Wrestling Enjoys Historic Season

To maintain excellence is hard. To exceed it is even harder.

But the Harvard wrestling team, led by Coach Jay Weiss, did exactly that.

The Crimson exceeded last year's banner performance to further Harvard's standing among the nation's elite. Both the team and individual achievements of this year's squad made this '98-'99 season one of unparalleled success.

Tri-captain Dustin DeNunzio (141 pounds) and junior Joey Killar (165-pounds) earned All-American honors at the 1999 NCAA Wrestling Championships held at Penn State. It was the first time that two Harvard wrestlers went in the same year. With its strong finish, the Crimson tied Oregon State for No. 20, bettering last year's No. 29.

"For us to have to All-Americans and place in the top twenty with only three wrestlers competing is a huge accomplishment for the program," Weiss said. "We placed in front of six Big 10 schools."

DeNunzio capped off an incredible four years with Harvard, wrestling to a fourth-place finish and becoming only the second Harvard wrestler ever to earn All-American accolades twice. In 1998, DeNunzio placed sixth in the 134-pound weight class to become the first Harvard wrestler in fifteen years to win All-American honors.

DeNunzio defeated Derek Jenkins of Rider in the first round before falling 5-3 to No. 10 seed Tony Deanda of Nebraska. He then rallied with victories over the No. 12, 8, 5, and 2 seeds. The run ended in a tight 4-3 match against Clarion's Mark Angle, the No. 1 seed.

"I am pleased that I came back from the second round loss to win four in a row," DeNunzio said. "In the past I have not responded to loss very well. This just got me over another obstacle. The end results were not what I wanted but I am still pleased."

Killar found similar success as he fought to a sixth place finish in his first trip to Nationals. He came out striking fast, easily winning his first two. In the quarterfinals, however, Killar lost, 12-11, to Kirk White of Boise State. Killar battled back with wins against Sean Morgan of Oregon and No. 6 Mark Samples of Edinboro. He lost his next two but already had qualified for All-American status.

At 197 pounds, sophomore Brad Soltis, the third Harvard wrestler to earn a trip to Penn State, was put to the test immediately and lost to No. 11 seed Chael Sonnen of Oregon. He then put up a strong fight against Mike French of Cal Poly but lost.

Even after the season ended, the honors did not. For his accomplishments at NCAAs and throughout the season, DeNunzio was named the Ivy League and EIWA Wrestler of the Year. He is the first Crimson grappler to be awarded either honor. DeNunzio was chosen as part of the All-Ivy First Team for the third time.

"Harvard has been the best experience of my life," DeNunzio said. Everything--the team, the coaches and even the year I took off--was perfect. Harvard gave me every opportunity to accomplish everything that I could. I am going to miss it."

Kurtz also earned a spot on the Ivy First Team with his 25-7 record and fourth-place finish at Easterns.

Junior tri-captain Fran Volpe was selected to the All-Ivy Second Team for the second consecutive year. Tri-captain Joel Friedman, Soltis, and sophomore Matt Picarsic merited Honorable Mention All-Ivy selections.

The team set the tone in November by capturing first place at the Ivy Classic, finishing ahead of rivals Cornell and Penn.

Junior Kevin Kurtz won the 157-pound class and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament. DeNunzio, Volpe (184-pounds) and Killar (165-pounds) led the team to victory by capturing titles in their respective weight classes.

At the Cliff-Keen Invitational at Las Vegas in early December, Harvard placed ninth out of 43 teams.

The Crimson went 2-2 at the Aloha Classic in Oahu, Hawaii, where it faced four tough opponents. The wrestlers for the tournament, easily dismantling Portland State and Air Force before falling to Purdue and BYU, both ranked in the Top 20.

Despite the loss of Killar, who was out for almost two months, Harvard finished the winter with a 6-4 record. The wrestlers began the second part of the season with solid victories over Stanford and Army in January.

In February, they easily dominated Princeton, B.C., B.U. and Columbia. Yet, the team found more difficulty against Lehigh, Penn, Cornell, and Brown, the conference's top wrestling programs.

Back to full force and with the dual meet season behind them, the team headed to West Point, N.Y. in the beginning of March for Easterns. In its best finish in Crimson history, they returned home boasting third place overall and nine top-six finishes. A second place finish by Soltis and individual titles by DeNunzio and Killar earned the trio a trip to NCAA Championships. Penn again commanded the tournament, followed by Cornell.

"One of the biggest achievements of the team is placing nine out of 10 wrestlers in the top six in the EIWA," Weiss said. "That shows how we have grown in the past five years. My first year here we had wrestlers place sixth in the EIWA. Now we have the whole team placing."

DeNunzio and Killar easily swept through all competition. DeNunzio's victory was special cause for celebration, because it was the first time a Harvard wrestler won two consecutive EIWA championships.

Pinning his first two opponents in under a minute, DeNunzio eventually won the title with a 6-4 victory over Ben New of Cornell, ranked No. 12 nationally. His sheer domination in the tournament earned him the Sheridan Award, given to the wrestler who gets the most falls in the shortest amount of time.

Killar proved to be in top form in his return to the mat after being sidelined with a rib injury. He dismantled his opponents and won the championship with a 9-4 victory over No. 10 Rick Springman of Penn.

"Our dual meet record was not stellar this year because of injury and other setbacks," DeNunzio said. "But, I would sacrifice every dual meet for the end result. A third place finish at Easterns was truly an accomplishment."

Although the success of the season leaves the program with much to look forward to, the team will also suffer irreplaceable losses with the graduation of DeNunzio and Friedman. The two were in Weiss' first class and have been the key to the team's transformation.

"I can't say enough about the impact Joel and Dustin have had on this program," said Weiss. "They have raised the bar for the rest of the team to follow. It will be extremely hard to say goodbye."

"Next year's team will be very good. Although we lose Dustin and Joel, we get Ed Mosley back from his year off. We also are bringing in another outstanding recruiting class. We are gearing up for another record-breaking year," he added.