Howard Henjyoji breezed through four matches Saturday to capture his third straight 123-lb. New England AAU wrestling championship at the YMCA in Lawrence.

The Winthrop House senior pinned his first three opponents and humbled his final foe, 23-3. Wrestling at 123 all year, he said he entered the tourney to lose weight for the NCAA meet being held this weekend at Kent State in Ohio, where he hopes to compete at 115. He will go to the nationals tournament only if the University finances his trip. The Department of Athletics will decide the matter today.

Tom Schoor was runner-up at 114.5, after losing to the eventual champ in the first round.

Rick Sullivan, a chemistry graduate student who last wrestled for Harvard in 1959, took second place at 174 although he did not lose a bout. His one tie match out of five separated him from the winner.

In other wrestling last weekend, freshman team captain Paul Catinella, 137, took third place at the Plebe Invitational Tournament held at West Point.

The only place-winner among Harvard's four entrants, fourth-seeded Catinella got a bye into the quarter-final round of the tourney, where he edged Steve Baribeau of Army, a two-time Wyoming high school state champ, 3-2.

In the semifinals Catinella almost upset first-seeded Jim Bentz of Lehigh. Catinella opened the scoring, taking down the favorite in the first period.

The match see-sawed until the last minute of the final round, when Catinella, losing 4-3, made a desperate try for a takedown. Bentz seized the opportunity to take Catinella down into a near fall, amassing 5 points and clinching the match.

Catinella beat another West Point foe, 3-2, in a vicious consolation match. Also fourth-seeded, Harvard's 177 lb. Jim Abbott was upset, 7-4, in the quarter-finals by Pete Thompson of Princeton. Bruce Goodman and John Eng lost their first round matches and were eliminated from the tournament.