Crimson Showcases Best Of Present, Future in Vegas

Captain Bode Ogunwole, fresh off his 3-2 sudden victory over No. 4 Spencer Nadolsky in the NWCA All-Star Classic on Monday in Dallas, led Harvard with a first-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday night.

Unranked freshman J. P. O’Connor also advanced to the finals, marking the first time in its history that the Crimson had two wrestlers competing in first-place bouts.

Harvard finished in seventh place overall with 70 points, while No. 2 Missouri won the meet with 157 points.

“I’m better prepared this year than in years past,” said Ogunwole, who captured his final bout in a 2-1, double-overtime victory against Division II national heavyweight champion Tervel Diagnev.

“I’m more consistent in getting takedowns earlier on in the match, which changes the feel of the entire match,” Ogunwole said. “The coach has been helping me a lot [in that area] and I’ve been this summer, and it’s paying off.”

Sophomore Louis Caputo (184 lbs.) earned a spot in the third-place match after falling to the No. 7 wrestler in the quarterfinals.

He lost to No. 7 Joe Rovelli of Hofstra, finishing fourth.

“I was proud that although we were down a few guys we still had a strong finish,” Caputo said. “I’m most proud of the freshman. He came out and defeated the 4th, 5th, and 8th seed to make it to the finals. We kind of expected it because we see him everyday in the practice room, but you can’t expect him to beat nationally ranked guys in every tournament.”

O’Connor (149 lbs.) advanced to the finals after defeating No. 10 Aaron Martin of Chattanooga in a 1-0 decision, No. 13 Morgan Atkinson of Cal State Fullerton in double overtime, and No. 12 Matt Coughlin of Indiana in a 2-1 decision.

He is now 7-3 for the season.

O’Connor lost 5-3 in the finals to No. 6 Josh Churella of Michigan.

“Overall it was a pretty good performance,” O’Connor said. “I didn’t finish it out the way I wanted to since I obviously did not win my last match. But hopefully I’ve put myself on the radar for a national title this year. I always hold myself to the highest standards, so I expect myself to do well.

“I’ve worked as hard as I possibly could in order to do so,” he added.

Also wrestling for Harvard were junior Bobby Latessa (157 lbs.) and freshman Frankie Colletta (165 lbs.), who had two victories each. Junior Jonathan Butler also had two wins at 197, although he lost his first round bout by pin, while freshman Fred Rowsey had one win at 174.

The Crimson now prepares to start the dual meets portion of its schedule on Dec. 14 at Washington, D.C. against American.

—Staff writer Tony D. Qian can be reached at tonyqian@fas.harvard.edu.