It’s no secret that college wrestling is a different beast. But according to Stormer, the rookie has looked anything but.

“He’s very, very consistent,” Stormer said. “He’s out there wrestling hard every time. He practices hard every day. He’s one of the hardest workers on the team.”

That effort shone through against the Diplomas, as Jaffe was the only Harvard wrestler to pin his opponent. That result led the way in a Crimson-dominated matchup.

It took months of training, three earlier contests, and countless gallons of sweat, but against Franklin & Marshall, Harvard finally walked away from the mat with a team win.

“Every match was really competitive,” Kirby said. “We just stayed aggressive and fought for every point.”

Other impressive performances came from Bierdumpfel and tri-captain Johnson, who claimed 10-1 and 12-1 major decisions, respectively. In addition, Stormer stormed ahead with 16-0 victory by technical fall.

The two losses on the day came in low-scoring decisions. The first-year Sakmar suffered a 4-1 defeat to Edgar Garcia. And at 184 pounds, Dean dropped a second tight bout, this one by a score of 2-1.

The success of other teammates made those setbacks irrelevant in the end. Freshman Zeth Dean (157 lbs.) avenged his older brother’s defeat with a 3-1 victory by decision.

Two other Harvard wrestlers won by falls. Junior Angus Cowell (285 lbs.) topped Core Kerkesner, and Ladnier won by a technical fall to cement a 2-0 record on the weekend. Sophomore Samuel Goldman rounded out the performance with a 6-4 win by decision at 133 pounds.

“We want to win every match we have from here on out,” Kirby said. “We want to wrestle hard, get some good wins under our belt, be ready to go at conference tournament, and hopefully send as many guys to nationals as we can.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.