This past weekend was the one that Crimson wrestling coach Johnny Lee had been waiting for all season. The Harvard grapplers were to find out just how much they had improved in this rebuilding year in a triangular meet against Princeton and Penn.

When the triangular meet had ended, it was clear to all that the Crimson grapplers had established themselves as Ivy League contenders and appear to be the odds-on favorite to capture the second slot in the league.

First place must be conceded to the awesome Princeton Tigers, who cradled the Crimson to a 27-8 loss on Friday in a match that was much closer than the final score would indicate.

Saturday's 21-19 victory over the highly-touted Pennsylvania Quakers clearly gave legitimacy to the Crimson's claim of prowess on the mat, as heavyweight Kip Smith decisioned his Quaker opponent in the final bout to secure the win for Harvard.

The Crimson Shuffle

With some key injuries forcing Lee to reshuffle the Crimson lineup on Friday, the Harvard grapplers had little hope to beat the powerful Tigers.

"They're a very well balanced team." Lee said yesterday in reference to the Princeton squad, "as a matter of fact, they're probably the best balanced team that I've seen in the lvies in my eight years here."

Crimson matmen Milt Yasunaga at 126 pounds and 158-pounder Jim Corcoran were the only grapplers to register decisions against their Princeton opponents.

All-Ivy 167-pounder Bruce Johnson stalemated Princeton's Mark Kowal to account for the other Crimson tally, as the Harvard squad dearly missed the services of Carl Biello and Mike Dee in the middle weights.

On Saturday, Yasunaga had another fine outing in blanking his 126-pound Quaker opponent, Randy Reedy. Tom Bixby at 150 combined with Bruce Johnson to pin their Quaker opponents to lift the Crimson from a 3-10 deficit to a 15-13 lead.

Jim Strathmyer added a decision at 177 to fatten the Crimson bulge, but Penn's Don Haines pinned Harvard's Sal B. Agostino at 190 to set the showdown between heavies Kip Smith and Quaker Steve Glasgow.