Senior Matt Button’s strong performance in the three weekend meets helped the Crimson to its first two victories of the season and aided the squad in its foiled upset bid against Penn with a major decision early.

After a difficult start to the season, the Crimson wrestling team has finally seen its hard work produce a victory on the mat.

In a busy weekend that included home matches against Penn on Friday and Princeton and Sacred Heart on Saturday, Harvard bounced back from a tough loss against the No. 25 Quakers, 30-7, to pick up its first two victories of the season against the Tigers, 29-9, and the Pioneers, 37-9.

Coming into the weekend at 0-7-1, the Crimson was looking to start a new trend and the whole team stepped up in response.

“Saturday was a lot of fun,” senior heavyweight Andrew Knapp said. “Everybody stepped up and the whole team did a great job.”

“It certainly improves team morale, but it doesn’t change anything,” sophomore standout J.P. O’Connor said regarding his feelings on the first two wins of the season. “We’ve been training hard all year, and we’re looking forward to keeping this going at Brown next weekend.”

It has not been an easy year for Harvard, as numerous wrestlers have fallen to injuries, but the team has fought tenaciously, despite losing some close matches, and has maintained a positive outlook for the rest of the season.

“I don’t think it’s important to talk about the injuries,” O’Connor said. “What really matters is that so many guys have stepped up to contribute to this team.”

Knapp agreed that every member of the team had worked hard to earn the first victories for the Crimson and added that junior Patrick Ziemnick and sophomore Fred Rowsey had been huge in helping the team cope with early setbacks.

“Obviously, the upcoming matches in the Ivy League—Brown, Columbia, Cornell—are big,” Knapp said. “We’re just hoping to build some momentum heading into the conference tournament.”

HARVARD 37, SACRED HEART 9

Starting with a 6-0 advantage due to forfeit at 125 lbs, the Crimson jumped out to a 12-0 lead after junior Thomas Picarsic (133 lbs) earned a victory by disqualification over the Pioneers’ Pat Feeley.

After a forfeit at 141 cut Harvard’s lead in half, O’Connor earned a major decision, 11-0, at 149 lbs to push the advantage to 16-6, and the Crimson never looked back.

Seniors Bobby Latessa (157) and Matt Button (165) won the next bouts by fall, earning six points each, and Ziemnick followed with a thrilling win at 174 lbs, earning his first victory of the season with a takedown in the closing seconds.

The Crimson only lost one other match, with Rowsey falling to Sacred Heart’s Rick Eichenlapp 8-5 at 184 lbs to bring the score to 31-9. Sacred Heart would score no more points, however, as Knapp (285) and senior Billy Colgan (197 lbs) completed personal two-victory days. By winning seven of eight matches wrestled, Harvard put an exclamation point on a day of stellar wrestling.

HARVARD 29, PRINCETON 9

The Crimson took on the Tigers to open Saturday’s double-header and spotted the visitors an early 3-0 lead as Harvard’s Dan Kelley dropped the 125 lb bout.

However, after a major decision 15-1 win by Picarsic and a forfeit in favor of third-ranked O’Connor, the Crimson took a commanding 10-3 lead. With the forfeit, O’Connor pushed his season record to 18-1 and would later finish the weekend at 19-1. The sophomore also remains undefeated in dual meets, providing to this point a dependable victory in the Harvard lineup

Latessa added a major decision of his own at 157 lbs and Button picked up a close, 9-7 win, pushing the overall margin to 17-3. Princeton freshman Travis Erdman did pin Ziemnick at 174 lbs to pull the Tigers to within 17-9, but after a forfeit at 184 lbs, Colgan and Knapp earned wins, 5-1 and 5-2 respectively, to seal the match.

PENN 30, HARVARD 7

The first weekend meet presented the greatest struggle for the Crimson, who fell hard to the Quakers. O’Connor opened the match with a win against No. 14 Cesar Grajales, but Penn quickly tied the match when Rob Hitschler defeated Latessa at 157 lbs.

Things looked bright for Harvard early, as Button (165 lbs) earned a major decision against Tom Timothy to recapture the lead, 7-3, but Penn gained the upper hand and claimed the next six bouts, ending Harvard’s upset bid.

The Quakers got a 17-1 victory from Jeff Zanetti to take the lead 8-7 and after Rowsey and Butler (197) dropped matches by two and one points, respectively, the Crimson had trouble recovering.

Knapp followed with another tough loss, 2-6, to Trey McLean, giving Penn a 17-7 lead. After a major decision loss by Dan Kelley at 125 lbs, Picarsic fought admirably, losing a 3-1 sudden victory to Bryan Ortenzio. While Picarsic’s result represented one of many stellar efforts by Harvard wrestlers, the ranked Penn squad proved too strong to overcome.