But Croy went on to capture a series of wins in the wrestlebacks to earn fifth place at 184 pounds. Croy and sophomore teammate Josh Popple, who advanced through the lower draw with a series of convincing wins, eventually faced off in the lower bracket with Croy coming out on top, 5-2.
“It was a great tournament to open up the year,” Croy said. “I think we have a lot of work to do, and this tournament helps show us where work needs to be done. But I saw some good performances today out of some of my teammates that I’m really excited about, and I think we’re going to have a great year.”
The No. 23 ranking is Harvard’s highest entering a season under Weiss. In addition to Keith and Peppelman, sophomore James Fox also boasts a national ranking of 20 for his weight class but did not wrestle on Sunday.
“Right now we have a few guys hurt, and those guys will really end up contributing to our lineup,” Croy said. “We’re going to have a great year this year. We have good guys in every weight class, from top to bottom.
“And we’ve got some depth this year, too,” Croy continued.
“We’ve got multiple guys going deep into the tournament, so it’s promising for us.”