Grapplers Finish With Weekend Split

The varsity wrestling squad finished off its regular season competition Saturday at the IAB in what Coach Johnny Lee called "typically inconsistent" style, losing to Cornell, 33-9, and whipping Mass Maritime, 25-19.

The matmen first took on Cornell--which emerged from the weekend second overall in the Ivy League--but were hampered by a slow start. In the three lowest weight classes, Paul Widerman, Rick Keith and Bill Mulvihill--the latter competing with a very sore knee--fell to strong opponents from Ithaca.

"We had to win the first three matches," Lee said.

Harvard wrestled a little better in the heavier classes but still came up short in the match. Heavyweight Craig Beling, coming off a disappointing loss against Columbia on Friday (and consequently losing a position on the all-Ivy roster), pinned his opponent.

Chicken Feed

Mass Maritime, which had beaten the Crimson in the squads' last three encounters, proved easy prey for the matmen. Once again, Harvard lost the first three matches, with freshmen twins Brian and David Baer falling in the 134- and 142-pound class, respectively.

Lee said the momentum changed hands when Harvard's A1 Montgomery struggled within three points of Mass Maritime's best grappler, Scott DePersis.

The heavier classes were all-Harvard, with Crimson grapplers winning from the 167-pound class on up, and securing the match.

Lee said injuries hurt this year's team and labelled the season "very disappointing."

"We only had one consistent wrestler," he said, adding that other squad members continually lost to opponents who, at least on paper, were inferior to them.

Widerman and Beling stand a good chance at bringing home some silver when the grapplers wrap it up at this weekend's Eastern Championships at Princeton.