The Harvard wrestling team got back on the winning rail with a convincing 24-13 victory over Columbia Saturday afternoon in the IAB to stay one step behind Ivy League leader Princeton and to set up a crucial confrontation with the Tigers Saturday at Princeton.

"We've got to get some points on the board in the first five bouts," Harvard coach John Lee said last Thursday as he prepared his squad for the Columbia meet. And that exactly is what the Crimson matmen did.

After falling behind 11-0 in the first three bouts. Harvard stormed back with strong performances by captain Paul Catinella. Dean Sheppard and Mike Slutzker. The match was much as decided in these three bouts.

Catinella riled by two consecutive defeats against Springfield and Hotstra, routed Columbia captain Bob Wingate, 15-3 in his final bout at 142. Catinella will finish the season at 134.

In the 150-pound bout, Sheppard came through with a fall after only 1:50 of the first period. "That put us back in the ball game." Lee said. "I was very pleased by Dean's performance to say the least."

In this third bout at 158, Slutzker remained unbeaten with a 4-1 win over Warren Cook. That victory tied the match at 11-11, and set the stage for a Harvard sweep in the heavyweights.

Faller Romps

Mark Faller coasted to his 12th straight triumph with an easy 9-2 win over Bill Winstein at 167. Leading all the way, Tony Rayner was tied by George Clozco at 177, 6-6, when Clozco accumulated 1:01 riding time in the final period to pull even.

Dave Scanlon, returning to action after missing the Springfield meet, clobbered Wayne Peterson, 8-2, in the 190-pound bout. Jim Abbott (Unlimited) got the day off when Columbia, mathematically eliminated and not wanting to lose its skimpy heavyweight forfeited.

Tom ?? (118) and Rick Battle (134) lost 5-3 decisions, while Steve Monsulik was pinned at 126 to put the Crimson in the hole early in the match. Monsulik's pin was rather unexpected, and Lee said of Bartle's defeat. "He didn't wrestle as well as he could have"

The Yardling grapplers stretched their record to 9-1 as they dealt the Columbia freshman team its first defeat of the season, 22-16.

Now standing second in the Ivies with a 2-1 record the varsity meets Rutgers at 7 p.m. tomorrow night in the IAB, then travels to Princeton Saturday to challenge the unbeaten Tiger.