Jantzen Wins First Two NCAA Matches

Junior Jesse Jantzen has a shot this weekend to accomplish something no other Harvard wrestler has been able do since the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency—win an NCAA championship.

Only John Harkness ’38 (175 lbs.) has ever been able to accomplish such a feat, though Jantzen’s third place finish last year is the best Crimson finish in the NCAA tournament since John Lee came third in 1953.

The No. 3 co-captain (149 lbs.) got off to on a strong start to this goal as he pinned and earned a major decision en route to the quarterfinals of the tournament, held in Kansas City.

The only other Crimson tournament qualifier, senior Pat O’Donnell (174 lbs.), lost 10-9 in the final seconds of a highly contested bout in the first round against Buffalo’s Gary Cooper.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, O’Donnell gathered himself for his second match in the consolations round and demolished Wisconsin’s Brady Reinke 15-9, who had only lost 9-4 in the first round to Oklahoma State’s No. 2 Chris Pendelton.

“I feel very good about the way Pat is wrestling right now,” said Harvard coach Jay Weiss.

O’Donnell’s chances to go far in the tournament remain high. Though he has failed to place in his two previous NCAA tournaments, he is now a veteran and knows the importance of winning tight matches and has had success in tightly-contested bouts. He even remarked earlier in the year that should a match go into extra periods, he actually feels more confident going in to overtime due to his experience and superior conditioning.

Tomorrow, O’Donnell will face Iowa’s Tyler Nixt, who was seeded fifth in the weight class, but was upset by the 12 seed—Oregon’s Shane Webster—in the second round of the tournament. If O’Donnell loses this match, he will be eliminated from the tournament.

But Jantzen has an even greater chance to go far in to the tournament.

“I feel very confident [about Jantzen],” Weiss said.

The two biggest obstacles in Jantzen’s quest for a National Championship are Arizona State’s No. 1 Eric Larkin and Minnesota’s No. 2 Jared Lawrence. Jantzen’s only loss of the season came at the hands of Larkin, who defeated Jantzen in the semi-finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational 10-4, held early in the season.

Larkin has had much success in the NCAA tournament, though not at the 149 lbs. spot. Last year, wrestling at the 141 lbs. Larkin advanced to the final match of the tournament, but lost this last bout. Now at the higher weight class, Larkin appears stronger and has dominated all other competition, including two major decisions over Lawrence.

Lawrence has also dealt Jantzen a heartbreaking loss of his own. Last year he defeated Jantzen in the semi-finals en route to his NCAA championship, but the early-season losses to Larkin have caused him great worries about his chances to repeat as a national champion. Even themat.com has picked Jantzen to face Larkin in the final bout.

If both Jantzen and Lawrence prove successful in their quarterfinal matches, they will meet each other in the semi’s tonight.

Still, despite the possible big time matches, Weiss noted he was much more worried about Jantzen’s next match against Boise State’s Collin Robertson, and that he will focus on a possible matchup against Lawrence after Jantzen’s quarterfinal match.

—Staff writer Evan R. Johnson can be reached at erjohns@fas.harvard.edu