Finishing its dual meet season with a 19-16 victory Saturday over Pennsylvania. Harvard's varsity wrestling team ended the year with its best record in history (14-5) and highest Ivy League finish (undisputed second place).

Going into the meet, the Crimson did have a slim chance of finishing in a first-place tie with defending champion Princeton but the Tigers disposed of Yale, 21-15, Saturday to remain undefeated in the league. Harvard's final Ivy mark was 5-1, the one loss being a 22-12 defeat at the hands of the Tigers. Yale finished third with a 4-2 record.

In the Penn meet, the Crimson was forced to compete without 150-pound regular Dean Sheppard who suffered an injured shoulder against Yale on Wednesday. With this vacancy. Harvard coach John Lee was forced to move wrestlers up a weight class to patch up his lineup. "The changes made the match closer than what I had bargained for." Lee said later.

"Coming up on the plane, I thought the score would end up as it did," Quaker coach Larry Lauchle recounted. "But when I got to the gym and saw Harvard's lineup, I thought we'd beat them. It was just a question of one guy not coming through."

Indeed, the match was so close that it was not until the Crimson's Rich Starr pinned his 190 pound foe at 4:26 that Harvard was assured of a victory.

Daring Escape

Losing the opening two bouts. Harvard got on the scoreboard when Gerry Kahrilas disposed of the Quakers' Len Pruzassky in a wild 15-12 decision. The two threw each other around the IAB and when the dust had settled a total of two takedowns, three predicaments, eight reversals, and a daring escape had occurred.

Wrestling with an extremely sore arm. Josh Henson lost a close match at 142 pounds. With Harvard now behind 11-3, captain Pat Coleman, Collin Mangrum, and Mike Slutzker reeled off consecutive decisions to boost the Crimson to a one-point advantage. Coleman finished his final dual meet season with an excellent 15-3-1 mark.

Mark Faller fought to a 3-3 draw at 177 pounds. Starr, 15-2-2 for the year, then clinched the match. "He just stood up and I split his legs to take him down. " the sophomore ace said. He then moved into a "half Nelson," the referee's hand thumped the mat and Starr hopped up flashing the victory sign to the crowd. The delighted gathering of 250 roared and Harvard's best season was history.