In the 149-pound weight class, Friedman, who took last year off but wrestled for a NCAA spot in 1996, is seeded fourth. His main opponents include three wrestlers that proved some of his toughest matches earlier this season: Brett Matter of Penn, Ryan Bernholz of Lehigh and Shawn Bradley of Cornell.

Junior Kevin Kurtz, who has emerged this season as one of Harvard's leading superstars, takes a No. 2 seeding behind Chris Ayres in the 157-pound weight class. Ayres squeaked by Kurtz at the end of January with a 5-3 victory but will have his hands full this weekend.

At 165 pounds, junior Joey Killar--who finished fifth in EIWAs last year--finally returns to the mats after missing most of the dual meet season because of injury. Killar's domination during the first part of the season has earned him a No. 3 ranking, and he looks to overtake Travis Doto of Lehigh and Rick Springman of Penn for a trip to Nationals.

Volpe, whose strong third place finish at EIWAs last season earned him one of only six wildcard spots for Nationals, has a fourth place ranking in the 184-pound weight class. His main foes include Nate Burroughs of Brown, with whom he has gone 1-1 in two thrilling overtime matches, and John Van Doren of Lehigh, who won in January's face-off.

Also taking a No. 4 ranking is 197-pound sophomore Brad Soltis. With a tremendous performance this season, Soltis has really come forth as one of the Crimson's top wrestlers. Although he lost to No. 1 Andrei Rodzianko of Penn, Soltis has already beaten No. 3 Rob Rohn of Lehigh 13-9, and lost a close overtime dual to No. 2 Bob Greenleaf.

Rounding out the lineup for the Crimson are three other wrestlers who have been an integral part of the team this season and whose threat at the tournament this weekend is not to be underestimated. Sophomore Kevin El-Hayek will wrestle at his first Easterns in the 125-pound weight class.

El-Hayek has had an exceptional year, stepping it up to fill the spot left by James Butera who graduated last year. Sophomore Adam Truitt, who has also really come into his own this season will certainly be a force to contend with in the 174-pound category.