Wrestling Suffers Disappointing Losses

It was a battered Harvard wrestling team that took to the mat Saturday at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Missing some of its most important wrestlers due to injury, the team dropped all three of its dual meets, losing to Penn 29-6, Lowell 25-14, and Rutgers 26-16.

"It didn't go as expected," senior Alex Croog said. "We had a lot of injuries and had to shuffle things around."

Every weight class was affected, with freshman Ed Mosley (158 lb. class), sophomore Joel Friedman (134 lb. class), and freshman heavyweight Mike Occhuizzo succumbing to injuries.

As a result, many wrestlers were forced to wrestle out of their weight classes, giving their opponents an immediate advantage.

"Giving away weight to a heavier person makes it hard on the collegiate level," sophomore Dustin DeNunzio said.

Despite the losses, there were a number of standout Harvard performances.

Co-captain Steve Gerstung won all three of his matches on Saturday, winning two of them in overtime.

He took down his Rutgers opponent with two seconds remaining in overtime to garner that victory, one made all the sweeter by the fact that Rutgers's wrestler was ranked sixth in the Eastern Collegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA).

His Penn opponent didn't fare much better. In Gerstung's second overtime match of the afternoon, he escaped from the defensive position with 15 seconds remaining in the sudden death overtime to earn another victory.

Again, Gerstung toppled another giant of the EIWA, as Penn's wrestler was fifth-ranked in the conference.

DeNunzio also did his best to rewrite the rankings of the EIWA, as he defeated his Penn opponent, ranked third in his weight class.

The team's closest match of the afternoon was against Lowell.

Sophomore Rob Durbin held a ten point lead over his Lowell opponent, but the Lowell wrestler, in a surprise move, pinned Durbin, and Lowell pulled to victory.

The team didn't seem too concerned about the losses, especially since Mosley is expected back this week and Friedman, recovering from knee surgery, should be ready in two weeks.

"We still have three Ivy matches left, and we hope to get the injuries over with by then," Gerstung said. "We expect to be at full strength by Easterns." Penn  29 Harvard  6

Lowell  25 Harvard  14

Rutgers  26 Harvard  16

Lowell  25 Harvard  14

Rutgers  26 Harvard  16

Rutgers  26 Harvard  16