UPDATE: Torn Triceps Tendon Prematurely Ends Ogunwole's Collegiate Career

Since his outstanding freshman year, when he reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships, 285-pound Harvard tri-captain Bode Ogunwole has been the foundation of the Crimson wrestling team.

Now an elbow injury is threatening to topple that foundation over.

Last Saturday, Ogunwole entered his match against Lehigh’s Paul Weibel coasting through an undefeated season. During the match, Ogunwole found himself in a scramble with his opponent. Weible attempted to toss Ogunwole, and the Harvard senior came up feeling something wrong in his arm.

The match was stopped and Ogunwole’s triumphant final campaign came to a sudden halt. Now the heavyweight and his team await the results of an MRI.

In light of Ogunwole’s absence, whether it be for the best-case scenario of a few weeks or longer, his importance to the Crimson becomes even more obvious than it was before the injury.

When it comes to wrestling in the heavyweight class, Ogunwole is one of the best in the nation, ranked No. 2 overall. Over the course of his career, he has compiled an impressive resume of hard-fought achievements.

“He’s the most accomplished wrestler on the team and everyone looks up to him,” tri-captain Robbie Preston says.

Ogunwole boasts an 81-25 record over his collegiate tenure, and was 11-0 this season until Saturday. He has also had spectacular form in the postseason. In his freshman year, Ogunwole finished in third place at the EIWA Championships and made the quarterfinals at the NCAA’s. As a sophomore he earned another NCAA appearance while being selected to the All-Ivy second team.

Ogunwole had a breakout season in his junior year, taking the heavyweight title at the EIWA Championships and finishing sixth in the NCAA bracket. His performance earned him a nod as an All-American.

This season appeared to be Ogunwole’s most promising yet. As the second seeded heavyweight in the nation, he plowed through his competition, preserving his unbeaten record in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where he led Harvard with a first place finish.

And if these gaudy statistics weren’t enough, Ogunwole has also served as the Crimson’s leader, the heart and soul of the team on and off the mat.

“His leadership capabilities are so strong,” freshman J.P. O’Connor says. “He’s such a presence in the room because he’s such a great role model for everybody not only wrestling-wise, but academically too.”

Ogunwole’s leadership is such a commodity that he was selected as the team’s tri-captain in his junior year.

For these reasons and more, losing Ogunwole for any period of time will deliver a tremendous blow to Harvard. Without his prowess in the heavyweight class, the Crimson will be at a disadvantage in dual meets, and will be counting on other proven winners like Preston, O’Connor, and tri-captain Max Meltzer to pick up points more than ever.

“Everybody needs to step up,” Preston says.

Still, the team is trying to keep a positive attitude, with Ogunwole as the Crimson’s chief proponent.

“They’ll be alright,” he says. “I think they’re strong all around and I don’t think that [my absence] will have too much effect on the team’s performance.”

And while Harvard may not have Ogunwole available to compete, his inspiring presence is still a factor in the training room.

“I’m still going to every practice and every team event and trying to help them do the best that they can,” he says.

“[Ogunwole’s presence] helps a lot,” Crimson coach Jay Weiss says. “He’s doing what’s expected of a leader on the team, which is to keep going.”

But while Ogunwole’s intangibles provide support and motivation for his team, it is his wrestling ability that Harvard needs the most. If and when that ability will once again be available is still unknown, as the team anxiously anticipates the MRI results.

For now the status of Ogunwole, the Crimson’s foundation, is in limbo, with Harvard’s season hanging in the balance.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.