Jantzen Stars, But Wrestling Flounders in Dallas

Junior co-captain Jesse Jantzen was once again the lone bright spot for the Harvard wrestling team this weekend at the Lone Star Duals in Dallas.

There, the Crimson (0-3) lost all three of its matches, falling to Oklahoma 36-6, Missouri 25-15 and Northwestern 24-12.

“We didn’t wrestle well,” said Harvard coach Jay Weiss. “From top to bottom only a couple of guys wrestled well.”

Jantzen, ranked No. 3 nationally at 149 lbs., was the only Crimson wrestler to score multiple wins, posting three victories, two over nationally-ranked opponents.

Jantzen also had two pins, including one over No. 6 Jeremy Spate from No. 16 Missouri, whom Jantzen defeated in just 1:14.

Jantzen’s other pin came in his match against Northwestern’s Josh Ballard, where Jantzen recorded another first-period pin.

In his first match of the tournament, Jantzen defeated No. 4 Oklahoma’s Nate Parker, ranked 13th nationally at 141 lbs.

Other impressive efforts were turned in by senior 125-pounder David Germakian, who defeated Northwestern’s John Velez 7-5, and sophomore heavyweight Jonas Corl, who beat the Sooners’ Erin Helvey.

“[Germakian] looked good in all of his matches,” Jantzen said. “He wrestled hard and well.”

Though the Crimson was only able to post eight victories in 30 matches in its first tournament competing as a team, the team was concerned with more than just wins and losses in Texas.

“Instead of looking at the outcomes at this point in the season, I’m looking at how well they’re wrestling,” Weiss said. “A couple of guys wrestled well one match, but didn’t wrestle too well in other matches.”

Freshman Max Meltzer (133 lbs.) was just one example of a Crimson wrestler who was unable to post a consistent effort throughout the tournament.

After falling to Oklahoma No. 2, Teyon Ware, Meltzer rallied to beat Tiger Austin DeVoe, 9-4.

“Max Meltzer had a tough match in his first one, but then came back and wrestled real well in his second,” Weiss said.

But a team could do worse than losing to the Tigers and the Sooners. Both Missouri and Oklahoma are nationally-ranked programs that boast 10 ranked wrestlers between them. Harvard has just one—Jantzen. The disparity in talent resulted in several lopsided matches.

After having to wrestle up a weight class, junior P.J. Jones faced the No. 1 and No. 4 wrestlers in the nation, Josh Lambrecht and Scott Barker, respectively. Jones lost both matches, the first by pin in 2:16 and the second 7-3.

Despite the excuses it could have employed, the squad felt that it could have put forth a better effort in Dallas.

“We’re pretty disappointed, even though we we’re facing some of the top teams in the country,” Jantzen said. “Going in we expected that we would give Oklahoma a better match. We also thought we could have beaten Northwestern and Missouri. Overall I think the team is pretty disappointed.”

Senior Pat O’Donnell (174 lbs.) nearly defeated Missouri’s Matt Turner, but fell 3-1 in double overtime. O’Donnell was close to scoring the crucial points in the sudden death period but lost when Turner scored back points.

“It definitely hurt the team, because he was close to turning it around and winning that match,” Jantzen said.

The losses have put a bitter taste in the Crimson wrestlers’ mouths as they head into the exam period.

The team is next in action on Jan. 24, when it faces its first EIWA opponent, Army (3-2). The following day, Harvard travels to Lehigh (4-3), a perennial league powerhouse.

The Mountain Hawks placed sixth at the Midlands Tournament, their strongest showing ever.

“We’re going to have to stay focused on our conference opponents now,” Jantzen said.

—Crimson staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.