Like a man playing a slot machine, Harvard wrestling coach Bob Pickett has juggled his lineup for every meet of the season so far. The jackpot, if Pickett can hit it, could very well be an Ivy League championship.
In three dual meets and the Coast Guard tournament, Pickett has used three different wrestlers at 130 pounds, two at 137, three at 147, and three at 157. If Jan Bollinger can break in at 147, or Jeff Grant at 167 in time for the Penn meet, here this Saturday, two more new faces will be added to the mob scene that is the Harvard wrestling picture.
Hardened by Fire
The mettle of the Penn team is an open question, since the Quakers have had only one match this season. They defeated Lafayette 31-10 in December, and have not wrestled since. Consequently Harvard can expect the advantage of superior conditioning and a degree of battle-toughness.
Penn's two best wrestlers are its co-captains, 123-pounder Richie Sofman and heavyweight Bruce Jasobsohn. Both seniors, they head a lineup that presents an unusual mosaic of experience and inexperience. The Quakers will start five seniors, three sophomores, and only one junior.
The probable Harvard lineup will be Howie Henjyoji at 123, either Bing Sung or Mike King at 120, Tom Gilmore at 137, Howie Durfee or Bollinger at 147, Ed Franquemont at 157, Grant, Jeff Hall, or Dave Greuel at 167, Chris Wiskens at 177, Captain Ben Brooks at 191, and heavyweight Tack Chace.
Cornell's 21-11 defeat of Harvard last Saturday has not altered Pickett's appraisal of the relative strengths of the two squads. "We are just as good a team as they are," he said yesterday.
"One Little Mistake"
Pickett cited a pair of matches that might have turned the meet in Harvard's favor. Henjyoji made "one little mistake," according to Pickett, by riding his man too high. In control and leading 2-1, he got too much of his weight directly over his opponent, allowing the Cornell wrestler to reverse him and win 3-2.
Tim McCarthy, wrestling at 137, was ahead 3-1 in the last period of his match. Both men were on their feet, maneuvering for position. McCarthy, frying to stay out of trouble, was called twice for stalling by the referee. He lost a point each time, and had to settle for a draw. "If he'd been a better actor, he would have won," said Pickett.
