Crook Earns Runner-Up as Harvard Wrestling Opens Season at Journeymen Collegiate Classic

This past Sunday in Bethlehem, Pa., the No. 48/55 Harvard wrestling team took to the mat for the first time this season at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, where it faced stiff competition.

Although a 12-31 team record and injuries to several Crimson wrestlers sullied the excitement of this season-opening round-robin, there were nevertheless several bright spots in Harvard’s first performance of the fall. No. 29 senior Jack Crook led the way, finishing as the runner-up in the 147-pound division. Freshman wrestlers Michael Spielman and Connor Shin both impressed in their collegiate debuts, with several decisive victories shared between the pair.

Led by head coach Jay Weiss, now in his 33rd season at the helm of the program, and captains Joe Cangro and No. 30 Coleman Nogle — with tri-captain Max Agresti set to return in the spring — Harvard enters this year’s campaign with a mix of experienced upperclassmen and talented freshmen. Of the Crimson’s 14 entrants into the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, six were freshmen.

In the 12 individual victories that Harvard accumulated, it was dominant and assertive, notching two major decisions and two falls. The team’s 12-31 record was more even than the stat line suggests. Weiss noted that three of the Crimson’s defeats were decided in the last seven seconds of the final period.

“Going forward, that’s going to change,” Weiss said. “It’ll turn out to look a lot different as we get into the season.”

In the 149-pound division final, Crook faced Drew Gorman of Virginia Tech and lost 16-9. Gorman seemed to be ahead from the start, building a significant riding time advantage early on and retaining it for the duration of the match. Though a gritty battle, the bout was largely without spectacle, with points awarded only for takedowns and escapes, except for one nearfall awarded to Gorman.

Junior Logan Brzozowski was pinned in his first two matches before taking a medical forfeit in his third. Unfortunately for the Crimson, Brzozowski was not the only Harvard wrestler to go down with an injury. Senior Logan Marissal took a medical forfeit 1:29 into his match against Dean Bechtold of Lehigh University, sustaining several muscle tears and needing training staff to help him off the mat.

Weiss is optimistic, however, that both will return to the lineup ahead of the Crimson’s next tournament.

“We can see how that goes,” Weiss says. “But I think they’re going to be fine.”

Freshman duo Spielman and Shin headlined this year’s rookie cohort with standout performances. Wrestling in the 184- and 125-pound divisions, respectively, the pair accounted for two of Harvard’s four wrestlers who compiled winning records during the tournament.

Shin was the first Crimson wrestler to compete, facing off against Lucas Loffredo of Sacred Heart University. Kicking off the excitement for the Crimson, Shin pinned his opponent a mere 1:47 into the first period. Loffredo lunged for Shin’s legs 40 seconds into the match, and Shin pounced, grappling Loffredo to the ground over the next minute of the match.

Spielman logged an equally dominant performance against Peter Stathis of Sacred Heart University, disengaging a headlock and bullying Stathis into a pin 2:41 into the first period. Spielman’s only loss came against eventual pool winner Carson Crace of Cornell in a razor-thin loss decided by a single point.

Weiss hopes to continue developing the raw talent of the team’s freshman wrestlers across the rest of the season, noting that their confidence will only improve with experience.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the head coach hopes the team will continue gaining valuable experience in upcoming competitions.

“That’s why we go to all these tournaments in the beginning of the year: because it gives us a chance to see more than one wrestler,” he explained.

The Crimson will look to build upon its season-opening performance when it competes next at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia on Nov. 22 at the University of Pennsylvania.

—Staff writer Rani J. Amin can be reached at [email protected].