{shortcode-9ac913aa12296bcb33b10e4ea5241369f7d6c5a9}

Harvard wrestling began its 2024-25 campaign this past weekend, competing in the Journeyman Classic hosted at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Penn. With two top-five individual finishes, the Crimson came out strong out of the gate.

The Crimson is led by Head Coach Jay Weiss, who is entering his third decade at the helm of the program, as well as captains Diego Sotelo, Luke Rada, and Cael Berg. This is the first year in which the Crimson will compete in an Ivy League Wrestling Tournament, after the program decided to leave the EIWA conference last year. The shift also takes at a broader moment of change for the program, with star wrestler Phillip Conigliaro ’24 graduating in May and seven new freshmen joining the squad in his stead.

“They have integrated really well, better than we expected. They all have a bunch of fuel in them and they are all super excited with a big Fall ahead of them,” said Sotelo in reference to the rookies. “We are all on the same page and excited. The weekend was a good test. We aren't where we want to be, but we are where we need to be.”

The weekend marked the beginning of the individual tournament portion of the season, which lasts through the end of the calendar year, with dual matches on deck. These individual tournaments are an opportunity for the larger squad to compete on the national stage before Coach Weiss will have to select a ten-man duel lineup in mid-January. Seventeen Crimson wrestlers competed this weekend at various weight classes in the pool style tournament.

“We've been super excited for weeks. It's been a long preseason and it was a good test for our first competition back,” Sotelo said.

The pools included wrestlers from 20 other top programs, including conference rivals UPenn and Cornell. Three freshmen— Logan Brzozowski, Haden Bottiglieri, and Hudson Skove — each saw their first matches in a Harvard singlet, while three upperclassmen scored upsets on the national scene.

Sotelo, who entered the season ranked 14th in the 125 lb weight class, defeated No. 7 Jakob Camacho of NC State by major decision. With that one win on the weekend, Sotelo went on to place fifth in the weight class. While the rankings would suggest Sotelo’s win was an upset, over the past two seasons Sotelo has established himself amongst the top contenders in the country at his weight class, a standout to anyone paying attention to the college wrestling scene.

Looking ahead toward the rest of the season, Sotelo is aiming to savor every chance to collect individual accolades, while also leading the team to a maiden Ivy League title.

“I’ve been trying to get on that podium for the past three years, so this is the last time I will be able to be here. So individually that's been my goal. As a team it would definitely be to get us to win Ivys,” the Plainfield, Ill. product said.

The other notable performance on the weekend came from junior Jimmy Harrington, who placed third in his pool of the 157 lb weight class, going 1-2 on the weekend. Harrington notably defeated No. 8 ranked Ed Scott, also of NC State, to cap off his weekend.

Despite competing in fewer than five matches in his freshman year, sophomore Matt Walsh defeated No. 20 Brian Soldano of Rutgers in his opening match of the weekend. The Massachusetts native went on to fall in his second and third matches to No. 5 Edmund Ruth and his teammate Dylan Connell, both of University of Illinois.

The Crimson will be back in action, again in Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Nov. 24 when the wrestlers will compete at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia.

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