Matmen Open Title Drive

Dave Scanlon will return to the Crimson lineup Friday as the wrestlers begin what they hope will be a drive to the Ivy League title with a 2 p.m. meet in the IAB against Cornell.

Scanlon, a junior and an Army veteran, has been out with a knee injury, and his return at 190 pounds should give Harvard a definite advantage in the heavier divisions, where Cornell is not particularly strong. Scanlon contributed two key wins in Harvard's successful performance in the Virginia Quadrangular in December.

The match against Cornell will be followed by another 2 p.m. home meet Saturday against Hofstra, a team somewhat better than the Big Red. Both matches should be close.

Harvard, 1-0 in the League and 8-3 overall, will not run into the tough part of its Ivy schedule until the end of February, when it wrestles Yale, Princeton, and Penn in an eight-day period.

Cornell is 0-2 in the League, but one of its losses probably would have been a win if there hadn't been three forfeits. In the seven actual bouts, Cornell outscored Penn, 18-7. The other defeat was to Princeton, the Ivy favorite this winter.

Cooperation from the ECAC has given Cornell a boost this term. Mike Crandall, a 167-pounder who was third in last year's Easterns, has been permitted to compete this semester since he left Cornell for the Fall term.

The ECAC decided to give him an added term of eligibility since he missed the Fall when Cornell had only four meets then. So by trading a Fall term for a Spring one, Crandall will in effect get to wrestle for a fourth season. Harvard coach John Lee and the other League coaches are very unhappy with the ruling.

Harvard's Mark Faller, who finished just in front of Crandall in the 1970 Easterns, will probably face him Friday afternoon. He will also have a tough assignment Saturday when he battles Hofstra's Bill Stauffer. Faller has not practiced much during exam period, but is joining the team now in double workouts.

Cornell's other top men besides Crandall are Jim Gillespie (118), Jack Hamilton (142), Ray Pavelka (158), and Charley Hunt (177).