Harvard wrestling Coach John Lee took just eight wrestlers with him to the Coast Guard Tournament in New London, Conn. this weekend, and five of them finished within the top four in their weight classes.

Yet, despite one of the finest team performances in recent years, the grapplers could come away with no better than a ninth place finish in the 15-team tourney.

Harvard, in its first competetion of the season, racked up 37.5 team points, while first place St. Lawerence wound up with 66 points. Springfield, who Harvard will face off against Wednesday, took fifth with 47 points.

Sophomore Jeff Clark wrestling at 142 lbs., which is one weight class above his ususal wrestling weight, took second place, losing in the championship match in overtime, 3-1.

While Clark said he was pleased by the team's performance, he added that he was surprised they did not finish higher in the standings. "We only brought eight with us, so its hard to judge how well we did by just looking at the team scores."

Four wrestlers finished in the top four in their respective weight classes: Scott Beck at 118lbs., Pete Holmes at 158 lbs., Co-Captain Steve Farrell at 167 lbs., and Kevin McGinty at 177 lbs.

Both Beck and McGinty showed tremendous improvement from last year, Lee said.

"In my 31 years at Harvard, McGinty is the only walk-on to cut it. He deserves a lot more credit than he has gotten," Lee said.

Mike Meade at 126 lbs. took fifth in his class, and Co-Captain Jerry Greenberg hurt his neck and could not finish the tournament.

Greenberg is expected to return for the Springfield match on Wednesday.

The loss of Harvard's two top grapplers from last year, Barry Bausano and Sean Wallace, have left gaps in the heavy weight classes. Freshman Kelly Flynn at 190 lbs., finished 4-2 on the day, but did not place, and heavyweight Kevin Wattles did not wrestle because of an academic committment.

Major Losses

"The fact that five of our wrestlers placed shows we have a good team all the way through," Farrell said. But he added that he expects the Springfieldmatch to provide a good test of the team's strength.

Spring field annualy fields on of the finest squads in New England, and defeated Harvard in one of its closest matches last year.

"I really think we could win a title this year," Farrell said. "Some people might think I'm nuts, but I think we can do it."

THE NOTEBOOK: Clark is expected to move down to 136 lbs. for the Springfield match, and Wattles will return at heavyweight, Lee said, which should produce some added firepower... Harvard is likely to wrestle only one freshman this year, 190 lb. Kelly Flynn.