Ogunwole, Preston Shine, But Wrestling Drops Four

At first glance, going 0-4 may not be the sign of a productive weekend.

The Harvard wrestling team (1-11, 1-3 Ivy) returned home to the Malkin Athletic Center for four dual meets over two days and emerged with four losses, failing to add another tally to its singular team win.

But evaluating the Crimson’s success purely in terms of wins and losses is something head coach Jay Weiss has always refrained from doing. Weiss looks at individual performance and development to determine if his wrestlers are ready for the critical, end-of-season EIWA national qualifying tournament.

At least two of his charges have long been in tournament form.

Sophomores No. 16 Robbie Preston (125 lbs.) and No. 7 Bode Ogunwole (285 lbs.) both posted three wins on the weekend, coming out on top in every match they wrestled.

But the points the two tallied weren’t enough to propel Harvard past its opponents, and the Crimson was defeated by identical margins of 36-6 by both Columbia and No. 15 Cornell.

Sacred Heart yielded the most points to the Crimson, winning by a slim three-point margin of 22-19, and in its final contest, Harvard lost 36-3 to East Stroudsburg.

EAST STROUDSBURG 36, HARVARD 3

In its bout against East Stroudsburg (6-3), the Crimson didn’t have Preston wrestling. In fact, it was shorthanded all the way through, suffering two forfeits. The only team points came from Ogunwole’s defeat of Stan Foster, 6-3.

“What we’re looking for is progression. We’re looking forward to the first weekend in March, and to get guys to Nationals,” Weiss said. “We’re also making sure that the young guys are getting experience and getting better, expediting that process as quickly as possible.”

Two of Harvard’s losses were decided by narrow one-point margins, with sophomore Brent Kakesako (133 lbs.) and freshman Dominic DeNunzio (149 lbs.) losing 6-5 and 7-6, respectively. Captain Mike Baria (141 lbs.) fell 7-2 against Scott Heckman.

Two Crimson wrestlers were also shut out, with 165-lb. senior Nathan Picarsic losing 6-0 and 184-lb. freshman Billy Colgan ousted 2-0.

CORNELL 36, HARVARD 6

In Harvard’s contest against Ivy champion Cornell (11-4, 5-0 Ivy), the two teams were tied up at six after the first three bouts, with the Big Red taking the first match and the Crimson winning the next two.

The Saturday morning contest started off with freshman Andrew Dane (197 lbs.) getting pinned in 1:52 by Jerry Rinaldi, giving Cornell a quick six-point lead.

But the Crimson battled back, with Ogunwole and Preston winning by one point each. Ogunwole eked out a win against Tyler Shovlin, 7-6, and Preston followed with a win over Mike Mormile, 6-5.

The six points notched by Ogunwole and Preston were the last team points the Crimson was to see on the day, however. The Big Red rolled through the remainder of matches and only stretched the point gap.

“Right now, Robbie Preston and Bode can go against anyone in the country,” Weiss said. “[As a whole,] of course, we’re not where we want to be. We still have work to do.”

SACRED HEART 22, HARVARD 19

Friday night’s contest against Sacred Heart (6-8) was the most successful for Harvard, as the team bounced back from a lackluster effort against Columbia despite one forfeit in the 174-lb. weight class.

Preston won a crucial major decision against Mike Arone to give the Crimson a 19-18 lead, winning 13-0.

The Crimson’s lead was short-lived, though, as the Pioneers’ Kyle McCarthy answered back with a major decision win of his own over Kakesako, holding the sophomore to just one point as McCarthy tallied 10.

Senior Jonas Corl took the mat at heavyweight, replacing Ogunwole for the night and winning a tight 2-1 contest in overtime against Payam Zamminpour.

Colgan, DeNunzio, and Matt Button all contributed points for Harvard, winning 4-3. Baria ousted his opponent in a 10-4 win.

COLUMBIA 36, HARVARD 6

The Crimson’s opening match of the weekend against Columbia (7-3, 3-2 Ivy) was a low point, Weiss said, despite typical wins from Preston and Ogunwole.

The two sophomores posted the only wins against the Lions, with Preston defeating Jeff Sato 2-0 and Ogunwole gaining a 6-2 decision on Bart Seemen.

Columbia garnered the other eight victories on the day.

“We wrestled totally different against Columbia [as compared to against Sacred Heart],” Weiss said. “I’d be worried if we wrestled the way we did against Columbia all four bouts. This is that time of the year when [our wrestlers] question themselves, and they have to realize that this is the time of year when everything matters.”

—Staff writer Megha Parekh can be reached parekh@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.