Wrestling To Defend EIWA Title

The rings from last season’s title still glisten, but this weekend the Harvard wrestling team is hardly playing the role of defending EIWA champions.

After dual-meet losses to Penn, Cornell and Lehigh, the Crimson enter this weekend’s EIWA tournament seeded No. 4, but confident that another title is within its reach.

“I feel that [we can win] if everybody just wrestles the way they know how to,” said co-captain Kevin El-Hayek. “On paper I don’t agree with the way that they’ve seeded us.”

The underdog attitude will encourage Harvard to be more aggressive, which could help the Crimson upset the nationally-ranked Quakers and Mountain Hawks (No. 8 and No. 12, respectively) at the two-day event at Lehigh’s Stabler Arena beginning Saturday.

“We are in a good position where we don’t have that much pressure on us and we’ll be able to relax and just wrestle,” said sophomore Jesse Jantzen, who compared his squad to Olympic gold medalist figure skater Sarah Hughes.

“Coach told us that because [Hughes] was seeded fourth, she was able to skate without pressure and do her best. We are kind of in the same position,” Jantzen said.

For Harvard to defend its title, though, it will take more than just a two-and-a-half minute, stellar individual performance. Last season, the Crimson needed eight finishers in the top five to clinch the tournament’s top spot. Similar success would be required to repeat as champions.

“In a nutshell, we have to get strong performances out of everyone,” said Harvard Coach Jay Weiss. “It’s funny. It’s an individual tournament, but a team tournament. Everyone has to do well.”

Jantzen, who is 28-2 and ranked No. 4 nationally at 149 lbs., is the most heralded of Harvard’s wrestlers. After going undefeated in the EIWA this season, Jantzen earned the No. 1 seed in his weight class and headlines a trio of Crimson wrestlers looking for individual EIWA titles and NCAA tournament berths.

El-Hayek (13-9) is the top seed at 133 lbs and fellow co-captain Dawid Rechul is the defending champion and No. 2 seed in the heavyweight division. Rechul is also ranked No. 12 nationally, and was named the EIWA tournament’s outstanding wrestler in 2001.

The two finalists in each weight class, as well as thirteen at-large wrestlers voted on by EIWA coaches, advance to the NCAA Championships in Albany beginning March 21.

“I feel good about [my chances to win EIWA],” El-Hayek said. “Really everything we do all year is working towards this one big tournament, and all the other wins don’t matter. But I feel the best I’ve ever felt going into EIWAs.”

Besides Jantzen, El-Hayek and Rechul, the Crimson has four other wrestlers seeded in the top six at their respective weights.

No. 4 seed junior Pat O’Donnell (10-8), ranked No. 19 nationally at 165 lbs, is looking to improve on a fourth place finish at last season’s EIWA. Junior No. 6 seed Reggie Lee could also make a run at 184 lbs. Lee finished fifth at 197 lbs last season.

Seeking to place for the first time is a pair of juniors—No. 5 seed Robbie Griffin (17-13) at 157 lbs and No. 6 seed David Germakian (12-12) at 125 lbs.

Weiss said that each of these athletes could be surprisingly successful this weekend.

“[For Harvard to win] the guys seeded three through six have got to wrestle above their seeds, which they are capable of doing,” Weiss said.

Freshmen Jon Mankovich and Jonas Corl will make their first appearances in post-season collegiate competition, wrestling at 141 and 197 lbs, respectively. El-Hayek, a three-time EIWA tournament veteran, says he will advise the freshman not to take the opportunity for granted.

“I am going to encourage those guys to not act like they have another year left,” El-Hayek said. “Very rarely do guys go in and make an immediate impact as freshmen, because they expect they’ll be there the next year. I’ll tell them to look at it like it’s their last shot.”

Rounding out the ten man competitive roster is sophomore P.J. Jones at 174 lbs.

First and second round action begins Saturday at 11 a.m. The semifinal rounds will be played at 7:30 p.m. that night, with the finals at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Place matches will be at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.