Harvard's varsity wrestling team, facing its toughest match in history, matched Navy's conditioning but fell in every individual match to the physical size and experience of the Middies, eventually losing 37-0 Saturday.

In the opening dual match, the Crimson rolled to an easy 23-14 triumph over Virginia. After its first collegiate shutout under coach John Lee, the squad's season record stands at 5-3-1 with a match at MIT Tuesday before exam break.

The Navy match was not as one-sided as the score indicates. "All their wrestlers are big," Lee commented. "They can have 24-hour surveillance on making weight, so our squad was under-sized almost everywhere. They were tough to get away from, and rode very well."

More challenging matches

Lee learned two things from the lopsided contest. First, he will probably use a heavier wrestler at 150 than John Peters (135) in order to match the opposition's size. Second, Lee will definitely re-schedule matches that are this challenging.

"I'm not sure we could ever approach them as a team, but all of the wrestlers agreed that they looked forward to meeting Navy again," Lee said.

Harvard stayed with Navy in most individual match-ups. At 118, Dan Blakinger was too cautious and could not deep Eastern Champ Tom Schuler from using his size advantage to pull out of holds. Schuler took the match, 5-0. At 126, substitute Zack Gillstein stayed off his back and lost, 5-0.

Navy Muscle Wins

At 134 through 150, Navy was able to bull its way to victory. Josh Henson (134) scored seven points but could not control his opponent, losing 15-7, Jerry Kahrilas (142) trailed 4-3 in the third period before being pinned, and Peters (150) was shutout, 6-0.

At 158, Frank Morgan was too cautious to win and dropped a close bout, 4-1, Bruce Johnson (167) and John Kiel both lost in close decisions.

The only disappointment of the day came in the final two matches. Dave Scanlon lost by one point and Angelo mareno fell, 4-1, in matches Lee felt Harvard should have won. "The momentum of the match was all Navy by then," Lee explained.

Blakinger won the opening bout of the Virginia match with a strong 8-1 decision over a good wrestler. After losing at 126, Harvard took decisions at 134 and 142 and Boris Holmes won at 150 to build a sizeable team advantage.

The rout continued as Morgan tied at 158 and Johnson pinned his opponent. Virginia rallied in the closing bouts, winning at 177 and taking a fall at unlimited, to make the final score more respectable.

Lee was most disturbed by the Crimson's poor performance at unlimited. "Mareno had his confidence eroded during that injury to his neck in December," Lee said, "A few good victories should correct that.