Wrestling Drops Two Matches to Brown, BU

On the surface, it may have seemed like every other weekend for the Harvard wrestling team.

The Crimson (1-13) dropped a pair of matches, losing 31-10 to Brown at the Malkin Athletic Center, before heading across the river to face Boston University. The Terriers topped Harvard 33-12, dealing the Crimson its 13th loss in its final bout of the season.

But this time, with the EIWA Championships just two weeks away, it was not the sophomores that stole the show. No. 16 Robbie Preston (125 lbs.) and No. 7 Bode Ogunwole (285 lbs.) were not alone in the team’s quest for points.

But with Preston sitting the end of the season out—because he sustained a minor knee injury last week and wanted to be completely healthy for the upcoming EIWA tournament, where he will likely be the No. 1 seed—Harvard’s points were tallied by a pair of wins from not only Ogunwole, but from freshman Dominic DeNunzio (149 lbs.) and captain Mike Baria (141 lbs.) as well.

Baria had the best day out of the three victors, wrestling perfectly and allowing neither opponent to garner a single point against him, a strong finish right before the EIWAs.

“Any time you can get your hand raised it will give you confidence,” Harvard coach Jay Weiss said. “There is still some work to do, but he is peaking at the right time.”

Against Mark Savino of Brown, Baria tallied 11 points, winning by major decision. He topped himself later that night against BU’s Joey Whitaker, scoring 16 points, earning the technical fall.

“I was simply wrestling my style of match,” Baria said. “I felt that my top work was more effective this weekend and that helped me to control the matches more. It is a good feeling to end with a pair of wins, but now all I am focused on is EIWAs.”

DeNunzio’s wins were not nearly as decisive, but still marked a high point for the rookie at the end of his first collegiate wrestling season.

“He has worked hard all season long, put in a lot of time, and now it is paying off,” Baria said. “He took all of what we’ve worked on all year and put it all together. His mental toughness and heart played a big role in his overtime victory.”

DeNunzio defeated the Bears’ Tim Smith in an intense 5-3 overtime matchup Saturday afternoon.

“We work overtime situations every day at practice so he has been in that position a lot,” Weiss said. “I love when our guys win the close ones and the OT ones, that shows progress.”

Later, he went on to a more comfortable, more dominating 12-4 major decision win over Chris Coppolo at BU.

“He has the talent. He just needs to go out and do it,” Weiss added. “That is all he did differently this weekend, take matters into his own hands.”

In the heavyweight category, Ogunwole eked out a close 3-2 over Brown’s Lee Beene, before overpowering Courtney Howard 7-3.

The team returns to the mats for the EIWA Championships March 4 and 5 in Annapolis, Md. In order to prepare, Baria explained the team will now focus more on improving the specific techniques of individual wrestlers and switch to a one-on-one training program.

“Up until now, all of our competitions have just been preseason,” Baria said. “This tourney is what really matters. It’s what we have trained for all year long.”

—Staff writer Megha Parekh can be reached at parekh@fas.harvard.edu.