Injuries Cripple Harvard's Hopes

The successful return of junior tri-captain Max Meltzer to the wrestling squad Saturday at the Lone Star Duals propelled the Crimson to an overwhelming victory over Utah Valley State, its first dual match win of the season. But an injury to junior Robbie Preston, which forced him to concede his second match of the day and also took him out of his final bout, soured an otherwise good day for the squad.

“It was great having [Meltzer] back,” Preston said. “He just wrestled really well and he is very important to our team.”

The Harvard wrestling team, now 1-3 in dual matches, was at the top of its game in the South Grand Prairie Warrior Coliseum, as No. 14 Meltzer (141 lbs.), junior tri-captain Bode Ogunwole (No. 8 among the heavyweights) and freshman Louis Caputo (184 lbs.) each collected three victories on the day.

The Crimson began the day by winning seven of the eight contested matches en route to defeating Utah Valley Sate in a 40-9 blowout. No. 7 Preston (133 lbs.) defeated Erkin Tadzhimetov in a 5-2 decision and Meltzer pinned Daniel Polkowske in 3:32. Caputo and freshman Andrew Flanagan (157 lbs.) both picked up a major decision win, while tri-captain Mike Baria (165 lbs.) won by a technical fall. Freshman Wesley Walker (174 lbs.) and Ogunwole both pinned their opponents. Sophomore Billy Colgan (197 lbs.) won by forfeit, while sophomore Matt Button (149 lbs.) lost a close decision, 5-4, to Justin Rawle.

Harvard forfeited all three matches on the day at 125 lbs. due to injury.

The Crimson faced a tougher opponent in Chattanooga in its second match of the day, losing 27-15 while collecting four individual victories. Meltzer pinned his second straight opponent—this time in 1:00—while Baria, Caputo and Bode all won by decisions. Sophomore Joseph Bechtold wrestled in the 174-bout, but lost, 9-7, in a close decision.

The turning point of the day came in Preston’s bout against No. 8 Matt Keller of Chattanooga, during which he had to retire due to a leg injury.

“I think it’s my hamstring,” Preston said. “I heard something pop. I’m just going to take it day by day.”

Because of Preston’s injury, Harvard went into its third and final match of the day against Stanford having to forfeit a couple of matches at the 125 lbs. and 133 lbs., and ended up losing 21-16. Meltzer remained undefeated after notching a 12-11 decision against Tyler Parker. Caputo picked up his second major decision win—and third win overall—against Ryan Hagen, 10-0. Ogunwole also won his third match in an 8-3 decision. Flanagan and Walker won their matches by decisions.

At the end, however, the Crimson could not overcome Preston’s absence. Despite wins in five of the eight contested matches against Stanford, Harvard ended the tournament on a losing note.

“I thought it was a good effort,” Ogunwole said. “We were giving up points due to injuries, so once we get healthier we expect better results.”

“I thought we wrestled really well,” Preston said. “We could have won all three matches, but a couple of injuries prevented us from doing that.”

The Crimson will be back home on Jan. 28 to face Lehigh and Army at the Malkin Athletic Center.

—Staff writer Tony D. Qian can be reached at tonyqian@fas.harvard.edu.