Wrestling Team Enters Season With High Expectations

By JESSICA T. LEE

CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

The Harvard wrestling team enters the season coming off its most successful year ever, which included its first Ivy and EIWA titles in school history and a record six qualifiers for NCAAs.

Led by EIWA Coach of the Year Jay Weiss, Harvard returns stars from the previous years including three of the six NCAA qualifiers—co-captain Dawid Rechul, junior Pat O’Donnell and sophomore World Trial qualifier Jesse Jantzen.

After an extraordinary rookie season, Jantzen’s name is well known in the 149-weight class. Last season, Jantzen earned a spot at Nationals, Ivy Co-Rookie of the Year honors, and second place at EIWAs. He took third at the U.S. Freestyle National Championships in Las Vegas last spring, a rare feat for a freshman. Most recently, Jantzen took first place at the East Stroudsburg Tournament and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Co-captain Kevin El-Hayek earned Second Team All-Ivy accolades and third place at Easterns last year in the 125-weight class, but moves to 133 this year, replacing last year’s EIWA Champion Matt Picarsic ’01. With the move to a more comfortable weight, El-Hayek brings a renewed perspective on wrestling.

“[The 125-weight class] was difficult,” El-Hayek said. “I felt that last year, that’s where I needed to be. I did set myself up to be right in the thick of things at Nationals and when it didn’t work out, I had to re-evaluate why I was wrestling. This year I’m really focusing on having a good time, trying to get back to the reason I started in the first place and helping guys struggling with some of the things I struggled with.”

El-Hayek’s move to 133 opens to door for junior David Germakian to step in at 125, with freshman Greg Cook also at that weight.

“I just know from the guys I wrestled last year [at 125] that [Germakian] seems to be one of the stronger guys in the weight class,” El-Hayek said. “I think he’s going to have a big year this year.”

At 141, freshman Joseph Turilli embarks on his rookie season, with classmates Jon Mankovich and currently-injured Mike Getlin also in the weight class.

“They’re a real hard-working crew,” Lee said. “The transition from high school to college wrestling is huge.”

Junior Nick Picarsic joins the crew of weight-jumpers by moving to 157 pounds after starting for the Crimson at 141 during his first two seasons. Picarsic competes with junior Robbie Griffin and sophomore Brandon Kaufmann for the starting position.

“There are three very talented wrestlers trying for that position,” El-Hayek said. “All of them are going to be jockeying for that, trying to get the varsity matches.”

O’Donnell will represent the Crimson at 165, with classmate Seth Leighton providing depth. O’Donnell proved his ability to compete with the best of the best not only by earning honors as an NCAA qualifier and a First Team All-Ivy Selection, but also by defeating Iowa State’s Joe Heskett, ranked No. 1 and undefeated prior to the match against O’Donnell at the Lone Star Duals last January.

At 174, sophomore P.J. Jones steps up after sharing time last year. Jones placed sixth last weekend in the East Stroudsburg Tournament. Freshman Eddie Jones makes up the other half of the weight class.

Junior Reggie Lee is back in his natural weight class of 184, after earning an All-Ivy Honorable Mention and taking fifth at the EIWA meet last season at 197. Lee has already met success at East Stroudsburg, where he placed fifth.

“After the first tournament, I could just feel the difference,” Lee said. “I feel a lot lighter and stronger, not afraid of getting crushed by people when they take shots.”

At 197, senior Brad Soltis returns to Harvard wrestling, with NCAA experience from his sophomore year. Soltis is currently injured, but looks promising for matches to come.

“Brad is someone we’re expecting a lot of good things from,” El-Hayek said. “He’s definitely going to stand out.”

For the heavyweights, Rechul came within one round of earning All-American status last year, and looks to continue moving up as one of the nation’s top wrestlers. Rechul was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2001 EIWA Championships. He earned second place and the most pins in the tournament with four at East Stroudsburg.

Junior Joseph Linhart adds depth for the Crimson, along with freshman Jonas Corl, who will wrestle at 197 this weekend but looks to be a heavyweight in the long run.

In addition to his points on the mat, Rechul and El-Hayek serve as leaders in the Crimson tradition of wrestling.

“We try to model our team to be a real close-knit group,” Lee said. “Kevin and Dawid have been in this program for quite a while and they know the importance our coaches and team place on togetherness.”

Harvard will not have an easy ride to the championships of March. The Crimson travels to Dallas, TX in early January to battle No. 2 Oklahoma, Wyoming and No. 4 Oklahoma State in the Lone Star Duals.

“We look forward to our trip to Dallas,” El-Hayek said. “We get to wrestle the top-ranked guys in a dual match setting.”

“Pretty much every single starter is going to take on one or two people in the top five,” Lee said. “Going into our dual meet season, it’s pretty great to get tough opponents like that in a neutral setting.”

Following Harvard’s trip to Dallas, the Crimson have a series of dual meets at home, where preseason EIWA favorite Lehigh is sandwiched on January 27, between meets against the U.S. Military Academy on January 26 and Sacred Heart of February 2. Harvard faces another tough EIWA rival in No. 9 Penn on February 8. The Crimson hasn’t beaten Penn in an Ivy dual meet in over 10 years.

“Lehigh and Penn are traditionally our rivals,” Lee said. “One of our goals is definitely to take down those two. Cornell is also tough, even though we beat them last year. It should be an interesting meet, and a long bus ride.”

The Cornell meet is on Feb. 16. EIWAs begin on Mar. 9 at Lehigh.

Despite the fact that Harvard is the defending EIWA champion, it is tied for fourth in preseason EIWA rankings behind Lehigh, Penn and Rutgers..

“We don’t really focus on the paper rankings,” El-Hayek said. “We try to show it on the mat. Anyway, it’s easier to wrestle when you’re not ranked higher—there’s not as much pressure.”

For now, Harvard’s priority on the mat is not to avoid losing, but to focus on specific aspects of the sport that will all add up in the end.

“We’re just trying to get the matches under our belt,” El-Hayek said. “We’re not really focusing on doing everything we can to not lose. Our focus right now is the little things, the fine-tuning points. With our focus on those things right now, later in the year, just trusting in the program, it will all work out.”

This weekend, the Crimson heads to Nevada for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, an event that should serve as a gauge for the team.

“In previous years, we weren’t as conditioned at East Stroudsburg,” El-Hayek said. “Vegas will be a big indicator for us. The level of competition is the highest it’s going to be, save [the Lone Star Duals], Lehigh and Penn.”