Buccaneers Hold Off Grapplers, 21-17

One of these years, Harvard wrestling coach John Lee is going to get to face Mass Maritime using all of his starters.

Last year, grappling without two injured regulars, his charges lost a 22-17 squeaker to the Bucs. On Saturday, with Bob Cusumano (142 lbs.) out with an injury and Dave Albert (118 lbs.) mysteriously missing, Harvard dropped another, 21-17.

Later, Harvard worked over a pitiful MIT squad, 38-6, with Craig Beling Unlimited getting a pin in his first varsity start.

Like everyone else, Albert was due to return to Cambridge last Monday, but he has yet to show up and Lee has been unable to reach his family. "It's just not like him," Lee said yesterday. "We just keep hoping that nothing serious has happened."

Albert was replaced in the opening bout by Jim Kaller. Battling against a poor opponent, the Crimson matman led, 9-8, with only three ticks left on the clock but somehow managed to get taken down at the buzzer for a 10-9 loss.

"The sad thing is that Albert probably would have toyed with that guy," Lee said. "He just wasn't that good." Kaller's loss proved to be Mass Maritime's margin of victory.

Rhodes or the Pros?

Co-captain Milt Yasunaga (126 lbs.) tangled to a tie with the Bucs' fine lightweight, Mike Tobin, before Harvard's Bill Mulvihill (134 lbs.) oested his foe to knot the score, 5-5.

Then things started going wrong for the Crimson. Cusumano's backup, Bill Snyder, bowed to Mike McLarney, 7-3, Tom Bixby (150 lbs.) got swamped, 11-2, and the slumping Jim Corcoran (158 lbs.) went down, 7-3. The Buccaneers led, 15-5, with four bouts remaining.

Ed Bordley (167 lbs.) got the Crimson back on the track, 7-4. Sal D'agostino (177 lbs.) stayed undefeated with a secondperiod fall. His pin later in the day against MIT left the junior with a 7-0 record and five pins.

With their lead cut to one, the Bucs needed a strong performance at 190 lbs. They got it from their best matman. Leon Dunman, who has racked up a 100-3 career record. He pinned Fred Smith to clinch the win for Mass Maritime.