Wrestlers Display Promise At EIWA's

Aspirations.

That's what the Harvard wrestling team had going into the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) tournament, hosted by Navy Friday through Sunday at Annapolis.

No, the Crimson (2-12 overall; 0-5 Ivies) didn't expect to make waves in the team standings--and it didn't. The squad finished 13th out of 14th teams.

For several grapplers, however, the possibility of success at the EIWA's and a bid to the NCAA tournament was within reach.

Freshman Dustin DeNunzio's 27-7 record earned him a sixth seed in the 126-pound weight class. Another freshman, Joel Friedman--who finished the season with a 20-15 record--was seeded eighth in the 134-pound division.

Tri-captain Khris Reina--who had moved up to 142 pounds from 150 pounds for the tournament--also looked to advance far into the bracket at the lower weight.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, though, its results fell short of its aspirations; none of the matmen qualified for the NCAAs.

DeNunzio started out in fine form, pinning his first opponent at 5:34 and defeating his next opponent, 6-4. In the semifinals, DeNunzio ran into the draw's second seed, Mike Clayton of Navy and lost 5-4.

The loss seemed to take the wind out of DeNunzio as he proceeded to lose his next two matches in the consolation bracket--one to fourthseeded Jason Kobrynich of East Stroudsburg and the other, in the fifth place bout, to his earlier opponent, Laudenslauger.

Friedman also began his weekend in style, pinning Princeton's Jason Wortendyke at 1:16. His second-round match pit Friedman against the division's top seed, Mike Yancosky of Syracuse. Yancosky, the eventual 134-pound champion defeated the freshman 10-1.

Friedman also had some difficulties in the consolation round. After winning his first consolation match, Friedman lost to Syracuse's Jeff Duque--the second seed--and then lost to unseeded Scott Auker of Franklin and Marshall, 1-0, leaving him in sixth place.

Reina posted the sole upset for the Crimson, defeating the fourth seed in the 142-pound division. Reina, however, could advance no further in the main draw because eventual third-place finisher, Gonzalo Medina of Pennsylvania, pinned him in the second round of the draw.

Reina won his first consolation match but lost to another unseeded wrestler from Franklin and Marshall, Bryan Icenhower, 10-9.

With the top two finishers in each of the 10 weight divisions, as well as eight wild-cards moving on to the NCAAs, the Crimson grapplers were well out of contention for a national tournament bid.

Junior Steve Gerstung posted the only other Crimson victory when he won his first consolation match after losing to the top seed in the 158-pound division.

Lehigh took top honors in the team competition by winning three weight classes and qualifying five wrestlers for the NCAAs.

Syracuse beat out Navy for second place, but both squads advanced four wrestlers to the NCAAs.

Out of the Ivy League schools, Cornell, Penn and Brown took fourth through sixth overall. Columbia finished eighth and the Crimson edged out Princeton by 7.5 points to avoid the EIWA tournament cellar.

The tournament marked the end of the Crimson's first season under coach Jay Weiss--a difficult one, but one that did get the Harvard wrestling rebuilding program off to good start.

As the tournament's results show, the Crimson had a strong freshman contingent this year--one that could pave the way to a brighter future for Harvard wrestling.

"I have a quote on my desk by Saad, a Persian poet, that kept us going the whole year," Weiss said. "Have patience. All things are difficult before easy.'"

Next season the Crimson is hoping it gets a little easier, if not more successful.