Matmen Triumph in Weekend Tourney; Three Straight Wins Up Record to 4-0

The Harvard wrestling team continued to roll this weekend, strong-arming three New England teams and upping its season record to 4-0 in a quadrangular competition in Worcester, Mass.

The University of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and Worcester Polytechnical Institute fell victim to the Crimson crushing machine by scores of 30-11, 40-8 and 36-8, respectively, before a vocal crowd of 1200 in WPI's Harrington Gym.

But the grapplers' triumph was tainted when 118-pounder co-captain Paul Widerman injured his knee in his first bout of the contest against UNH.

"We've got the best team we've had in ten years and we have a good chance at winning the Ivies and New England, but we really need Widerman back," coach Johnny Lee said.

In completely overpowering their opponents Saturday, the matmen tallied impressive wins in 25 of their 30 bouts. One hundred forty-two-pounder Andy McNerny, who wrestled in the 150-Ib. weight class Saturday, defeated former New England champ Barry Choojian. Though there was a sizable difference between the two--eight pounds--McNerny came back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to triumph, 8-3. In his second match, McNerny pinned WPI captain Tom Kilkenny in 5:10.

Co-captain Jim Phills continued to live up to his reputation as the best heavyweight in New England as he pinned both of his opponents in the first period. Jeff Webb of UNH, crumbling in Phills arms, was pinned in 40 seconds while WPI's Bob Russell survived only four minutes of Phills' assault.

In what Lee called the "most exciting and best wrestled match of the competition," freshman Dan Medalie lost a hard-fought match to Mass Maritime's Barry Depersis, 11-10. "Medalie is going to have quite a future if he keeps up like this," Lee said.