Wrestling Takes Two out of Three Contests at Pitt Duals

It came down to the last bout of the afternoon. After three dual meets and dozens of matches, the Harvard wrestling team gathered around to watch the deciding match, one that would alter the team’s mood depending on the result.

Junior Nick Gajdzik, wrestling in the heavyweight class, defeated Duke’s Brendon Walsh, 3-2. This victory gave the Crimson (2-1) a 23-17 victory over the Blue Devils (1-4) at Saturday’s Pitt Duals, earning Harvard a winning record on the day after it defeated Bloomsburg (1-11) and fell to No. 4 North Carolina State (16-0).

“We wrestled well against a quality Duke team,” coach Jay Weiss said. “We were down a couple guys in the lineup, so that was good. I really pleased by how they fought today after a very difficult week in practice. It proved that it worked, and they did a nice job today.”

HARVARD 23, DUKE 17

Harvard’s win over Duke featured a number of close matches; captain and No. 7 Todd Preston, senior Michael Mocco, and sophomore Josef Johnson all joined Gajdzik in winning by decision, all matches decided by two points or less. For Preston, it was his third victory on the day.

“Obviously, [Todd’s] our cog,” Weiss said. “He gives you everything he’s got every time he goes out there. He’s the one who drives this team. I’m very happy with how he did; he got into some close matches and came out on top.”

Junior Jeffrey Ott won by technical fall in 133, outmatching opponent Brandon Leynaud, 20-4. Harvard then won by forfeit in 125, occupied by freshman Nolan Hellickson. It is a weight class that the Crimson has struggled to fill in past years, but this time the six points gained ended up being the difference in the meet.

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead through three matches, the Crimson saw its advantage cut to 14-13 after sophomore Kanon Dean came up short in the 165s. Victories in three out of the final four matches, however, saw Harvard retake the initiative.

“I think we had a pretty good day,” captain Patrick Hogan said. “It was really exciting beating Duke, as it came down to the last match. The team was really happy about that…. We’ve been putting in a lot of work, and it’s nice to see that coming into the dual meet season, we’re getting some victories.”

HARVARD 40, BLOOMSBURG 3

The opening meet of the day was a blowout in the Crimson’s favor, as it won nine out of ten matches against the Huskies.

Hellickson pinned Jon Haas in the first match after losing to the Bloomsburg wrestler earlier this season in an individual tournament. It took the Des Moines native six minutes and 47 seconds to earn all six points for his team.

“Nolan keeps getting better every single today,” Weiss said. “[Beating Haas] is a huge turnaround in such a short period of time, from losing to pinning a guy. It shows you the adjustment he’s making in the room. Being a freshman is difficult, but he’s taking huge strides.”

Ott, Mocco, and Gajdzik all recorded their first of two wins on the day against Bloomsburg, while Hellickson, Hogan, sophomores Tyler Tarsi and Josef Johnson, and senior Josh Popple also earned victories for Harvard.

“We started strong, real strong, against Bloomsburg,” Weiss said. “Not so much the score, we kind of beat them up, but more so how we did it: we were really working on things that we’ve been working on in practice, and they were following through, executing it. I was really pleased with that.”

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 37, HARVARD 6

The Crimson endured a difficult meet against the Wolfpack in the middle of the day, winning just two matches—both by a single point.

Hogan was one of eight Harvard wrestlers who came up short against N.C. State, losing by major decision to Sam Melikian.

“I work best when I’m attacking my shots,” Hogan said. “[Against NC State], I think I was a bit too passive, whereas I was a lot more aggressive in the first match. It’s something to work on going forward.”

That may have been true across the entire roster, with the Crimson struggling to get on the front foot against a higher-ranked opponent.

“I thought our guys gave [NC State] a little too much respect,” Weiss said. “We were in matches that we could have won, but obviously they’re a strong team.”

Preston and sophomore Logan Kirby were Harvard’s lone victors in the meet. Preston was expecting to face Kevin Jack, the No. 3 wrestler in his weight class, but the latter could not compete.