UNH, WPI Upset Grapplers

At a wrestling quad-meet Saturday, the Harvard wrestling team dropped two out of the three matches it had expected to win in front of 50 spectators at Malkin Athletic Center.

The Crimson fumbled a close 20-18 match to Worcester Polytechnic Institute and lost to the University of New Hampshire more soundly, 22-14. Harvard did however chalk one up for the win column, routing New York University, 30-8.

"I'm a little disgruntled with [Harvard's] performance," Coach Jim Peckham said. "We have to do a whole lot of work. We've got big competition in front of us and were not prepared for it."

The first match against WPI certainly had its bright spots. Sam Cole, wrestling in the 126-lb. division, forged another link on his chain of wins with a 9-4 decision. In the 134-lb. class, Scott Beck came out of hibernation and took his opponent, 6-3.

In the heavier weights, 158-pounder Tim Kierstead slipped out a 5-2 win, and John Willoughby at 177 lbs. executed an awe-inspiring take-down to come through with the same score. Heavyweight Dwight Cooper pinned his foe three minutes and eight seconds into the match.

But there were dark spots, too.

The surprise of the day came in the 190-lb. weight class, when Captain Alex Konovalchik was pinned in the second period, after easily dominating the match.

"We thought we could beat Worcester," Beck said. "Off the line we had some close bouts, won a couple, lost a couple, but the big disappointment was at 190."

UNH was up next. The Crimson didn't do any better.

Cole slammed his opponent, 12-4, and Kierstead hit another take-down for a 4-1 victory. In the 167-lb. weight class, David George pulled out an agonizing 1-0 win.

"UNH was fairly strong, but with a little better effort I think we could have beaten them," Kierstead said.

Harvard was desperate for a win now. In came the Violets from NYU, and Harvard pressed them.

Todd Cameron at 126 lbs. substituted for Cole and started off the slaughter with a 12-2 decision. Beck continued his streak with a 6-1 victory.

Fred Jenkins returned to the mat in the 167-lb. class for the first time since the Lowell match and earned his keep with an 8-2 kill. Konovalchik grimaced his way to a 5-1 win.

Cooper pinned his opponent once again, this time with 19 seconds left in the first period.