Impressive 11th Fueled by Strong Individuals

Under bright lights in Las Vegas, Harvard’s top grapplers continued to shine.

Sophomore Corey Jantzen captured a title in his first action of the year, while junior co-captains J.P. O’Connor and Louis Caputo posted top-three finishes at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend.

Continuing its brutal schedule, the Crimson sent eight competitors to the annual tournament, which features some of the nation’s best talent in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Junior Andrew Knapp, sophomore Michael Sadler, and rookies Bryan Panzano, Walter Peppelman, and Sean Murphy rounded out the Harvard lineup against a field that included nine teams in the top 25 and five of the top 10.

The Crimson posted an 11th-place finish in the 44-team tournament. With an incomplete roster, Harvard looked to focus on the experience gained from facing such talented competition.

“This is one of the top tournaments we’ll wrestle in,” Harvard coach Jay Weiss said. “It’s extremely tough to gear up for a tournament [of this caliber].”

Some of Harvard’s competitors felt right at home among the country’s best, as No. 4 O’Connor (157 lbs.) and Jantzen (141) earned third and fifth seeds respectively, while Caputo (184) garnered the top spot in his weight class.

All three grapplers dazzled high-quality opponents, breezing through to the semifinals, but Jantzen’s run to victory put the wrestling world on notice. Returning from a nagging leg injury, the sophomore proved that he is as strong as ever, dispatching 11th seed Tyler Nauman of Pittsburg 10-5 in the championship.

Jantzen earned four victories overall, including back-to-back defeats of the top and fourth seeds. With a stellar 4-3 decision over No. 1 Jeff Jaggers of Ohio State, Jantzen became the second Crimson grappler to defeat a national champion this season, following O’Connor’s upset of then-No. 1 Jordan Leen in November.

“Corey wrestled a great tournament,” Weiss said. “He took on a wrestler [Jaggers] who’s very tough to beat. You can’t make mistakes, and he just wrestled a perfect bout.”

Jantzen (5-0) carried the momentum of his stunning victory into the semifinals, dominating Arizona State’s Chris Drouin–ranked No. 4 in the nation–with a fall in 2:02, and setting up a Saturday evening showdown with Nauman.

While the sophomore standout’s performance earned tremendous attention, the Crimson’s co-captains ensured that more than one wrestler would share the spotlight.

No. 5 Caputo took the silver medal, running his regular-season record to 11-0 before falling to second seeded Kirk Smith of Boise State in the finals. The 3-1 decision marked Caputo’s first defeat outside of the NWCA All-Star Classic, but the hard-fought bout did not tarnish a stellar overall effort.

The 2007 All-American cruised through his opening four contests, surrendering points only in his quarterfinal match against Indiana freshman Jordan Blanton. Caputo defeated two Big Ten opponents on Friday, exacting some revenge against a conference that bullied the Crimson in the NCAA championships last spring.

As he has done consistently all year, O’Connor (13-2) mirrored his co-captain’s success by capturing a bronze medal with convincing victories. The third seed notched two falls and two shutout decisions before suffering a 3-2 semifinal loss to No. 2 Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska, who garnered Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament honors en route to an individual title and Cornhusker team championship.

Despite setbacks for Harvard’s leaders, Weiss expressed little disappointment with such tight battles.

“J.P. and Louis had close bouts that could have gone either way, all to good wrestlers,” he said. “It’s not too devastating early in the season, because you can always bounce back.”

O’Connor did just that in the wrestleback draw, grinding out a 4-3 decision over Boise State’s No. 10 Adam Hall to claim a spot on the medal stand.

While three superb efforts boosted the Crimson to a respectable team finish, the squad witnessed first-hand the importance of depth. While Harvard’s remaining wrestlers competed fiercely throughout the weekend, only Peppelman (149) notched more than one victory.

After falling to No. 10 Cesar Grajales of Penn State, the rookie (9-4) dominated the consolation draw, posting three straight wins by at least seven points before falling to fifth-place finisher Trevor Chinn.

While the Crimson stars continue to lead the team with stunning wins and stellar performances, Harvard will look for more consistency from its lineup as the dual meet season approaches.

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.