Wrestling Goes 3-0 on Weekend

In the year 1984, which was the last year that the Harvard wrestling team defeated Cornell, most of the wrestlers on Harvard's current roster were still wrestling in playpens.

But this weekend, that streak was broken.

The Crimson, led by strong performances by freshman Jesse Jantzen and junior Dawid Rechul, outlasted the Big Red, 28-13, this Saturday at the Malkin Athletic Center. The win leaves Harvard in a three-way tie with Cornell and Pennsylvania for the top spot in the Ivies.

With a win over Brown next week, Harvard will ensure at least a tie of the Ivy League crown, a goal that was set at the beginning of the year.

"From the first meeting of the season, [our goal] was 'win the Ivies'," said sophomore Reggie Lee.

The Crimson also dominated in its other two matches this weekend, sweeping Columbia, 50-0, on Friday night and finishing off the weekend strong by beating Boston College, 28-9.

Harvard got the weekend off to a great start with a sweeping victory over visiting Columbia on Friday night. And the crowd, led by a rowdy group of shirtless fans, enjoyed every minute of the romp.

"We were not expecting 50-0, but some of their starters were out and we were able to take advantage," said Harvard Coach Jay Weiss.

Harvard jumped to an early 18-0 lead with pins by Jantzen at 149, sophomore Max Odom at 157 and sophomore Pat O'Donnell at 165.

After freshman P.J. Jones accepted a forfeit win, senior co-captain Francis Volpe recorded a solid 9-1 win in the 184-pound weight class.

Lee, encouraged by the wild support of football players who arrived in the middle of his match, pulled out a tight 4-3 win.

Junior heavyweight Dawid Rechul and 125-pound junior Kevin El-Hayek both made quick work of their Columbia opposition. Their two matches would end with pins in the first period.

And finishing off the sweep were the two Picarsic brothers--Matt at 133 and Nick at 141. They won their matches, 8-1 and 10-0 respectively.

"I think we were a little stung by the loss to Penn and we bounced back strong," Weiss said.

Strong may be an understatement for the way the Crimson competed on Saturday. In the first match of the day, sophomore Patrick O'Donnell faced the tough task of taking on Cornell's Clint Wattenberg, ranked No. 1 in the EIWA 165-pound weight class. O'Donnell pulled off an exciting 3-2 decision over Wattenburg.

"Getting the first win at 165 was really big," Weiss said of O'Donnell's opening victory. "That was a match that could have gone either way, and it really got the ball rolling."

After Jones was disqualified in his match at 174, Volpe earned a major decision over Randy Stout in the 184-weight class.

Lee put up a tough battle against the EIWA's third-ranked Corey Anderson, but Lee eventually fell in a 6-0 decision. But Harvard would again regain the momentum when heavyweight Rechul pinned his Big Red opponent in decisive fashion.

The Crimson would earn six more points in the next two matches with a tight 6-5 decision for El-Hayek and anther solid victory for Matt Picarsic. He further solidified his No. 1 EIWA ranking with a strong 8-2 decision over Cornell's Byron Warner.

The younger Picarsic had a tough time in his match after being taken down early in the first period and never really regaining control. He lost in a 10-1 major decision.

In the 149-pound division, Jantzen was impressive once again. Despite giving up a takedown just ten seconds into the match, Jantzen combined creativity and skill for an impressive reversal and pin just 57 seconds into the match.

With the Harvard victory sealed, Odom set out for an upset of Cornell's third-ranked Leo Urbinelli. In a 5-2 victory, Odom did just that, and put an exclamation point on the Crimson's 28-13 win.

In the Saturday afternoon match, Harvard easily outlasted Boston College 28-9. Lee and freshmen Jones, Jantzen, Robbie Griffin, Ken Kakesako and Brandon Kaufmann earned victories for the Crimson.

A reflection of the Crimson's dominance against B.C., each of Harvard's losses was by only one point. Senior Adam Truitt fell 4-3 after being taken down with just 6 seconds remaining in his match, and Rechul and junior Brandon Rhodes each lost close 3-2 matches.

The Crimson's three-match sweep proves it is reaching peak form at the right time, with the EIWA and NCAA championships approaching.

Harvard's tough early schedule appears to be paying off as the season wears on.

"Going down to Texas and playing three of the top ten teams in the country showed us that we could play with these guys," Lee said.

"The tough competition we faced early has really raised our level," Weiss added.

In the last regular season match of the year, the Crimson will play host to Brown and Boston University next Saturday at the Malkin Athletic Center.