Despite the absence of two of its starters for academic reasons, the Harvard wrestling team managed to record one of its best performances in recent years and capture fourth place at this weekend's 16-team Coast Guard Tournament.

If 11 behind first-place Springfield and only one point out of third place, senior Barry Bausano walked away with a gold medal in the 177-lb. class and finished second in the running for tournament MVP

"He mauled four guys and pinned two others," said coach John Lee of the squad's tri-captain. "He really should have been the MVP," he added.

Although both Albany State (64 points) and Columbia (61 points) also finished ahead of Harvard (2-0 on the year). Lee termed his squad's performance the best in years, and without the absence of Jeff Clark in the 126-lb. weight class and John Freeman at 150 lbs., the squad might very well have finished as high as second.

Both freshmen missed the tournament because "they felt it would be wiser to stay back and not miss the three days," Lee said, but added "even if they were there, in all honesty it still would have been tough winning it."

Clark, a highly touted freshman who earned a spot as an alternate on the 1984 U.S. Olympic wrestling team, is just one member of what appears to be one of the strongest freshman contingents in over a decade, Lee said.

He also speculated that Clark would have had little trouble taking the gold in the tournament.

Although sophomore Mike Mead at 118 lbs. finished 2-2 on the weekend and tri-captain Dan Medalie finished fifth with a 5-2 showing, both turned in surprisingly strong performances. Early on. Medalie upset the wrestler who finished second in the weight class, but because of losses in subsequent matches was unable to capture a medal.

At 167 lbs. Sophomore Steve Farrell racked up a 4-1 record but withdrew from the tournament when he suffered a shoulder injury in the late rounds.

Tri-captain Sean Wallace, after winning his first four matches of the day in the 190 lb. Class, finished out of the top four when he lost two straight matches to a wrestler from Rutgers, who he had defeated in previous years.

The matmen will have a chance to even the score with Springfield when the two squads square off in a dual meet a week from Wednesday, continuing a 61 year-old rivalry, one of the oldest in college wrestling history.

"It'll be no picnic and probably our toughest match of the year." Lee said.