Wrestling Rebounds With Pair of Victories

Sparked by junior co-captain Jesse Jantzen’s 3-0 performance, the Harvard wrestling team picked up a pair of crucial victories over Sacred Heart and Columbia on Saturday.

The Crimson (4-8, 2-5 EIWA) defeated the Pioneers 26-17 and the Lions 25-18, just one day after an impressive effort in a 21-13 loss to No. 6 Cornell.

Harvard 26, Sacred Heart 17

Against the Pioneers, Harvard jumped out to an early 11-0 lead.

In the opening match, sophomore heavyweight Jonas Corl won by technical fall after completely dominating John Miller, putting the Crimson ahead 5-0.

Leading 11-3, Harvard gained six points when No. 3 Jantzen pinned Mark Laramee in the 149-lbs. match.

The closest Sacred Heart (6-6) came throughout the meet to challenging the Crimson lead came when Ron Wright pinned senior Seth Leighton in the 165-lbs. class to pull the Pioneers within four.

Many in the crowd shouted in anger at the referee after Wright appeared to apply a choke hold on Leighton, who lay motionless on the floor for several seconds. No penalty was called.

“It’s a blatant, illegal move and [the tape] will be sent to the ECAC office,” said Harvard coach Jay Weiss after reviewing the tape. “The official is out there to protect the wrestlers and I don’t feel he did that.”

Leighton’s match not the only instance of poor officiating. At 197 lbs., the Pioneers’ Anthony Reynolds appeared to twist sophomore Eddie Jones’ arm well beyond what the rules permit.

Harvard 25, Columbia 18

In the Columbia meet, the Crimson made it interesting early. Senior David Germakian took down the Lions’ Dan Green in the final seconds of the third period to send the match to overtime.

After neither 125-lbs. wrestler scored in the first overtime, the match went to a second overtime, where Germakian had to prevent Green from escaping within 30 seconds. Green escaped at the buzzer to give Columbia (3-6, 2-4) the win and even the meet at 3-3.

However, the Lions failed to build on its momentum as Harvard won the next four matches.

In the 149-lbs. class, Jantzen started slowly, falling behind 0-2, but scored six team points after pinning Erik Norgaard in 3:56. The only other time Jantzen has trailed this year was at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Cornell 21, Harvard 13

In winning four matches against powerhouse Cornell (9-2, 5-1), the Crimson showed it is much better than its record indicates.

Facing the Big Red on Friday night, Corl won 5-4 in overtime, while Max Meltzer (133 lbs.), Jantzen and Robbie Griffin (165 lbs.) also tallied victories.

Harvard will host Brown (7-10, 1-5) at 4 p.m. and Boston University (11-4) at 6 p.m. next Saturday.

The Crimson hopes to continue building momentum before the EIWA championships March 7-8.