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The Harvard wrestling team returned from its trip to North Carolina last weekend having started its dual season off on a positive note. The Crimson earned victories over Davidson (1-8) and No. 23 UNC (7-5), while falling by a narrow margin to Lock Haven University (3-6). The victories from the weekend were highlighted by junior Diego Sotelo’s win over No. 1-ranked Anthony Noto of Lock Haven at the competitive 125 pound weight class, which led his ranking to rise from No. 29 in the country to No. 26 after the upset. Along with Sotelo, seniors Philip Conigliaro, Leo Tarantino, and Josh Kim also went undefeated on the weekend.

This early dual success comes on the heels of an intense tournament competition season during which the Crimson worked diligently to hone its skills in preparation for its dual meets. The team competed in five tournaments across the country, with its wrestlers earning spots on the podium in all but one. This success was driven by underclassmen, as the squad was missing eight of its nine seniors during the fall semester due to eligibility constraints stemming from the COVID-era stoppage in NCAA play.

“It gave a lot of young guys, I think very talented young guys, an opportunity to compete at some big time tournaments which was good. They did more than get their feet wet with the sport of college wrestling,” said Coach Jay Weiss, who is in his 30th season at the helm of the program.

These “young guys,” especially first-year Jameson Garcia, the runner-up at the Journeyman Classic in the 141 lbs weight class, as well as first-year Coleman Nogle – who placed at the Keystone Classic in the 133 lb weight class the following weekend – were major contributors to the team’s success. Sophomores Jack Crook and Jimmy Harrrington also earned multiple podium positions throughout the tournament portion of the season.

With the much-needed power of its eight missing seniors back in the lineup, the Crimson placed 9th overall at the Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Ill., tying its best-ever finish at the tournament,which occurred in 2006. Conigliaro, currently ranked No. 10 in the country in the 174 lbs weight class, placed second overall and is the first Crimson wrestler to ever reach a Midland’s final. Sotelo placed 5th in his home state, boosting the Crimson with 62.5 points overall.

During this past weekend’s duals, Weiss remarked on the hard work his team had been putting in individually, which he saw coming to fruition in the success of the squad’s group performance. The Crimson had a good dual season last year, finishing 4-4 overall and beating Ivy-foe Princeton for the first time in a decade. Going into this year’s inaugural duals, the squad was looking to capitalize on the momentum from its past results, and the strong performance of its young contributors.

That effort got off to a good start in the first bout of the road trip, with the Crimson besting the Wildcats by a final score of 30-6, taking all but two matches on its way to a win. Later that day, Harvard fell 14-20 in a hard-fought battle against Lock Haven. Conigliaro secured a tech fall in both of his matches, posting impressive margins against each of his opponents.

“I think with the younger guys getting the chance to see our captains and our leaders, guys who have been in the program for a long time, it kind of makes an impact on the younger guys, who can now say ‘I can do that,’” Weiss observed following the weekend's success. “That is what we are trying to feed off of and what carries us into our Ivy duals.”

Kim and Conigliaro drove the success of the squad’s final match of the weekend, which took place in Chapel Hill. In a decisive victory, the Crimson defeated the Tar Heels 20-15. Both Kim and Conigliaro won by major decision, earning the Crimson key bonus points to secure the victory.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the squad will compete in seven more dual meets, three of which will take place on the Crimson’s home turf at the Malkin Athletic Center. The first of these home matches will take place this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Sacred Heart.

—Staff writer Sydney Farnham can be reached at sydney.farnham@thecrimson.com.