Big Red Wrestlers Steamroll Crimson

A powerful Cornell squad strong-armed the visiting Harvard wrestlers Saturday afternoon, 31-9, sending the talented but inexperienced Crimson home with its second loss of the season.

The highlight for the Crimson came in the second bout of the afternoon when freshman Andy McNerney pulled out of trouble in the last ten seconds and stunned the Big Red's San Salvador Edwards, 7-5.

McNerney still relies on a series of unorthodox moves to gain an edge, but always manages to work in the tilt and outsmart the most polished of veterans. Edwards, an All-Ivy choice last year, got tied up just when he seemed to have complete control.

Terror

At 118 pounds, Paul Widerman continues to terrorize his opponents with precision timing and a masterful choice of moves. This time Mark Murray fell victim to Widerman's quick succession of single and double legs while suffering an embarrassing first loss of the season, 11-4.

Junior Rick Kief allowed Gary Henslick to do a little experimenting in the first two rounds and then took charge for the third period. Kief, a versatile grappler who moved up to 142 this season to fill a gap, started his surge by reversing the bigger Cornell man and then moved back in to punish Henslick, 13-6.

King

Todd Gutchow stepped in at 150 pounds, facing off against the awesome Gene Nighman. Despite Nighman's clear domination the Crimson wrestler held tight opposite one of the best in the Ivy League before getting iced at 7:50.

Mark Cooley suffered his first loss of the season when Cornell's Kurt Hertz did the near impossible, taking the Crimson powerhouse down to the mat for a first period score. Once behind, the surprised Cooley waited too long to force himself back into the thick of things and suffered an 11-10 loss.

In the final match of the day, heavyweight Jim Phils sustained a knee injury. Although present reports indicate he is not seriously hurt, Coach Johnny Lee refused to risk more serious problems and defaulted the bout to Cornell's Angelo Tremontello.

"Our record is good, but we are young and a little short on strength. That problem will pretty much work itself out with maturity," Lee said yesterday.