Preston, Ogunwole Advance

Ever since the first week of December, sophomore Robbie Preston has been perfect.

Despite being matched against the best wrestlers in the East this past weekend, not much changed.

Preston (125 lbs.) won the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships this Saturday, the 16th EIWA Individual Title in Harvard’s history.

He will compete in the NCAA Championships on March 17-19 with fellow sophomore Bode Ogunwole (285 lbs.), who returns to NCAAs for a second straight year on the strength of an at-large bid.

For the pair of wrestlers and roommates, however, punching that ticket to St. Louis wasn’t easy.

The top-seeded Preston had been struggling with a knee injury suffered at the end of the season, rendering him questionable for competition at EIWAs in the first place.

“He only lost twice all year, but with that injury...It was touch and go,” Harvard coach Jay Weiss said. “The doctors said he would need three weeks, which would stretch past this weekend. To go to the tournament and to wrestle the way he did—it was amazing.”

Preston (20-2) rolled through the field in much the same fashion that he dominated the season, downing No. 5 Mason Lenhard of Penn 4-2 in semifinals before eliminating Cornell’s No. 2 Mike Mormille 7-5 in the finals. In Preston’s final match, he never trailed.

But for No. 2 Ogunwole (22-5)—who reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament as a freshman last year—life was harder than usual. After dropping a 4-3 decision in double-overtime to No. 3 Tanner Garret, he lost a taxing match to the Big Red’s No. 5 Tyler Shovlin in the first consolation bout, injuring himself in the process.

Impressively, he came back to win 3-1 in overtime over Lehigh’s No. 4 Paul Weibel to solidify fifth place, just good enough to get voted an automatic wildcard bid.

“I was wrestling a little more conservatively than in my other matches so I wouldn’t give up too many points,” Ogunwole said.

No. 1 Matt Feast of Penn took home the championship.

“It was a tough break,” Weiss said. “After wrestling through four overtimes, Bode had to turn around and wrestle 45 minutes later. He was banged up a lot, but he pulled through.”

Carried largely by Ogunwole and Preston, the Crimson finished in ninth place overall.

“I always feel we can do better,” Weiss said. “The big thing is how we respond. I would’ve liked [all of us] to push a little further into the tournament.”

But for Harvard, the focus now shifts to the NCAA Championships in Missouri, the same competition and the same place where Jesse Jantzen ’04 was crowned National Champion (149 lbs.) and the entire tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler overall last year.

According to Weiss, Ogunwole and Preston will be ready. While Ogunwole reached deep into the tournament last year as a precocious frosh, Preston—a star at the junior level before coming to Cambridge—should also be well-prepared himself.

“Bode’s been out there. He knows what it’s like,” Weiss said. “Hopefully, Robbie can feed off that...He likes the stage. They won’t have any jitters.”

Between now and St. Louis, of course, the name of the game becomes research. While Weiss and the coaching staff will be scouting and readying video, the two wrestlers will also likely take advantage of the much-needed rest.

They’ll be dancing starting March 17.

—Staff writer Pablo S. Torre can be reached at torre@fas.harvard.edu.

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