Matmen 12th at Easterns; Kief, Phills Post Fourths

The polished grappling skills of Rick Kief and Jim Phills surfaced once against Saturday when they proved themselves among the best in the East with fourth-place finishes in their respective weight divisions at the Eastern Championships held this weekend at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

Their performances marked the best individual showings given by Crimson matmen since 1974 when 118-lb. Dan Blakinger finished in second. As a team, Harvard finished 12th with 26 points, just one point ahead of Yale. Once again Lehigh, the traditional favorite in Eastern wrestling competitions, secured first in the 16-team tourney with 150 points.

After cruising through the first day's competition without a loss, 134-pounder Rick Kief suffered his first setback on a 17-10 loss to Brian Billing of Wilkes Saturday morning in the quarterfinals. Billing went on to finish second and qualify for the NCAAs.

In his next match, Kief drove Gary Siegal of Syracuse clean out of the competition with a 6-5 win in a pressure-packed match. Kief took advantage of the constant motion to keep Siegel confused and off balance near the end of the match.

A critical first-period takedown proved the turning point for Kief in losing the third-place bout to Bill Pincus of William and Mary, 4-2.

Phills, the talented Harvard enforcer in the heavyweight class, posted a 6-3 victory over Syracuse's Dale Heffernon in the quarterfinal contest. Phills went on the drop his wrestle-off for third to Henry Milligan of Princeton on a controversial overtime referee's decision.

Phills made a name for himself with the fourth-place finish in his freshman year, but did not wrestle at top form. The bad knee injured in an early meet against Cornell continued to plague him by virtually eliminating any push-off strength.

In the only other Crimson quarterfinal bout, 126-pounder Andy McNerney came up short in a 12-11 loss to Dough Heinbach. This loss, McNerney's second of the weekend, coupled with a previous loss to third-place finisher San Salvador Edwards of Cornell, eliminated the Crimson standout from the competition. Edwards and teammate Gene Nighman led Cornell to an eighth-place finish, tops for the Ivies.