While Harvard wrestler J.P. O’Connor made history this weekend, becoming the first Crimson grappler to finish the season undefeated as he captured a national championship, another Ivy League school made some history of its own.

Cornell’s men’s basketball and women’s hockey teams are both playing the role of Cinderella in their respective NCAA tournaments—the first-ever wins on the national stage for both teams.

After dismantling Temple, 78-63, on Friday, the Big Red men’s hoops squad made a statement yesterday, earning an 87-69 win over Wisconsin to earn a trip to the Sweet 16.

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Chemistry is an essential component to a team’s success.

Without it, teams crumble in the most dire of times, succumbing to the pressures of a big game that requires much more than just plain talent.

In order to do well this season, Harvard coach Jenny Allard has ensured that the softball squad continues to foster a tight-knit community of support and encouragement.

She paired sophomore standout Rachel Brown, last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, with rookie Jessica Ferri to provide guidance and advice.

Here are some things Brown shared with The Back Page a few weeks ago about Ferri and the friendship between the two talented pitchers.

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It’s March, and that means it’s time for Madness. But while you’re anxiously researching sleeper picks for your bracket, it’s worth pointing out that for some sports, tourney time is already here.

Eight teams have qualified for this year’s NCAA women’s hockey championship, including fourth-seeded Harvard, who finished third in regular-season ECAC play and was bounced in the conference semifinals.

Yes, you heard that right. The Crimson has secured the only home-ice berth from the ECAC, despite being the third-best program in conference play. Now how the heck did that happen?

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I have to admit, before this year I had never seen any wrestling matches in my life, live or on television. Sure, I had seen WWE wrestling with the dramatic storylines and fighting that captivated me as a child. But watching co-captain J.P. O’Connor and the other Harvard wrestlers for the first time was a new experience that suddenly made me interested in the sport.

This past weekend, O’Connor stepped onto the mat as the favorite at the EIWA Championships at Lehigh. He had been to the finals each of the last three years, but fell in the championship match every time, despite earning All-American honors in two of those seasons. This time around, as the No. 1 wrestler in the country at 157 pounds and with a 29-0 record on the season, O’Connor came into the final as the clear favorite. The question still remained, though, if he would be able to pull off the win that had eluded him for three years. Would he be able to do what only two other Harvard wrestlers in his weight class had done before?

O’Connor put all of the questions to rest and fought past whatever nerves he had to take the championship match in a 3-1 decision against Navy’s Bryce Saddoris, the No. 3 seed. Along with two of his other teammates, co-captain Louis Caputo and freshman Steven Keith, the senior qualified for the NCAA Championships at the end of this month. I haven’t heard much talk about his accomplishments on campus and there are not full crowds at the matches, but it’s a shame that more students did not get to see O’Connor in his final year of action in a Crimson singlet. Sure, it’s not exactly like the WWE wrestling from my childhood, but there is plenty of drama in watching the No .1 wrestler at 157 pounds go after a title he’s been seeking for years and cap off Harvard's second undefeated season in its history. Now, if only these storylines headlined HBO specials, Crimson wrestling and its stars might get the attention they deserve.

The Harvard men's volleyball team's victory over New Jersey Science and Technology University last weekend was a spark of hope in what has been so far an underachieving season.

Reviewing the first 10 games, in which all except one have been losses, one of the key flaws of the team is its overall lack of efficiency both offensively and defensively. The Crimson offense has been error prone, committing 241 errors on 1118 total attacks this season. Harvard falls below its opponents in attack percentage, .191 to .289, as well as kills per set, at 13.4 to 14.9. Additionally, service errors —148 and counting—take away important and hard-earned possessions.

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