Tough Opponents Hand Harvard Dual-Meet Losses

With two weeks until its Ivy League opener, Harvard wrestling is struggling to find its identity.

A banged-up Crimson squad (1-7, 0-2 EIWA) dropped both dual meets this weekend, falling 38-3 to No. 8 Lehigh on Saturday before coming up short, 30-11, against Army on Sunday. Although the grapplers faced a daunting challenge in the eighth-ranked Mountain Hawks (19-1, 5-0), Harvard coach Jay Weiss expressed disappointment at the effort.

“Even going against a top team, not at full strength, I still don’t think we wrestled well,” he said. “[Lehigh’s Leeman-Turner Arena] is an exciting atmosphere with lots of people, but we didn’t bring out our best.”

Junior co-captain J.P. O’Connor (157 lbs) was the only wrestler to notch a victory in both his bouts, with senior Tommy Picarsic (133) and rookie Bryan Panzano (174) adding wins on Sunday.

While the scores of both duals appear lopsided, the additional victories and a number of close contests represented improvement over the weekend.

“I don’t care about the score, we were looking for a turnaround against Army and it was a lot better,” Weiss said. “We won three bouts and were leading two others in the third period, so the outcome could have been very different.”

Indeed, the Black Knights (10-4-1, 4-1) might not have enjoyed such a comfortable margin without a Harvard forfeit at 125 lbs and the absence of junior co-captain Louis Caputo (184) and sophomore Corey Jantzen (141). Caputo attributed his absence in Sunday’s contest to a shoulder injury sustained earlier in the week.

Besides the disadvantage of competing without the 2006 All-American, the Crimson demonstrated inexplicable improvement over the course of a day, baffling the coaching staff.

“We’re in an odd position,” Weiss said. “I saw a different team on Saturday and Sunday, so the question is, where do we go from here?”

As the Ivy season fast approaches, Harvard can only hope that it finds its stride in time.

ARMY 30, HARVARD 11

The Crimson followed its Saturday loss to the Mountain Hawks with a trip to Westpoint, N.Y., taking on the Black Knights at Gillis Field House. Panzano (1-8) opened the scoring for Harvard with his first dual meet victory of the season, topping Dean Gaier 7-2. The freshman earned two takedowns and an escape from bottom to claim the decision and tie the team score at three.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the heavier weights fell in Army’s favor, as the hosts took three straight bouts and a commanding lead. By the time Picarsic (3-2) took the mat, Harvard already trailed, 21-3, but the senior grappler maintained his focus.

After building a commanding 7-1 lead to start the third frame, Picarsic scored two takedowns to close the match and earn a major decision, 12-2, for the first time this year.

“[Picarsic] kept up the pace, always pushing for points,” Weiss praised. “He’s been doing a great job leading this team on and off the mat.”

No. 4 O’Connor (17-2) matched his senior teammate with another 12-2 major, topping Rudy Chelednik to finish the afternoon and cap a personal undefeated weekend.

With three solid bouts and close defeats for junior Pat Ziemnik and freshman Spencer DeSena, it was clear that Harvard brought a greater level of intensity to its second match after exams.

“Sometimes it takes a tough loss to realize you’re better than that,” said Caputo, referring to the contest with Lehigh. “We picked it up, wrestled tougher, and took advantage of some better pairings against Army.”

NO. 8 LEHIGH 38, HARVARD 3

O’Connor logged the only victory against Lehigh, as the Crimson fell victim to six ranked opponents in Bethlehem, Penn. Two falls against Harvard freshmen Sean Murphy (197) and Johnny Motley (141) as well as two major decisions exposed a difficult return to the mat for the Crimson. Even 7th-ranked Caputo (19-4) dropped a frustrating bout, watching victory slip away in the waning moments of the third period.

Despite his injured shoulder, Caputo built a 2-0 lead through two hard-fought periods before yielding an escape to No. 15 David Craig. Trailing 2-1, the Mountain Hawk junior managed a takedown with eight seconds remaining to upset the Crimson standout and hand Caputo only his fourth loss this year.

Even though the team effort fell short, O’Connor continued his brilliant junior campaign by notching a team-leading 12th dual meet victory. With a 4-2 decision over Sean Bilodeau, the All-American showed no rust after a three-week break from competition.

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.