Grapplers Travel to N.J. For Eastern Tournament

'Twas the day before Easterns,

And all through the school,

Every wrestler was nervous,

'Cept Phills--he's so cool.

Their jocks were all packed

In their luggage with care

As they trucked off to Princeton--

The Easterns are there.

Nine grapplers in all,

And nothing to fear.

If three of them place,

That's one more'n last year.

It's individual glory time for the Crimson wrestlers. Sure, they're going to Princeton as a team tomorrow for the ECAC's, but that's only a formality--each of the 16 teams must enter nine competitors. The top three grapplers in each weight division go to the NCAA's in two weeks. And therein lies the challenge.

Leading the Crimson charge for the gold is heavyweight Jim Phills, a sophomore of substantial proportions who has notched thirteen falls en route to his 18-2-1 record. Only Columbia's Jay Craddock, who pinned Phills earlier in the year, stands between him and the title.

Tough Going

For the rest of the squad, things won't be so easy. Two grapplers who made the U.S. Olympic team loom as the major obstacles to the Crimson's 118-pounder, Rick Beller, now fully recovered from his ankle injury of mid-season. And sophomore 142 Andy McNerney will need a healthy helping of good fortune to best the three wrestlers who will likely be seeded above him.

Big Guns

Though Harvard coach Johnny Lee considers those three to be his biggest guns, he's also putting a lot of faith in the likes of Fritz Campbell, Sean Healey, and Mark Cooley. If the trio can pull their acts together and overcome their haunting inconsistency, they stand a good change of placing at 142, 158, and 190, respectively.

Last year, Phills and Rick Kief, who suffered a cracked vertebra late this season and will not be competing tomorrow, coped tow bronzes at the Easterns.