The varsity wrestling team got strong efforts from its highly-touted sophomores and recovered from a 13-2 deficit to overcome Franklin & Marshall, 23-15 in Lancaster, Penn., Saturday. The win was the Crimson's second in ten years against F&M.

Six sophomores competed for the Crimson, four of them winning and one tying to account for all but seven of their team's points. John Imrie, who coach John Lee considers "probably our best wrestler," was a surprise starter at 191 after having suffered a knee injury. He assured the Crimson of victory by decisioning George Malinsky, 9-3, for Malinsky's first loss after two undefeated seasons.

The meet started slowly for Harvard as Tom Schnorr (123) and John Moss (130) lost to their opponents. Moss, who normally competes at 123, was wrestling in place of the injured Bruce Goodman.

'Highlight of Meet'

The score seemed likely to go to at least 11-0 for F&M in the next match, with Harvard's Paul Catinella going against captain John Homiak, second in the East last year. The same two had met last season, and Homiak had won, 8-0. Catinella, however, held his opponent to a 4-4 tie. "This was the highlight of the meet," Lee said.

Before the noisy crowd of 1800, though, the Pennsylvania team upped its lead from 10-2 to 13-2 as Doug Ward defeated sophomore Dean Sheppard, 8-2, at 145. But Pat Coleman easily eliminated Franklin & Marshall's co-captain Dave Martin, 10-3, and then Mark Faller won his match, 11-3, to cut the lead to 13-8, as the Crimson demonstrated its superiority in the middle and upper weights.

Harvard captain Howie Chatterton wrestled "excellently," said Lee, in the 167-pound class, as he pinned Paul Bowen in 1:38 to tie the meet score. Sophomore Tony Raynor then battled his man to a 1-1 draw, as F&M earned its last points of the day.

Tripp Triumphs

At this point, Imrie upset Malinsky, so that Harvard heavyweight Tom Tripp needed only to tie to win the meet for his team. Tripp found this no tough task, pinning Tom Muller in 2:29.

Last year, Franklin & Marshall used defensive tactics to run over the Crimson, but in this meet they were more offense-oriented and better conditioned.