Bonebenders Contort Big Green in Ivy Opener

Warning for Princeton, Yale and Cornell: There's another team making a run at the Ivy League wrestling championship this year. And anyone who witnessed the 33-9 drubbing of Dartmouth at the IAB Saturday knows who that team is. It's Harvard.

After a flurry of matches against superior non-league opponents, the Crimson grapplers are ready to take on the mettle of the Ivy League. Aided by the return of senior captain Carl Biello, the Harvard matmen came up with their finest performance of the young season in routing the Big Green.

"They have to be considered contenders for the Ivy title," Dartmouth coach Jerry Berndt said Saturday. "I didn't think anybody in the league would beat us this bad."

"We got beat by a better wrestling team," the Dartmouth mentor continued. "We found out how really behind we were by not having any previous matches."

Mitch Silverman got the fireworks under way for Harvard. The 118-pounder gave the Crimson a 3-0 lead on the basis of a 7-2 decision over Dartmouth opponent Ernie Marmer.

Was This Trip Necessary?

"Mitch should have pinned the guy," asserted Crimson coach Johnny Lee, "but he ran out of gas at the end."

Dartmouth's Charles Kreter managed to split a decision with 126-pounder Milt Yasunaga as both teams drew two points. Yasunaga had a near takedown but the insistent referee denied the Crimson grappler what would have been the deciding points.

The Crimson jumped to an 11-12 lead on the strength of a Bill Haley pin over 134-pounder John Lagnese of Dartmouth. Haley secured the pin at 7:47 after he had been in command all the way.

Captain Biello made his return to the mats after being out of action for over one year with a neck injury. The senior 142-pounder was very impressive in handing his Big Green opponent a loss by a superior decision as Harvard led, 15-2.

Good to Be Back

"It felt real good to be back," Biello said, "we did real good today."

Freshman Tom Bixby replaced the injured Mike Dee at 150 and crushed Dartmouth's Dave Dibell with a pin at 4:28 of the match.

Another freshman, Jim Corcoran, clinched the Crimson victory 38 seconds later as he pinned Dartmouth 158-pounder Matt Kramer faster than the bewildered Kramer could say "full nelson." The two pins stretched the Crimson lead to 27-2, to mathematically eliminate the Big Green.

Dartmouth's 167-pound Kevin Young, the team's best wrestler, edged one of the Crimson's best, Bruce Johnson, in a close decision. Johnson came on strong in the closing minute but Young did a good job in staving off the threat.

Jim Straffmyer eked out a 7-6 decision over 177-pounder Rick Clark of Dartmouth in a bout in which the lead changed hands three times. The "Pennsylvania Packer's" superior condition was the key factor as Straffmyer was aggressive throughout.

Captain Jim Conterato of Dartmouth notched a superior decision against 190-pounder John Keough, who had replaced the injured Bart Van Dissel. The decision lowered the Harvard lead to 30-9.

Heavyweight Kip Smith registered his finest performance of the season in manhandling Dartmouth bulwark Reggie Williams, an All-East lineman in football. Smith should have pinned Williams, but a nice escape prevented the icing.

"I was impressed with most of our guys," Lee said. "It was a nice win to have," added the Crimson mentor. "With Mike Dee back, and Carl Biello, we may be able to make a run at the Ivies."