Wrestlers Trounce Cornell; Johnson, Kristoff Lead Team

Relying on a shuffled line-up and several substitute wrestlers, the Crimson came up with a surprisingly strong 27-13 Ivy victory over Cornell yesterday in Ithaca, N.Y.

The original wrestling match, scheduled for Saturday, was cancelled when the Harvard squad could not depart from snow-bound Logan Airport.

The contest was not rescheduled until late Sunday, and coach John Lee was unable to contact several starting members of the varsity line-up.

But Jerry Kahrilas (142) moved up to 150, Bruce Johnson jumped from 167 to 190, and Bob Kristoff entered the line-up for the first time this season at heavyweight. Each Crimson wrestler won at his new position to provide the margin of victory.

The Crimson is now 2-2-1 in the Ivy League, still well out of contention for the championship. The squad has no matches prior to the weekend bouts at the Easterns in Philadelphia.

The Crimson's lightweights provided an early lead against Cornell, as was expected. Dan Blakinger (118) pinned his opponent, and Carl Biello (126) and Josh Henson (134) followed with lopsided decisions.

Harvard ran into trouble, however in the middle weights. Jon Peters (142) lost badly, 11-0, and captain Colin Mangrum (158) was also decisioned. Fortunately, Kahrilas (150) overcame his weight disadvantage and pinned his opponent.

After John Keough (167) was decisioned for four Cornell points. Harvard's team chances were slim despite a 19-11 lead. At 190 and unlimited the Crimson was a without Dave Scanlon and Angelo Mareno and Cornell had a good chance for 12 points.

Ritchie Starr clinched the victory with a 6-3 win, but then Johnson and Kristoff impressed Lee by tying and winning their respective bouts for the final lopsided score.

Lee called the Crimson victory, "one of the best performances we've ever had. It came at a time when I least expected it. Scanlon never found out that the match had been rescheduled Johnson and Kristoff were the key to the success."