Wrestling Takes Four of 10 events at East Stroudsburg

The Harvard wrestling team monopolized the East Stroudsburg (Penn.) Tournament, claiming four of the 10 individual championship titles, two third place and one fourth place finish.

It was a dominating performance coming on the heels of Harvard's third place finish at the Ivy Classic.

"I haven't come out of many other tournaments or matches feeling this good," Harvard Coach Jay Weiss said. "They were intense, aggressive, and very physical, which is something I've been working towards for years."

"We just focus on improving each week and not making the same mistakes," co-captain Joey Killar said.

Killar, along with co-captain Ed Mosley, senior Tom Kiler, and freshman Max Odom all led the Crimson charge by capturing first place in their respective divisions. Senior Nate Ackerman and junior Brad Soltis grappled to third place positions, and sophomore Dawid Rechul's efforts earned him fourth.

"As a team we did really well overall," Kiler said. "Everyone looked pretty good."

At 149-pounds, Odom hasn't needed much of an adjustment period. He has only wrestled in two collegiate tournaments so far and has already won accolades in both, taking third at the Ivy Classic and first this past weekend. His run on Saturday began with a technical fall at 5:29 in the match, followed by a pair of wins over Aaron Gilson of University of North Carolina and Eric Narkiewicz of Penn State with scores of 3-2 and 6-0, respectively. Odom won the semis with a major decision score of 14-4 over Blair's Joe Barchetto before going on to pin opponent Harley Anderson from Penn State at 3:53 to take the championship.

"Max didn't give up a takedown the whole tournament," Weiss said. "He is a tough wrestler and can do amazing things."

Adding depth to the 149-pound class was the strong wrestling of Ackerman, who finished third. Advancing to the quarters with three solid wins of 6-1, 3-2 and 3-1, Ackerman got to the semifinals with a 3-1 defeat of Princeton's Jeff Bernd. After losing a tight 10-9 battle to Anderson, Ackerman edged out Barchetto 3-2 to secure third.

In the 157-pound weight class, Kiler also had a spectacular day. His domination began with an 11-1 major decision win over Chris Meister of Lockhaven. Kiler blanked East Stroudsburg's Tony Vitale 4-0 before taking Penn State's Jeremy Reitz 9-4 in the quarters. Kiler then wrapped up his championship by defeating Brad Dillon of Lehigh 6-3 and Bill Deniz of Middlesex 5-2.

"I am so happy for him," Weiss said. "Tom wrestled very well. He was very physical and did the right things at the right times."

Killar, in his first tournament of the season, had no trouble getting back into the groove as he just continued his winning ways of last year. He pinned two of his five opponents and did not allow the final score to have a margin smaller than five. Wasting little time, Killar took down his first round and quarterfinals opponents, Ben Brenneman of East Stroudsburg and Greg Francesca of University of Virginia, in just 1:59. He also had two major decision victories, a 13-1 defeat of Lehigh's Warren Stout and a 12-0 win over Penn State's Doc Vecchio, before grappling to a first place finish with an 8-3 bout against Carolina's Jamie Groudle.

"Joey had a nice match in the finals," Weiss said. "He just keeps getting better and better."

Winning two consecutive titles, Ed Mosely has been the highlight of this Crimson force for the past two weeks. After getting a bye in the first round, his decisive 9-3 victory over Andrew Butville of Penn State and his pin of Columbia's Ryan Fair in just 36 seconds advanced him to the semis, where he defeated East Stroudsburg's Dan Roy, 8-3. His subsequent 13-4 trouncing of Sal Aquia then sealed yet another tournament championship.

"I thought I wrestled pretty well," said Mosely. "There is still stuff I need to work on but I think I'm moving in the right direction."

At 197-pounds, Brad Soltis made an impressive season debut this week, coming in third. Out-wrestling his first two opponents 19-8 and 24-9, Soltis moved to the quarters, where he beat University of North Carolina's Chad Love 7-4. Soltis lost a close 1-0 match to Lehigh's Jon Trenge in the semis but came back in the consolation finals to overtake North Carolina's Clint Osborn 3-1 to seize third.

Rechul, who also took fourth at last week's Ivy, proved a formidable foe in the heavyweight division. Easily overtaking his opponents in the first two rounds 16-1 and 8-1, Rechul continued his success in the quarters, where he defeated Sam Holloway of Kutztown, 5-2. However, after falling in the semis, 4-1 to Steve Mocco, Rechul lost a tough overtime bout to East Stroudsburg's Rich Koehler to 11-9 to finish fourth.

Brandon Rhoades (125-pounds), Matt Picarsic (133-pounds), Nick Picarsic (141-pounds) and Pat O'Donnell (174-pounds) all wrestled this weekend as well.

The team now looks ahead to the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas on Dec. 3 and 4. The tournament draws the top teams from around the nation, presenting Harvard which tougher competition than it has seen in the past two weeks.

"As a team, we can be in the top five with three or four individuals who could win it," Killar said.