The Harvard wrestling program does not have a glorious history. Year after year, the Crimson comes in near the bottom of the heap in just about anything.

That may change soon.

Check that--that has changed. This year, a young Harvard team enjoyed its best year since 1938, finishing sixth at the EIWA Tournament with 65 points. and placing three at Nationals.

Of course, of those three, two were sophomores (Dustin DeNunzio and Joel Friedman) and one was a freshman (Ed Mosley). The latter also happened to win the EIWA individual championship at 158 pounds.

Not bad in a year's work.

The signs of what could happen began to show in the first few meets of the season. Harvard (6-10, 1-4 Ivy) came in third at the Syracuse Classic and fifth at Lehigh's Sheridan Tournament among some talented teams. Then in January, Harvard went 2-1, defeating Franklin & Marshall and B.C. before falling to Army.

The Crimson's lone Ivy win came in February, 19-6 over Princeton, but then Harvard dropped eight straight, including one weekend that saw losses to Columbia, Cornell and Brown.

That didn't give the team a heck of a lot of momentum going into the EIWAs, but the Crimson wasn't fazed.

Mosley edged past Rutgers' Mike Kwapniewski, 4-3, to take the 158-pound crown, and DeNunzio and Friedman both came in third at 126 pounds and 134 pounds, respectively, winning their consolation matches.

Co-captain Steve Gerstung also showed well, coming in fourth in the 150-pound class, and sophomore James Butera came in sixth at the 118-pound level.

Mosley qualified automatically for Nationals by winning his class, while DeNunzio and Friedman got wildcard berths. But the NCAAs weren't kind to anyone in the trio, as all three exited in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.

However, Friedman's last opponent, Steve St. Johns of Arizona State, fared pretty well himself. After beating Friedman, 11-4, the fourth-ranked wrestler at 134 pounds made it to the finals before falling to Lock Haven's Cary Kolat.

Harvard Sports Stats 1995-96

Wrestling

Record: 6-10, 1-4 Ivy

EIWA Finish: Sixth

Head Coach: Jay Weiss

Captains: Steve Gerstung '96, Ron Rabinowitz '96

Other Key Players: Ed Mosley '99, Dustin DeNunzio '98, Joel Friedman '98