Wrestlers Rally To Take Opener

After falling behind 11-0. Harvard's varsity wrestling team rallied to take six out of the last seven matches and lackadaisically coasted to an opening meet 20-13 victory over Wesleyan Saturday in the IAB.

Harvard was a heavy favorite going into the meet. "One possible reason for the poor match is that we might have been overconfident and taken them lightly." said assistant coach Bob Fehrs.

Unfortunately, the Crimson fell behind in the lightweight bouts as the team had so many times last year-a problem which coach John Lee thought he had solved.

"It's annoying to look up at the scoreboard after three matches and see it's 11-0 and that things really haven't changed that much from last year," Lee said later.

Harvard started its comeback when sophomore Jon Peters decisioned his 142-pound opponent. 6-2. This was Peters first varsity match and, according to Lee. "he did surprisingly well."

Wrestling at 150 pounds, captain Pat Coleman narrowed the Wesleyan lead to 11-6, as he stayed in complete control of his bout throughout, picked up two points riding time, and won, 6-0.

Collin Mangrum and Mark Faller at 158 and 167 pounds respectively, turned in "workman-like performances," said Lee. Faller did show a flash of brilliance as he shot into his rival for a quick takedown to break a 1-1 deadlock with 55 seconds remaining in the final period. He advanced to score two points on a predicament and capture a 5-2 victory. Mangrum won his bout, 6-4.

Richie Starr, who had been unable to practice last week because of a skin infection, was unexpectedly quick in the first two periods of his 177-pound match. He built up a 6-0 lead and then coasted through the final period to win, 8-1. Heavyweight Tom Tripp gave the Crimson its final margin with a hard fought 6-1 decision.

In the junior varsity match, Harvard beat a weak Wesleyan team, 34-8.