Crimson Grapplers Duel Weak MIT In Final Meet of First Half-Season

Harvard's varsity wrestling team closes the first half of its winter season tonight at 7:30 p.m. when the Crimson travels to MIT to face the eager, but weak, Beavers.

Coming off a depressing 37-0 loss to formidable Navy last Saturday, today's morale-booster could improve the Crimson's season record to 6-3-1.

Harvard coach John Lee predicted that the less-than-challenging meet would be more than a laugher. "MIT isn't too bad this year. They lost to U Mass by a sizeable margin, and we beat U Mass pretty easily in December. But MIT is strong in the first two weight classes," Lee said.

Exams may distract the majority of the Crimson wrestlers. Having wrestled four times during reading period, several starters have Lee's permission to tackle Widener and Lamont this evening.

Through the first half of the season, the Crimson's results have been disappointing. Harvard hoped to have its strongest team ever and its first Ivy champion, but failures against Columbia and Penn have been most disheartening.

The Crimson has overcome its traditional weakness in the lower classes, building on a strong foundation of Dan Blakinger, Carl Biello, Josh Henson and Gerry Kahrilas. But the lightweights have not built sizeable margins in the crucial contests.

Harvard's biggest problems have come at 150 through 177. Lack of depth has been aggravated by the losses of Colin Mangrum and Ritchie Starr through injuries. But the recent performances of substitutes Boris Holmes, Frank Morgan and Bruce Johnson, stimulate optimism for the rest of the Ivy trail.