For most members of the Harvard wrestling team, finishing third in the NCAA championship just once would be enough, let alone twice. But senior Jesse Jantzen (149 pounds) has a loftier goal in mind—winning the national championship.

“A different part of him this year is even more focused on making sure external things don’t get to him,” said Harvard coach Jay Weiss. “But the goal really hasn’t changed.”

And that goal seems even more attainable with the release of the Leglace Preseason Rankings, which ranked Jantzen No. 1 in his weight class.

Although a great amount of prestige is associated with the top spot, it doesn’t come as a surprise. The only two wrestlers to defeat Jantzen last season, Arizona State’s Erik Larkin and Minnesota’s Jared Lawrence, both graduated.

“I would still put him up against those guys,” Weiss said. “But with them gone it obviously makes things easier.”

Jantzen will also have the benefit of an unblemished record against any of his current ranked opponents, six of whom he faced in the 2002-03 season. Of these six, Jantzen pinned three, including Hofstra’s No. 2 Jon Masa, whom he dispatched with in the first period.

During the team season, Jantzen will face three of the top 10 wrestlers in his weight class at least once. He could face them on more than one occasion depending on how the schedules work out for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Midlands tournament, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championship and the NCAA championship.

“I’m not really focused on the rankings,” Jantzen said. “I’m much more concerned about winning a national championship.”

One of the new challenges Jantzen will face this year is Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Zack Esposito, who moved up from the 141-pound division. Last year the sophomore came in second at the Big XII championship, which qualified him for the national tournament. He finished with a 3-2 record at nationals and a 25-5 record overall. Esposito also managed a victory last year over Iowa State’s Aaron Holker, the defending national champion.

“There are always kids out there looking to knock people off,” Weiss said. “But [Jantzen] has been there.”

Should Jantzen deliver his goal, he will be just the second national champion in Harvard history and the first since the FDR administration. John Harkness ’38 won the title at 175 pounds.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu.