American patriots will be glad to know that our officers-in-training at West Point are still strong. Well, make the except for our patriotic Harvard wrestling fans, who had to watch the Crimson fall to heavily favored Army, 22-13, on Saturday. This loss, however, was softened by Harvard's 39-9 demolition of Boston College earlier in the day.
The Crimson was 4-0 (all in EIWA play) before it matched up against Army, its best start since 1989. Coach Jay Weiss, however, realized that beating Army, one of the top teams in the EIWA, would not be easy.
"Obviously, our big match is against Army," Weiss said before Saturday's matches. "It should be our toughest bout yet."
Weiss turned out to be sadly prophetic. Still, Harvard's defeat against Army should not diminish its victory over B.C... Even without the aid of three injured starters--sophomore Adam Griesemer, freshman Mike Occhuizzo and freshman Dan Devivo--the match against the Eagles was never close, as evidenced by the 30-point margin of victory.
The performances of sophomores Joel Friedman and Dustin DeNunzio were particularly outstanding. Friedman won by fall in the first minute of his match, and DeNunzio pinned his Eagle opponent in the first period.
Freshman Ed Mosley was also el fuego, beating both his Cadet and Eagle foes, and vanquishing his B.C. opponent by a dominant 21-8 count.
Because of the rash of injuries, Harvard wrestlers were forced to compete in unfamiliar weight divisions. Due to freshman Occhuizzo's injury, freshman Andrew Stoll--who usually competes at 190 pounds--took Occhuizzo's place in both 200-plus pound events.
Stoll, who looked painfully smaller than both of his opponents, held his own against B.C., only losing by a score of 9-6. However, his weight disadvantage was more telling in the final score against the Army foe, as he lost by a 16-2 count.
Freshman Curtis Anderson returned to the lineup after suffering from a hesnia, but his injury clearly affected his wrestling, and he suffered a disappointing loss to Cadet Harris Brummer, 13-9.
Weiss commented on both the line-up change and his injured players.
"I had young guys wrestling in different positions," Weiss said. "I'm proud of my guys who went out and fought."
Captain Steve Gerstung lost a tough match against Army's Brad Fenske, the third-ranked wrestler in the EIWA's 150-pound weight division. Gerstung is still optimistic about the prospects of the Crimson.
"Our team's a little banged up right now," Gerstung said. "But we're a young team, so things look good for the future."
In spite of Harvard's loss to Army, the Crimson is still working hard and confident of its upcoming battles in the Ancient Eight. Its Ivy League season starts on February 2.
The Crimson record so far this season bespeaks of a bright future. In this overall optimistic mood, Stoll attempted to add a little levity after the loss to Army.
"Harvard wrestling is a business, and business is good," Stoll said to sum up the team's sunny disposition.
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