Grapplers Succumb

The Harvard wrestling team had a good look at a top college wrestling program on Saturday--too good.

The Cornell Big Red nearly shut out the Crimson in Ithaca, N.Y., 37-3.

Harvard (4-6 overall, 0-1 Ivy) simply could not handle the Big Red (10-3 overall, 1-0 Ivy), which is currently ranked 12th in the country.

"We wrestled about how we expected," Harvard Head Coach Jim Peckham said.

Sophomore Michael Warnick, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year, provided the only victory for the Crimson with a 3-1 decision over Cornell junior Mike Polo at 142 lbs.

"Warnick wrestled well, but not up to his potential," Peckham said. "He can do better."

Peckham blamed the Crimson's performance on the outstanding Cornell team and the differences between the two programs.

"Cornell is just an outstanding team," Peckham said. "But they have five full-time coaches while we make do with two part-time. They are able to do a much better job of recruiting than we can."

Even with the poor showing on the scoreboard, several Crimson wrestlers performed strongly. At 134 lbs., Sam Coles went up against fifth ranked Cornell Co-Captain Mark Fergeson, losing just 6-2.

Peckham also singled out junior Frank Fronhofer for a "fine effort" at 150 lbs. Fronhofer wrestled well, but lost 6-2 to Cornell's Mike Kinglesmith.

The Crimson's Bill Counihan was leading in the 190 lbs. match against Mike Litke, but suffered a knee injury and was forced to default.

Steve Aoki was also forced to default in the 118 lbs. match due to a knee injury, this time at the hands of Cornell's Jim Meckley. Aoki may be out for the rest of the season.

Harvard looks to have a better weekend coming up as the Crimson faces Pennsylvania, Boston College, Albany, Princeton and Springfield in their only home meets of the season at the Malkin Athletic Center this Friday and Saturday.