Sophomore EDDIE JONES defeated Penn's Ethan Bullock.

The Harvard wrestling team thought it had reached a turning point last weekend when the squad posted its first victories of the year—including one over then-No. 21 Hofstra—after dropping its first five.

But the Crimson (2-7, 1-4 EIWA) was unable to build on last week’s successes, suffering road losses to No. 19 Penn, 25-11, and Princeton—a defeat based on the eighth criterion of near falls after the teams battled to a 19-19 draw. The two losses drop the squad’s road record to 0-7.

The loss to the Tigers (3-9, 1-5), a team that had yet to win a conference meet and that had not beaten Harvard in recent memory, is particularly painful.

The Crimson entered the final three matches ahead 19-6, but a major decision, a pin and a decision tied the score at 19. Princeton won the meet with four near falls to Harvard’s three.

Penn 25, Harvard 11

After suffering its third conference loss to a struggling Princeton squad the night before, the Crimson came into the Palestra hoping to defeat a second nationally-ranked opponent in as many weeks.

“After we beat Hofstra the week before, we thought we could come in and beat better teams,” No. 3 junior co-captain Jesse Jantzen said.

But Harvard was only able to pick up wins in three weight classes against the Quakers (3-2, 2-1), who are ranked third in the conference.

The Crimson did manage to stay close in the early rounds of the meet, tying the contest 6-6 after four matches. But five straight Penn victories made the score 25-6, a Quaker lead too large even for Jantzen—who scored a technical fall in the second period—to surmount.

Senior Robbie Griffin (165 lbs.)—one of only two Crimson wrestlers undefeated on the weekend—notched his second victory over Richard Ferguson, 9-6.

“Since Hofstra, Robbie’s been wrestling real well for us,” Jantzen said.

Sophomore 184-pounder Eddie Jones was the final Harvard wrestler to record points for the team, scoring a 5-4 decision over Penn’s Ethan Bullock.

Princeton 19, Harvard 19

Harvard started strong against Princeton, winning all but two of its first seven matches, including a pin from Jantzen in the first minute of his contest.

Freshman Max Meltzer (133 lbs.) also had an impressive victory, scoring a major decision over Brian Kirschbaum.