O'Donnell Upsets Top-Ranked Heskell; Wrestling Impresses

In one of the more remarkable individual upsets in recent Harvard sports history, sophomore Patrick O'Donnell defeated the nation's top-ranked wrestler in the 165-pound weight class on Saturday at the Lone Star Duals in Dallas, TX.

O'Donnell battled back from an 8-4 second period deficit against Iowa State's Joe Heskett to tie the score and force overtime. After an extra period that still found the score tied, O'Donnell turned Heskett over from the bottom position for a tilt to take the match, 10-8.

"In terms of confidence, this was a key win for me," O'Donnell said. "This was the first match where I felt I was really focused the whole way."

Harvard performed well across the board at the meet, in which the upstart program faced the fourth, sixth and eighth-ranked teams in the country in Iowa State, Oklahoma and Nebraska, respectively. Although the Crimson fell to all three opponents, Harvard picked up several substantial individual victories and lost close matches to several ranked opponents.

No win, however, approached the magnitude of O'Donnell's triumph against Haskett. The two-time All-American had been the top seed at last year's NCAA Championships where he ultimately finished second. Heskett had held the No. 1 position in the national rankings for almost all of the past two years.

Haskett had recently gone undefeated in capturing the Midlands Wrestling Championships in Evanston, Ill., one of the most prestigious tournaments on the collegiate schedule. Haskett had sported a flawless 16-0 record this year, and an 84-4 record for his career.

"Anytime you beat someone at his level, it's pretty unexpected," co-captain Francis Volpe said.

The fact that O'Donnell was the one to take Heskett out was even more surprising. O'Donnell had originally come to the Crimson as a 174-pounder, but had to adjust to a new class because that position was already occupied by All-American Ed Mosley '00.

After shuffling betweenweight classes again, O'Donnell had been asked to fill the void in his weight class created by the departure of All-American Joey Killar '00. Although O'Donnell had produced several solid contributions for the Crimson, his 2000-2001 season had been inconsistent on the whole.

Against Heskett, he turned in the match of his life. Up 4-3 in the second half, O'Donnell suffered a 5-point reversal that found him flat on his back and suddenly behind, 8-4. Faced with the daunting challenge of coming back from four points in under a half, O'Donnell somehow found a way to force overtime.

"He was right there the whole match," Volpe said. "He got caught in a move late, but never gave up."

O'Donnell found resiliency in the opportunity to accomplish something special.

"Just being in it that late in the match is what really drove me," O'Donnell said. "You don't get a lot of chances to face someone of [Heskett's] caliber."

Harvard lost the dual match against Iowa State 29-7, fell to Oklahoma 27-15, and lost to Nebraska 21-13. However, Volpe feels that the team proved it could compete against the nation's best.

"Even though we came out of Dallas with three losses, this prepares us for the EIWA and Ivy League seasons," Volpe said. "A lot of other teams we go up against don't get to face this kind of competition every week. That's why we go to places like Dallas and prepare, with the hopes of peaking in March."

The rest of the team showed signs that the Crimson will be a force to be reckoned with on the local level, and possibly beyond.

Co-captain Matt Picarsic also had a noteable weekend, losing a close match to No. 7 Matt Acevedo and scoring a 6-5 win againsr Oklahoma's Will Durden in the 133-pound class. Sophomore Max Odom lost close decisions to two of the top-ranked 157-pounders, second-ranked Bryan Snyder of Nebraska and fifth-ranked Cole Sanderson of Iowa State.

"Everytime we face guys like that, we expect that we're capable of winning," Volpe said.

The Crimson's next tournament will be at the U.S. Military Academy on Jan. 26.