Ranked first in the nation all year and with just one loss on the season, the Harvard wrestling team’s Jesse Jantzen is in position to accomplish something that no Crimson grappler has done since the Great Depression.

Should co-captain No. 1 Jantzen plow through the competition as he is favored to do, he will become just the second Harvard wrestler in history to win an NCAA championship and the first since John Harkness ’38 won it during the Roosevelt era.

Also looking to score big at this weekend’s tournament are co-captain Reggie Lee (197 lbs.), freshman Bode Ogunwole (HWT) and sophomore Max Meltzer (141 lbs.).

No. 1 JESSE JANTZEN (149 LBS.), SR.

Record: 33-1

Key Opponent: Oklahoma State’s No. 2 Zack Esposito (29-1), So.

While Jantzen has certainly done everything right to put himself in a position to win an NCAA title—finishing third in nationals the past two years and becoming the first Crimson wrestler to earn three EIWA championships and four NCAA tournament berths—the road to the top position will not be an easy one.

For starters, he must win four straight matches to even reach the final match. Though the hardest opponent he could face along this route is Michigan’s No. 4 Ryan Churella (27-3), Jantzen has already pinned him this year. Other formidable opponents that he may face before the championship match are Iowa State’s No. 5 Trent Paulson (25-6) and Penn State’s No. 8 Matt Storniolo (31-7)—neither of whom have ever wrestled against Jantzen.

In the finals, the Shoreham, N.Y., native will most likely come up against Oklahoma State’s No. 2 Zack Esposito (29-1), a man who is currently on a 24-match win streak, has beat the third- through eighth-ranked wrestlers in the country and who was pictured last week in Sports Illustrated in the Big 12 tournament. Like Jantzen, he has only lost one match all year, at the very beginning. Jantzen’s loss came wrestling up a weight class at 157 lbs.

“[Jantzen] matches up great with any opponnent,” said Harvard coach Jay Weiss. “If he goes out and wrestles the best that he can, which I know that he will, he’s going to have a great trip.”

Jantzen also has history on his side. He has made three trips to the NCAA tournament prior to this year, while Esposito’s only previous appearance was last year’s surprising early exit competing in the 141 lb. weight class.

No matter what the outcome of the tournament, however, the effects of Jantzen’s tenure at Harvard will have a long-lasting impact on the program.

“His contribution to the program has been huge,” Lee said. “We probably have some recruits that we haven’t seen before who are going to look at Harvard now.”

MAX MELTZER (141 LBS.), SO.

Record: 32-8