Wrestling Finishes 17th at Midlands

In its last event before the new year, the Harvard wrestling team pitted its talent against some of the country’s best wrestlers, ending up with a 17th-place finish at the Midlands Wrestling Tournament.

The Crimson sent six wrestlers to compete at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University this Saturday, with two advancing to the second day of competition.

Freshman Corey Jantzen, returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for almost a month, put up the most impressive performance for Harvard. Wrestling as the eighth seed at 141 lb., Jantzen blazed through the first two rounds by notching two major decisions before facing top seed Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa, eventually defeating him in an 8-3 win.

On the second day, Jantzen’s run was halted by fifth seed Dan DeClore of Iowa in a close match in which the freshman fell short by a point. Jantzen then lost his next match by fall and forfeited the fifth place match by medical default, finishing sixth as a result.

Junior co-captain Louis Caputo (184 lb.), seeded fourth, had a rough start to the tournament, losing by fall to Derek Ross of Nebraska-Kearny in just 51 seconds, banishing him to wrestlebacks.

The veteran recovered, however, to record six straight victories over a two-day span, including a major decision and two technical falls.

Caputo then faced third seed Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan for the bout to decide third place. After falling to Sinnott, 5-2, Caputo was awarded a fifth-place finish when his opponent forfeited the deciding bout.

Also wrestling for the Crimson were freshman Craig Carpenter (157), sophomore Andrew Knapp (285), and seniors Bobby Latessa (157) and Matt Button (165).

Button managed to record two wins for Harvard following a first-round defeat in overtime. Button bested Troy Carlson of Chicago, 10-7, and garnered a major decision against Alex Reser of Oregon State before falling to third seed Moza Fay of Northern Iowa.

Junior Andrew Flanagan (165), who finished fourth at Midlands last year, had been slated to compete for the first time this season after an eye injury but was pulled from the competition in a last-minute decision.

The Crimson returns to dual competition next Saturday at the Lonestar Duals in Arlington, Texas, with Michigan, North Carolina and North Dakota State lined up as its scheduled opponents.

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