Matmen May Topple Big Red Saturday

Never in the 15 years since Bob Pickett became wrestling coach at Harvard has a Crimson mat squad beaten Cornell. In fact, the Big Red has lost only two Ivy League dual meets since the League was founded, and none in the last four years.

This year things might be different. "We could win," Pickett says. "I admit we could get clobbered too, but we have a chance to beat them."

That's saying something. For one thing, the match is at Ithaca, which Pickett figures is worth "five or ten points" to Cornell. Then too, it's the first meet for the Crimson since before Christmas vacation. (Pickett is confident, however, that his squad stayed in good shape over the holidays.)

And this year's Cornell team is by no means a bad one. After tying Lehigh 16-16, the Big Red dumped Pennsylvania 21-11 and lost to perennially powerful Navy 17-11. Navy took first place in the Coast Guard, wrestling tournament, where Harvard finished seventh.

Crimson Lightweights Strong

But this year's Harvard team is a good one, too. The Crimson has the strength to build up points in the light-weight classes where Cornell is relatively weak, and hold on in the top weights, where the Big Red is strong. Sophomore Mike King has won the 123-pound spot from undefeated Peter Keeler, and Brian Smith at 130 (1-1) has wrestled well in both his matches. Cornell's team has yet to score a victory below the 137-pound class.

The 137-pound match may decide the meet, as Harvard's classy soph Howard Durfee (2-0 and a third place in the Coast Guard Tournament) takes on Cornell's co-captain, a boy with the unlikely name of Tom Jones (2-0).

At 157 Jack Mamana (0-1) faces the Big Red's sophomore star DeWitt Burlingame (2-0-1). The 167 bout is another key one, as Crimson captain Fred Pereira (2-0 and second in the tournament) faces Jeff Stephens (2-1), who impressed Pickett as a freshman last year. Stephens' only defeat this year came at the hands of Peter Carey of Navy, who also beat Pereira in the tournament.

Cornell is strong at the top; Fran Farraro, 177, has lost one match, and Mike Wittenberg, 191, hasn't lost any. The match just might come down to the heavyweights, as it did last year.

That time the Big Red broke a 14-14 tie with a pin in the last match to win, 19-14. This year sophomore heavy-weight Tack Chace is unbeaten. If it comes to the last match in a tie, Pickett will be happy.