The Harvard wrestling team had a tall task in its first match of 2011, taking on No. 14 Rutgers and Maryland yesterday at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Despite strong performances from sophomores Steven Keith and No. 11 Walter Peppelman, the Crimson (0-4) fell in both contests, dropping a 31-10 decision to Maryland (5-3) and a 32-9 decision to Rutgers (10-1).

Keith—wrestling at 125 lbs.—and sophomore co-captain Peppelman (157) each picked up a pair of wins on the day, but the rest of the Harvard lineup combined for just two victories.

“I don’t think we wrestled tough top to bottom—that’s what we are trying to do,” Crimson coach Jay Weiss said following the opening match. “I think this is a young team, but I’m sick of saying that this is a young team.“

Harvard was aided by wrestling in front of a supportive crowd at the MAC in the squad’s home opener.

“It’s always nice to wrestle at home,” Weiss said. “More importantly, our guys slept in their own beds last night. That comfort is bigger than a crowd.”

MARYLAND 31, HARVARD 10

After taking a 32-9 loss to Rutgers to start the day, the Crimson returned to the mat for a night duel with the Terrapins.

Despite grabbing an early 4-0 lead, Harvard suffered the same fate as it did in its afternoon matchup, suffering a 31-10 defeat.

Keith got the Crimson off to a hot start, earning a 15-5 major decision over Maryland’s Pat Strizki to establish the 4-0 lead and to earn his second win on the day.

“It was nice to pick up two wins,” Keith said. “I thought I wrestled pretty well in both matches.”

The Terrapins pulled within one in the next bout, as Maryland’s Lou Ruland grabbed a 10-5 decision over Harvard sophomore Shay Warren.

The visitors grabbed the lead for good in the next matchup, as senior 141-pounder Fermin Mendez lost by fall, giving the Terrapins the 9-4 lead.

Peppelman narrowed the Crimson’s deficit by earning his second win of the day—a 5-4 decision over No. 15 Kyle John—but it wasn’t enough to stop Maryland. The Terrapins closed out the match with three straight wins to earn the 21-point victory—its third largest of the season.

In the final matchup, co-captain Andrew Knapp—who made his first appearance of the 2010-11 season earlier that afternoon—suffered a close loss to Maryland’s Spencer Myers, losing 2-1.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him wrestle,” Keith said. “He brings so much to the team. He just loves the sport.”

“[Knapp] hasn’t wrestled in a long time, so it was really fun for me to see him just get on the mat,” Weiss added. “He’s got a lot in store. He’s going to do a great job this semester—I know that.”

No. 14 RUTGERS 32, HARVARD 9

In the afternoon matchup, the Crimson fell to a talented Scarlett Knight squad led by a trio of ranked wrestlers in No. 5 Dominick Russo, No. 6 Mario Mason, and No. 20 Daryl Cocozzo.

Rutgers jumped out to an early 20-0 lead behind major wins from Russo and Mike Wagner, but the Crimson made it competitive down the stretch, racking up three wins in the final five bouts.

Keith sparked the Harvard comeback, battling back from an early 2-0 deficit to grab the 4-2 decision. After evening the score at two at the end of the first period, Keith took the lead off a takedown in the third, securing the Crimson its first win of the day.

“Steven is always a spark plug for us because he goes out and wrestles hard all the time,” Weiss said. “We were planning on that. He does a nice job.”

Warren followed on Keith’s performance, securing a second win for Harvard to cut the Scarlett Knights’ lead to 20-6.

Taking on Rutgers’ Mike DeMarco, Warren took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back. DeMarco pulled within one, but Warren rattled off a 2-0 run before the final whistle to score the 4-1 victory.

“I think [Warren] wrestled the hardest out there today,” Weiss said. “He kept wrestling from start to finish.”

The Scarlett Knights responded with back-to-back wins, but the Crimson closed out the match on a high note when Peppelman earned a 2-0 decision over Cocozzo. In the battle between two ranked foes, neither grappler was able to get on the scoreboard until Peppelman earned a late takedown.

“That was a good match for him,” Weiss said of Peppelman. “He just wrestled every position really tough, and that’s what you’ve got to do every time. You can’t take a break, and he did a good job with that.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.