Ogunwole Injury Dampens First Dual-Meet Win

The Harvard wrestling team earned a split in this weekend’s dual bouts against Lehigh and Army, collecting its first dual victory of the season, but the major concern is the arm injury suffered by tri-captain Bode Ogunwole in his bout with Paul Weibel of Lehigh on Saturday afternoon.

“He was about to take [Weibel] down,” senior tri-captain Robbie Preston said. “[Weibel] tried to throw him, and he landed funny and felt his elbow pop. He’s having his arm checked out, and the best-case scenario is having him miss a couple of weeks, but it would really be a disappointment to see him sidelined, especially with this being his last year.”

“We don’t really know what is going on, but hopefully it’s something minor,” freshman J.P. O’Connor said. “We don’t want to draw any conclusions right now, and obviously Bode is extremely important to this team, but we’re going to stay positive.”

The Crimson, already struggling with an unstable starting lineup, cannot afford to lose its heavyweight standout for any length of time and now holds its collective breath with the MRI results pending.

“It seems that every weekend we have some key guys missing,” Preston said. “This weekend we didn’t have [sophomore] Andrew Flanagan, and of course we lost Bode.”

Despite its injury losses, Harvard managed to post a good performance this weekend, beating a tough team in Army for its first victory this season in dual matches.

“As a team I think we put together a complete effort,” O’Connor said. “We came back strong on Sunday against Army, and everybody did their part.”

“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people later on, just as long as everyone’s healthy and in shape,” Preston said. “Of course, Bode is a big part of that.”

The Crimson goes on the road next weekend to face Princeton on Friday and Penn on Saturday in its first Ivy match-ups.

HARVARD 22, ARMY 18

The Crimson won six matches and lost only four to beat Army at Gillis Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon. Harvard improved to 1-5 overall and 1-2 against conference opponents, while Army fell to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the EIWA.

Getting this started for the Crimson was No. 14 Preston (133 lb.), who outwrestled William Simpson in less than three minutes, winning by fall. Preston started a string of five victories for Harvard, which proved enough to seal the match.

Tri-captain Max Meltzer (141 lb.) followed Preston with an overtime win against Matthew Kyler. O’Connor, ranked sixth in the nation, put up a dominating performance at 149, finishing his opponent in a 16-3 major decision. O’Connor now leads the team with 22 wins on the season.

Junior Bobby Latessa, wrestling at 157, fell behind 0-2 in his match before coming back in the final period to beat his opponent, 6-3. Freshman Frankie Colletta capped it off with an 8-3 decision at 165.

“I was really happy that we fought every match,” Preston said. “Even without Andrew and Bode, we were able to pull it off.”

The five wins gave the Crimson a 19-6 lead, and sophomore Louis Caputo added the finishing touches with a 5-0 victory at 184.

The Black Knights, which won matches at 125 against freshman Ryan Fitzgerald and at 174 against sophomore Patrick Ziemnik, finished the day by taking the last two bouts. Junior Billy Colgan, wrestling at 197, lost to Richard Starks, 5-4, and freshman Andrew Knapp, wrestling in his first bout of the season in place of injured Ogunwole, lost by technical fall.

LEHIGH 31, HARVARD 13

The Crimson did not only lose a tough match against No. 24 Lehigh Saturday afternoon, but also lost one of its key wrestlers in Ogunwole after an elbow injury forced the heavyweight to the sidelines. The Mountain Hawks, which improved to 11-6 overall and 4-1 in the conference, dealt Harvard its fifth straight loss in dual matches, winning five bouts and recording three falls against Crimson wrestlers.

Matt Fisk of Lehigh pinned Fitzgerald in 47 seconds to start the day, but Harvard answered with wins by Preston, Meltzer, and O’Connor. Preston, who rejoined the team after taking the fall semester off, defeated Seth Ciasulli in a 4-2 decision, while No. 15 Meltzer followed with a 3-1 victory. O’Connor finished the run for the Crimson with a 10-1 major decision.

Harvard could not continue the momentum however as Latessa was pinned in 5:52. After Colletta briefly gave the Crimson the lead again with an 8-5 decision, Ziemnik became the third Harvard wrestler pinned on the day.

Caputo and junior Jonathan Butler (197 lb.) both lost their matches before Ogunwole suffered his injury to end a dismal day for the Crimson.

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