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Up and Down Wrestling Season Ends on High Note


Flowrestling
April 3, 2007
David G. Bunning Head Coach for Wrestling Jay Weiss had high hopes for his wrestling squad this season and even though the year did not pan out how he scripted, no one can argue with the success his team achieved in 2006-07.

Three All-Americans for the first time in program history, first freshman All-American, most number of points scored at the NCAA Championships, highest finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and two finalists for the first time, and highest finish at the Midlands Championship.

Harvard entered the year with five wrestlers ranked in the top-20 and a team ranking of No. 22. The Crimson returned all five NCAA qualifiers from a season ago, four of which were EIWA finalist, but injuries plagued the Crimson throughout the season and left Harvard short handed heading into March.

?Going in to the season we were very excited with the returning wrestlers we had and the incoming recruits,? Weiss said. ?We had to deal with a lot of adversity on and off the mat and I am very proud of how the guys stayed the course and were able to shine when needed to the most.?

?I believe our strong finish has elevated our program to the next level and for that I am even more excited. With our current staff, Jesse [Jantzen] and Jamill [Kelly] and incoming class in the fall, I can only see us setting our expectations even higher.?

Harvard opened the season at the East Stroudsburg Open with seven placewinners. Sophomore 184-pounder Louis Caputo led the charge with a second-place showing, while rookie J.P. O'Connor finished fourth at 149 pounds. Junior Bobby Latessa was fourth at 157 pounds and classmate Matt Button was fifth. Newcomer Frankie Colletta placed fifth at 165 pounds, while juniors Jonathan Butler and Joseph Bechtold were seventh and eighth, respectively, at 197 pounds.

That same weekend, senior All-American Bode Ogunwole was one of three Ivy League wrestlers to win at the NWCA All-Star match. Ogunwole defeated No. 4 Spencer Nadolsky of North Carolina to become the first Crimson grappler to compete at the event.

The Crimson traveled to the highly competitive Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where Harvard placed two grapplers in the finals for the first time and finished seventh – its highest finish to date. Ogunwole dominated at heavyweight to win the title, while O?Connor fell to No. 6 Josh Churella of Michigan in the finals at 149. Caputo placed third at 184 pounds to round out the three top-four placewinners.

Harvard took a select number of wrestlers to the Midlands Championships where four grapplers placed in the top five and the Crimson took ninth. Senior tri-captain Max Meltzer (141) and O?Connor (149) took third, Sophomore Andrew Flanagan placed fourth at 157 pounds and Caputo was fifth at 184 pounds.

For five of the next eight weeks, Harvard competed in 13 dual meets and compiled a 5-7-1 mark. Harvard?s first dual meet of the season was a 26-13 loss to American in December giving the Crimson a 5-8-1 dual meet record for the year.

Highlights from the duals included a 22-18 win over Army on national television, three straight wins over Boston University, 27-13; Brown, 27-15; and Franklin & Marshall, 29-15. Meltzer compiled a 12-2 dual meet mark, winning 11 straight. O?Connor lost just one dual match – to No. 4 Jordan Leen of Cornell – to go 13-1.

Latessa, Button, Butler and Colletta provided a balance for the Crimson in the middlewights. Latessa went 5-3 in dual action at 157 pounds, while Button went 4-2 in duals, Butler sported a 4-5 record and Colletta went 5-4. Freshmen Ryan Fitzgerald and Fred Rowsey competed at 125 and 174 pounds, respectively.

During that stretch, senior tri-captain Robbie Preston rejoined the team after taking first term off, but the team was devastated when Ogunwole went down with a career-ending injury in January and Flanagan suffered a season-ending injury in February.

Harvard headed to the EIWA Championships with out its defending champions, but with a solid group of competitors. Caputo led five Crimson placewinners by taking the 184 pound title, marking the 10th year in a row a Harvard wrestler has won an EIWA title. O?Connor took second at 141, Preston and Meltzer were third at 133 and 141, respectively, and Latessa placed sixth at 157 pounds. Harvard tied for sixth overall with 71 team points. Four wrestlers automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Caputo, Meltzer, O?Connor and Preston all advanced to the round of 12 at the NCAA Championship. O?Connor who was seeded sixth at 149 pounds, took fifth to become the first freshman All-American at Harvard. Caputo, the 10th seed, placed eighth, Meltzer who was unseeded, finished eighth and Preston, the 12th seed, advanced to the round of 12, but lost his match to earn All-America honors. In all, the Crimson racked up 29 points - a program best. It was the first time three Crimson wrestlers placed at the NCAA Tournament.

O?Connor was named EIWA Freshman of the Year, Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year and earned second-team All-Ivy honors. Four others were named to the All-Ivy team. Meltzer was a unanimous first-team selection, while Caputo also earned first-team honors. Flanagan was named to the second team and Preston received honorable mention honors.

With the success of the Crimson this season, it is for certain the Harvard wrestling program will be one to contend with in the Ivy League, EIWA and on the national stage for years to come.

The bar has been raised, how high will the Crimson go?

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