Harvard Wrestling Knocked Off by Princeton, 19-17

Osleeb recorded a technical fall as the Crimson hosted Princeton Saturday (Robert Preston).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard wrestling team suffered its second loss of the weekend as Princeton took a 20-17 decision over the Crimson at the Malkin Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

Harvard (3-6, 2-6 EIWA) earned wins at four weight classes and received bonus points from Ryan Osleeb and Nicholas Gajdzik. Osleeb registered his first technical fall of the year at 133 lbs. with a 16-0 victory over Jake Intrator, while Gajdzik pinned Daniel Santoro in the heavyweight bout just 1:30 into the match. The Crimson also received victories from Todd Preston at 141 lbs. and James Fox at 197 lbs.

Princeton (6-2, 4-2 EIWA) opened the dual with a win at 125 lbs. before Osleeb's dominating performance put Harvard in front in the team scores, 5-3. Osleeb used several sets of back points to rack up the tech-fall in just his second match of the year at 133 lbs.

Preston gave the Crimson an 8-3 margin in the team scores as he knocked off Jordan Laster in sudden victory. Preston took an initial 1-0 lead with an escape in the second period, but Laster came back with an escape of his own in the third to send the bout into the extra session. Preston was able to counter a shot by Laster late in sudden victory, earning the sophomore his sixth win in his last seven bouts and giving him a team-high 16 triumphs on the year.

Princeton took the next five weights to overcome its deficit and secure the team victory. Harvard had an opportunity to come back in the match, but Ian Roy was unable to capitalize on an early lead at 174 lbs. and Cameron Croy dropped a tight 5-3 decision at 184.

For the second straight night the Crimson finished strong with victories at 197 lbs. and heavyweight. Fox build an early lead over Abram Ayala and defended against a late flurry of points by the Tiger to hold on for a 16-13 win, and Gajdzik was able to turn Daniel Santoro to cap the dual off on a high note for Harvard with his fourth career fall.

The Crimson will head back out on the road to face Brown (Feb. 15) and Columbia (Feb. 21) before returning to Cambridge for the regular season finale against Lehigh on Sunday, Feb. 23. That match will be held across the river at Lavietes Pavilion and will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network, ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App.

Princeton 19, Harvard 17
125: Ryan Cash (PRIN) dec. Max Mejia (HARV), 11-5, 0-3
133: Ryan Osleeb (HARV) tech. fall Jake Intrator (PRIN), 16-0, 5-3
141: Todd Preston (HARV) dec. Jordan Laster (PRIN), 3-1 SV1, 8-3
149: Richard Krop (PRIN) tech. fall Nicholas Stager (HARV), 18-2, 8-8
157: Kevin Moylan (PRIN) dec. Paul Liguori (HARV), 6-1, 8-11
165: Judson Ziegler (PRIN) dec. Tyler Grimaldi (HARV),  11-6, 8-14
174: Ryan Callahan (PRIN) dec. Ian Roy (HARV), 11-6, 8-17
184: Brett Harner (PRIN) dec. Cameron Croy (HARV), 5-3,  8-20
197: James Fox (HARV) dec. Abram Ayala (PRIN), 16-13, 11-19*
285: Nicholas Gajdzik (HARV) fall Daniel Santoro (PRIN), 1:30, 17-19

* Princeton was deducted one team point

Andrew Chesebro

Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

Harvard University

617-495-7692

GoCrimson.com

@GoCrimson | @ADChesebro