Talented Springfield Topples Grapplers

Scott Beck's match last night against Springfield told the story for the Harvard wrestling team.

In a tightly fought contest, the 126-lb. grappler fell behind early, 2-1. By the start of the last period he was down, 3-1, but he managed to take a point with one minute to go.

And with just two seconds left on the clock, he began to swing around behind his opponent. At the buzzer Beck had the takedown.

But the referee declared that it was too late, and Beck lost a heart-breaker, 3-2.

"Just a half second more and I would have won it," Beck said afterwards.

The real problem, however, was that the rest of the squad took its cue from Beck--and the Crimson lost a series of tough matches on the way to a 21-15 loss to New England's top team.

The result surely would have been different if two of the squad's top wrestlers, 142-lb. Jeff Clark and Co-Captain Jerry Greenberg, had not missed the team's first dual meet of the season because of injuries.

In a match reminiscent of last year's struggle against Springfield, the grapplers fell behind, 21-0, before managing a late rally. But it was too little, too late.

Five straight victories--including a masterful 10-5 decision by heavyweight Kevin Wattles (230-lb.) over a massive 310-lb. creature from Springfield--just weren't enough to resurrect the squad.

Frustration

118-lb. Mike Meade started the match off with a 10-7 loss but, much like Beck, came back with four points in the last period to get his opponent in trouble at the buzzer.

Beck and 134-lb. Steve Beati then lost their matches by a point each.

Beati was behind throughout and was trailing, 10-6, with two minutes remaining. With a minute left, he closed the gap to 10-9 and let his opponent escape--hoping to attempt a tying two-point takedown that never materialized.

Filling in for Clark, Jeff Pellatia suffered a second-period pin and 150-lb. John Moon--Greenberg's replacement--lost a 17-4 decision.

Down 21-0, but not yet mathematically out of it, the Crimson began to rally. Both 158-lb. Pete Holmes and 167-lb. Co-Captain Steve Farrell won tough 3-2 decisions.

Kevin McGinty (177-lb.) took a 5-4 decision and 190-lb. freshman Kelly Flynn walked away with an impressive 5-1 victory--setting the stage for Wattles' performance.

"The teams are basically very even, provided we're healthy," Harvard Coach John Lee said. Lee added that he had kept Greenberg out of the lineup to protect the grappler's health for Saturday's four-team match-up.

THE NOTEBOOK: Clark and Greenberg are expected to return for Saturday's match at the IAB...Last night's match was the team's first performance in the newly-renovated IAB.