Wrestling Continues To Struggle on Road

The Harvard wrestling team thought it had reached a turning point last weekend when the squad posted its first victories of the year—including one over then-No. 21 Hofstra—after dropping its first five.

But the Crimson (2-7, 1-4 EIWA) was unable to build on last week’s successes, suffering road losses to No. 19 Penn, 25-11, and Princeton—a defeat based on the eighth criterion of near falls after the teams battled to a 19-19 draw. The two losses drop the squad’s road record to 0-7.

The loss to the Tigers (3-9, 1-5), a team that had yet to win a conference meet and that had not beaten Harvard in recent memory, is particularly painful.

The Crimson entered the final three matches ahead 19-6, but a major decision, a pin and a decision tied the score at 19. Princeton won the meet with four near falls to Harvard’s three.

Penn 25, Harvard 11

After suffering its third conference loss to a struggling Princeton squad the night before, the Crimson came into the Palestra hoping to defeat a second nationally-ranked opponent in as many weeks.

“After we beat Hofstra the week before, we thought we could come in and beat better teams,” No. 3 junior co-captain Jesse Jantzen said.

But Harvard was only able to pick up wins in three weight classes against the Quakers (3-2, 2-1), who are ranked third in the conference.

The Crimson did manage to stay close in the early rounds of the meet, tying the contest 6-6 after four matches. But five straight Penn victories made the score 25-6, a Quaker lead too large even for Jantzen—who scored a technical fall in the second period—to surmount.

Senior Robbie Griffin (165 lbs.)—one of only two Crimson wrestlers undefeated on the weekend—notched his second victory over Richard Ferguson, 9-6.

“Since Hofstra, Robbie’s been wrestling real well for us,” Jantzen said.

Sophomore 184-pounder Eddie Jones was the final Harvard wrestler to record points for the team, scoring a 5-4 decision over Penn’s Ethan Bullock.

Princeton 19, Harvard 19

Harvard started strong against Princeton, winning all but two of its first seven matches, including a pin from Jantzen in the first minute of his contest.

Freshman Max Meltzer (133 lbs.) also had an impressive victory, scoring a major decision over Brian Kirschbaum.

But the heavier categories once again proved to be the Achilles’ heel for Harvard, as it lost the 184-lb., 197-lb. and heavyweight matches.

“The Princeton loss really hurts, especially since they don’t really have a very good program,” Griffin said.

Harvard will be back in action this weekend when it hosts No. 6 Cornell on Friday night and Columbia and Sacred Heart on Saturday.

Cornell has proven a formidable force in the EIWA, defeating Penn 23-10 but losing to No. 5 Lehigh earlier in the year. The Big Red will be Harvard’s fourth top-ten opponent this year.

“It’s really important for us to win, because there’s not much more time left in the season, and Cornell is one of those teams who’s right up there,” Griffin said.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.