just as in last week's loss to Franklin and Marshall, Harvard's effort Saturday was marked by three draw bouts. Captain Andy Kopecki began the meet promisingly for Harvard with an 11-5, 118-pound class decision over Dan Kathan. Then, John Moss (123) tied Bob Meldrim, 1-1; Bruce Goodman (130) tied Ithacan Vernax, 1-1; and Jeff Seder (145) tied Ben Bishop, 2-2; around a loss by Paul Cantinella (137) to Cornell's Dennis Wright, 13-9. It was the second straight draw of the season for Goodman and Seder.

Sophomore John Eng (152) lost to Dave Oullet, 5-3, but Padlak triumphed at 160 to bring the team back to a tie. Harvard didn't score another point. Howie Chatterton (167), one of two Harvard winners last week against F&M, was pinned in a third-period cradle by Mike Crandall; and Howie Freedman (177) was overpowered, 14-5, by Big Red co-captain Dick Minekime. Harvard went into its fina two matches trailing, 20-12, and with two injured men waiting on deck.