Fox Leads Wrestling at Midlands Champs

Sometimes, quality trumps quantity.

The Harvard wrestling team placed 17th out of 59 teams on Tuesday at the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. Despite sending three fewer wrestlers to Welsh-Ryan Arena than last year, the Crimson improved on its finish in the two-day tournament standings by 12 spots.

“I think the team's general feel was one of positivity and high energy since we were coming off a bit of a break,” said freshman Josef Johnson. “Everyone was refreshed, and I think it contributed to my confidence going into the tournament.”

Harvard scored 31.5 points with a team of just five wrestlers, just short of 14th-place Penn (37) and 15th-place Princeton (34.5). Iowa took the title with 189 points.

“Midlands is one of the toughest tournaments in the country, with many of the top teams and nationally ranked wrestlers attending,” co-captain James Fox said. “That being said, I think we wrestled pretty well as a team.”

After being sidelined by a concussion in early November, Fox returned to the mat in fine form. The senior won five matches to en route to a third place finish—the Crimson’s highest of the tournament.

Following a key 9-1 win against Ian Solcz from Iowa, Fox defeated competitors from South Dakota State and Northern Illinois. In the semifinal round, Fox dropped a close match against Solcz’s teammate, No. 1 seed Nathan Burak, 3-1, but came back in a match against Princeton’s No. 3 Abe Ayala.

The third-place bout between Fox and Northwestern’s Alex Polizzi was back and forth, with Fox pulling off a reverse to go up 4-3 with 21 seconds left. Polizzi, though, sent the match into overtime with the score tied, 4-4. Fox clinched the victory on a two-point takedown.

“I am really pumped that I was able to come back from my injury and take third at such a tough tournament,” Fox said. “Personally, I was battling some doubt going into this tournament, much like any athlete coming back from a two month injury. But with each match, I proved to myself that I was feeling and wrestling great and that I could keep winning.”

Wrestling unattached, heavyweight Nicholas Gajdzik withdrew from the competition after sustaining an injury in the quarterfinal round. The junior won two matches to reach the round of eight, defeating Princeton’s Ray O’Donnell, 8-6, and Wisconsin’s Brock Horwath, 3-1.

At 141 lbs., junior co-captain Todd Preston began the meet with three consecutive wins, including a tiebreaker win against Illinois’ Logan Arlis. Preston ultimately dropped two close matches in the quarterfinals and consolation bracket.

Juniors Josh Popple and Patrick Hogan both earned multiple victories as well. Popple took two major decisions at 197 lbs. against Troy Hembury of Columbia and Marcus Haughian of Grand Canyon before falling to Nathan Rotert of South Dakota State.

Hogan, after losing his first match to Alexander Richardson of Old Dominion, won his next three matches—one by forfeit—before Cumberland’s Jake Williams bested him.

Johnson, meanwhile, made his Midlands debut at 174 lbs. After a defeat to Wisconsin’s Frank Cousins, the freshman won two matches, taking major decisions against Wyatt Wilson of Indiana and Richard McDonald of Brown before falling to Air Force’s Scott Reilly in an 8-6 loss.

The past month has been a growing experience for the rookie.

“Coming to prestigious tournaments like this and Las Vegas a few weeks ago has been somewhat surreal because I've been hearing about them for years, and that may have added some unnecessary anxiety,” Johnson said. “Now, I'm becoming more aware of my ability to compete at this level, and I think I'll be much more confident moving forward.”

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.