Matmen Topple Yale, Destroy Brown, As Team Anticipates Eastern Tourney

NEW HAVEN, C to--After the Harvard wrestling team capped its finest season in half a decade by defeating Yale and Brown, coach John Lee beamed with satisfaction. As the team filed off the bus to celebrate their success, Lee commented that this had been "the finest season in many moons" finishing with a 17-4 record. The team had earned a little celebration, having defeated Yale for the first time since 1972, 26-18.

Harvard managed to build a 17-0 lead before Yale succeeded in cutting the margin. The Yale supporters seemed to arrive just as their team attempted the comeback, and their presence sparked the Elis to three consecutive superior decisions. With only one match remaining, Yale had closed the gap to a 20-18 Crimson margin, and the Yale hopefuls looked toward victory. They had forgotten, however, the Harvard heavyweight, Jim Phills.

Phills, who has earned the respect of the Crimson followers as one of the team's most exciting wrestlers, only had to win his match to preserve the victory. Instead, Phills wasted no time by scoring a pin with only 1:05 elapsed in the match. With the simple "pancake" maneuver that he has virtually patented in his two seasons here, Phills had the Eli competitor struggling on his back, quickly "icing" him to the disapproval of the mounting crowd.

Phills was not the only Crimson wrestler to earn a celebration on this Saturday afternoon, only the last. After an Eli forfeit to Rick Beller, the Harvard 118 lb. wrestler, Harvard showed its power in the lower weight classes by winning the first three matches to build the 17-0 lead. Senior co-captain Rick Kief started with a 7-4 victory over a strong Yale 126 pounder, Eric Sorkin. With quick, aggressive takedowns, demonstrating the toughness and muscle that has earned him the nickname, "Beef," Kief set the stage for the successful day.

The match at 134 pounds, renamed the Fritz Campbell Takedown Show, showcased the talent and potential of this Harvard sophomore. In defeating Mark Schoenfield by the score of 18-6, Campbell repeatedly demonstrated the speed and agility necessary to score a superior decision, allowing one-point escapes only to count with two-point takedowns.

Andy McNerney, another excellent sophomore wrestler, continued the string of victories with a 10-5 decision over Ken Lynch. Demonstrating the unorthodox--but effective--technique that seems to baffle his opponents, McNerney thundered back from a 4-3 deficit to scrap for the convincing triumph. As many opponents have discovered this year, he proved just how difficult he is to control, scoring three escapes as Lynch seemed to tire

Senior co-captain Tony Cimmarrusti followed up with a strong 10-5 victory over Colin Grisson, overpowering the Yale sophomore to put Harvard back on the winning track.

Against a weak Brown team, Harvard again started strong, building a 25-0 lead before Coach Lee let his freshmen have a chance. When the debacle was over, Harvard had scored a 37-14 victory. In his first chance of the day to wrestle, Rick Beller pinned his opponent in just 2:36, and Phills added his second pin of the day at 4:34 to give Harvard a quick twelve points. Cimmarrusti also scored a pin, this one in 4:51, as some of the varsity wrestlers readied themselves for the Eastern Championships next week at Princeton.