Bogunwole takes 3rd, leads Wrestling at Midlands National Tournament

Sophomore Bode Ogunwole (285 lbs.) upset four higher-seeded wrestlers at the Midlands Championships to take third place and continued his reign as the most successful member of the Harvard wrestling team. His win was one of the few highlights in the team’s 26th place finish as the squad as a whole continues to struggle.

As the No. 9 seed, Ogunwole battled hard to place, and won his final match against No. 5 Bill Stouffer of Central Michigan by forfeit.

But there was no cruising for Ogunwole to get to that ultimate match. Ogunwole topped No. 2 Les Sigman of Nebraska-Omaha, and earned a 3-1 win over LSU’s No. 4 Scott Coleman. The Crimson heavyweight also defeated No. 8 Ryan Allen of Wisconsin-Lacrosse 7-3 in the quarterfinals to advance to the final round.

Ogunwole’s sole loss came at the hands of Penn’s No. 1 Matt Feast. Feast eked out a 3-2 victory to send Ogunwole to the consolation round.

No. 3 Co-captain Max Meltzer (141 lbs.)—who is currently taking a year off from school—wrestled unattached and took fifth place in the tournament. He beat Iowa’s No. 5 Alex Tsirtsis 6-4 in his final match.

Co-captain Mike Baria did not fare as well in the bracket. Baria lost 3-0 in his first match to Michigan State’s Tony Greathouse and 7-2 in the consolation round to Purdue’s Rene Hernandez.

Assistant Coach Jared Frayer had greater success, who was under a club team in the 165 lb. bracket, and earned a third-place finish.