Grapplers Dominate at Springfield Invitational

The Harvard wrestling team began its first campaign under head coach Jay Weiss with a dominating performance at the Doug Parker Wrestling Invitational held last weekend at Springfield College.

The 17-team individual tournament featured local Division II and Division III schools with Harvard as the lone Division l representative.

Although team points were not recorded, the Crimson clearly out wrestled its opponents, taking first place in the 118, 126, 134, and 158-pound divisions.

"All the lightweights did really well," sophomore Brendan Noonan said. "In the heavies we don't have all of our spots filled yet."

In the 118-pound weight class, junior Craig Vitagliano captured the crown for the Crimson by defeating Kyle DeForest of Plymouth College, 8-6, in Overtime.

The finals of the 126-pound division pit two Crimson grapplers, Noonan and freshman Dustin DeNunzio, against each other.

Denunzio bested his teammate in a tight 4-3 victory.

"You generally don't want teammates to wrestle each other," Weiss said. "But each school could enter two wrestlers in each weight class and it so happened that both of our guys made it to the finals."

The Crimson got another stunning freshman performance from Joel Friedman, who captured the 134-pound division and won Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.

In the finals of his dray, Friedman defeated Worcester Polytechnic Institute's George Chu, a two-time Division III All-American.

In the 142-pound division freshman Adam Griesemer advanced to the finals before bowing out to defending tournament champion Andy Goodwin of Springfield.

"We have a great class of freshmen," Weiss said. "They really performed well this weekend and they'll all be pushing for starting positions."

Tri-captain Khris Reina, carrying the banner of the upperclassmen, won the 158-pound weight class.

While the tournament results were certainly heartening for the rebuilding Crimson squad, the caliber of competition it faced this weekend was much lower than that of its Ivy League rivals.

"The Ivy League is very tough," said Weiss, who was an assistant coach at Brown for two years before arriving at Harvard. "By the end of the season Brown, Cornell and Penn could all be in the Top 20 nationally. We can't sit back and watch it happen."

Competing in the Ivies will not be an easy task for the Crimson, which has suffered from injuries and several sub-par recruiting years. It will have to rely on its young talent at the lower weight classes.

"This year we're going to try to turn the program around," Reina said. "We have the tools to rebuild with now."

Tri-captain Steve Aoki, who wrestled in the 126-pound division last year for the Crimson, will be eligible for the second semester and should add some experience into the young mix of talent.

Injuries, unfortunately, have already taken their toll on the Crimson line up.

Junior 142-pounder Ron Rabinowitz has been sidelined with a pinched never in his neck and freshman Rob Durbin, a prospective 190-pound wrestler, is recovering from knee surgery."

"The season looks promising to a point," Weiss said. "We're very thin from 158 pounds to heavy-weight, but we'll work with what we have."

The Crimson will hit the mats next at the Harvard Invitational, held December 10 at the Malkin Athletic Center.

The eight-team tournament will give the Crimson a chance to see just how far it's come, and how very far it still has to go.