Last year, O’Donnell (16-8) was a coaches’ selection for the NCAA tourney after finishing third in the EIWA tournament at 165 lbs. Currently ranked fifth in the EIWA, the Harvard senior has only won one of four matches against other conference-ranked opponents. The weight class features two national contenders in Lehigh’s No. 7 Brad Dillon and Penn’s No. 20 Matt Herrington. O’Donnell has a lot to prove to the coaches this year and will need a finish similar to last year’s to move on to the next round of competition.
184 lbs.—Eddie Jones
Its been a bit confusing at the top of the wrestling lineup for the past couple of months. Following the injuries to Sirotkin and Daniel Jones (Eddie’s little brother), P.J. Jones (no relation) and Eddie (4-7) have been switching match time between the 184 and 197 lbs. classes. Eddie, a sophomore, will have a very tough time in this year’s tourney. There are four nationally-ranked opponents in this weight class—including two in the top five. Though Eddie did send his match against one of them—Brown’s No. 19 Nick Ciarcia—into overtime, he will have one of the hardest times of all the wrestlers to advance.
197 lbs.—P.J. Jones
In last year’s conference tournament, P.J. (8-12) was elimanted in the first round but did win once in the consolations at 174 lbs. But the jump to 197 may be too difficult. At this weight class, the Harvard junior has won just twice, though he did spend a large portion of the year wrestling at 184 lbs. In his way to a bid, stand Lehigh’s No. 1 Jon Trenge, Cornell’s No. 19 Matt Greenberg and Rutgers’ No. 20 Ryan McGrath.
HWT—Jonas Corl
Following Dawid Rechul’s ’01 EIWA championship and 7th place finish in the national tournament will not be easy. Corl (14-8) must make up for his huge size disadvantage, but is aided by a relatively weak weight class. There is just one ranked opponent in the conference, Penn’s No. 8 Matt Feast. Against wrestlers ranked in the conference, Corl—last week’s Athlete of the Week—has gone 0-4. Though the Crimson sophomore has come on strong in recent weeks—becoming the sixth-ranked wrestler in the conference—he will need to have an outstanding weekend to advance.
—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.