If co-captain Jesse Jantzen is the Harvard wrestling team’s Rocky Balboa, then one might call first-year assistant coach Jared Frayer the Crimson’s Apollo Creed.

Just as Creed assumed the unlikely position of friend and teacher to Balboa—his former rival—in Rocky III, Frayer has developed a similar relationship with No. 1 Jantzen (149 lbs.)—the wrestler whom he had managed to defeat twice in three match-ups while attending the University of Oklahoma.

History, if you’re looking for it, exists between the two.

When they wrestled against each other in the 2002 NCAA tournament, for example, Frayer won on a 6-2 decision and went on to advance to the national final, while Jantzen—then a sophomore—was ultimately held to the first of his two consecutive third-place finishes.

Coach Jay Weiss, however, thinks that this year the team has a unique edge on the way to improving on previous years’ performances—and in part, it’s precisely because of Frayer’s experience with the Harvard co-captain.

While the Sooner’s presence has positively influenced all involved with the Crimson program, the hope is that Frayer will be a huge impact in Jantzen’s final run to capture a national title.

And as for Rocky?

Well, his title bout with Clubber Lang was tough to be sure, but the last time Harvard could boast a national champion was 1935.

A Match Made in Heaven

When assistant coach Brian Snyder decided to leave the Harvard program to attend graduate school at the University of Nebraska, a key slot in the Crimson coaching staff opened up. Looking for a similarly experienced big name from a storied program, Weiss turned to the Big XII a second time and found Frayer, who had ties to Harvard through fellow All-American and Clearwater, Fla. native Dustin DeNunzio ’99.

Denunzio—a former Crimson stand-out—still serves as a volunteer assistant coach with the team.

“[DeNunzio] is one of my buddies, so I’d always known of Coach Weiss and Jesse through him,” Frayer says.

A four-time NCAA Tournament qualifier, two-time Academic All-Big XII and two-time All-American, Frayer also garnered the Wade Shalls Award—given to the nation’s top pinner—his senior year, and left Norman, Okla. second on the school’s all-time pins list and third on its all-time wins list.

“Oklahoma’s a big time program, they’re in the top five in the country every year,” Weiss says. “Jared brings what they’ve done there to here.”

The prospect of a potential Jantzen-Frayer rapport also loomed large in Weiss’s decision-making process.