Seniors, Rookie Dominate In Last Home Match

The Harvard wrestling team struggled to come up with wins this weekend, but its co-captains, J.P. O’Connor and Louis Caputo, dominated as they have all season.

Harvard (2-12-1, 0-3 Ivy) fought against tough opponents but lost in lopsided bouts to Brown in Providence, R.I. on Saturday and Lehigh at the MAC on Sunday. The Crimson fell in similar fashion both days, losing to the Bears, 33-12, before falling to the Mountain Hawks, 37-11.

Despite not coming through with a team victory, the captains and coach were still proud of the way the Crimson grapplers showed energy on Sunday given their difficult loss the day before.

“We did better this weekend than last weekend,” Harvard coach Jay Weiss said. “We were outmatched, but we wanted to just fight, and they fought better today [than against Brown]. If they do that, they’re going to make a progression. and that’s what we want.”

LEHIGH 37, HARVARD 11

The Crimson suffered a tough loss to the No. 7 Mountain Hawks (14-3-1, 3-0-1 EIWA) on Sunday. In its final home match of the season, Harvard started off strong, but could not carry the momentum through all the matchups.

Freshman Steven Keith (125 lbs.) opened by defeating his opponent, 13-0. Keith got an early takedown and never looked back as he won by major decision. It was Keith’s 14th win of his first season with the Crimson.

“We get to choose what weight we want to start with, and I always start with 125 [pounds],” Weiss said. “I know [Steven] is going to go 100 percent and get fired up, no matter what.”

No. 1 O’Connor (157) continued his undefeated season, taking down his opponent Brian Tannen, 16-5, in front of a raucous home crowd. O’Connor notched takedown after takedown in a dominant performance. Every time Tannen looked ready to escape, O’Connor easily threw him to the mat, controlling his 24th win of the season from start to finish.

“Personally, I think I wrestled well,” a satisfied O’Connor said. “I just went out there and wrestled like I have been for four years now.”

No. 6 Caputo (184) finished off his home season strong with a 6-0 defeat of his opponent. After losing the past few times they have met, Caputo finally bested his rival, No. 15 David Craig.

“It felt really good today,” Caputo said. “It’s really neat to have this opportunity to have a rival and it’s great it went my way. It was a great opportunity and it was fun.”

But for the seniors, Sunday was the last day that they would step out in front of the home crowd, as the final match of the weekend marked Senior Day for Harvard.

“I honestly didn’t even think about it until one of my friends on the team said it was the last home match,” O’Connor said. “It kind of hit me, and I thought about it for a minute, but I tried not to think about it too much. It’s been a great ride and the season’s not over yet.”

BROWN 33, HARVARD 12

The Crimson began strong with a win from Keith, but the results were the same on Saturday as Harvard suffered its 11th defeat of the season and remained winless in the Ivy League after falling to the Bears (4-11, 1-2 Ivy).

Along with the rookie standout, the two seniors continued to set the standard for the Crimson, each picking up wins with impressive showings. O’Connor began what would be an undefeated weekend, pinning his opponent, Max Lewin, in 29 seconds. Fellow co-captain Louis Caputo captured a 6-0 victory at 184 pounds over Bran Crudden. Keith’s 13th win of the season came against Brown’s Greg Einfrank, but no other grappler could earn points as Harvard came up short.

With the team struggling in dual competition, Harvard will look to finish its team contests against Columbia and Cornell this weekend and move to the individual season. For O’Connor and Caputo, this postseason represents one last chance to earn titles at the EIWA Championships and the NCAA Championships.

“We’re going to finish the best we can and we’re gearing up for the individual,” O’Connor said. “Hopefully, I can finally get that conference tournament title. I’ve been to the finals three times.”

The grapplers’ coach is equally excited for the individual season, as Weiss wants to honor two of the Harvard program’s most storied competitors.

“Those two mean the world to me,” Weiss said. “They’re two of the most respected people I’ve ever coached as far as how people view them, and they’ve done so much for our program...The next couple of weeks are going to be real exciting. I want the best [for them] because they deserve the best.”