Harvard Wrestling Puts Six on Podium at Binghamton Open
Peppelman and Keith highlighted the Crimson's performance at the Binghamton Open with a pair of third-place finishes (Gil Talbot).
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Six Crimson wrestlers earned a spot on the podium as the Harvard wrestling team opened its 2011-12 season Sunday at the Binghamton Open.
Junior co-captain Walter Peppelman paced the Crimson with a third-place finish at 157 lbs. He opened the day with a 6-2 win over Jesse Shanaman, who was wrestling unattached, before earning a 12-0 major decision against Hofstra's Tyler Banks. Peppelman lost a close 6-5 decision to 11th-ranked Justin Lister from Binghamton in the semifinals, but returned in the wrestlebacks to pin Rider's Ramon Santiago just 37 seconds into the match. The 2011 NCAA All-American took out Jonny Greisheimer from Edinboro, 9-7, in the third-place match.
Junior Steven Keith also earned a third-place finish, recording five victories at 133 lbs. including a 12-1 major decision over Penn's C.J. Cobb in the third-place match. Keith began the tournament with a 5-2 win over Cobb, then dispatched Hofstra's Joe Gosinski, 8-5, and Binghamton's Dan Riggi, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals. He was beaten by Justis Flamio, wrestling for the New York Athletic Club, in the semi's by a 4-2 score in overtime, before taking out Jamie Franco of Hofstra, 7-0, to earn the chance to wrestle for third.
Sophomore Cameron Croy nearly kept pace with Peppelman and Keith but dropped 5-3 decision to Binghamton's Nate Schiedel in the third-place match to take fourth. Croy made easy work of John McArdle from Middlesex County College in his first match with a 20-4 major decision. He and Schiedel met up in the next round, with the Bearcat taking a 4-2 victory. Croy's run in the wrestlebacks included a 14-3 major decision over Princeton's Dan Santoro, a pin of Brown's Ophir Bernstein at the 1:20 mark, and a 6-3 decision against Ryan Callahan from Princeton to move to the third-place match.
Three Crimson wrestling unattached also reached the podium highlighted by 149-pounder Paul Ligouri's second-place finish. The junior was dominate in his run to the finals, pinning Edinboro's Sensation LaRocca at the 2:19 mark in the first round before taking out Brown's Kenny Staub with an 11-1 major decision. Ligouri earned his second fall of the day just 1:40 into his match against Ben Price of Binghamton and then defeated Brown's Zack Kulczychi by major decision, 12-4. Ligouri dropped an 8-4 decision to Cornell's Craig Eifert in the finals to finish second.
Freshman James Fox took fourth at 197 lbs. Fox defeated Donald McNeil of Rider, 6-1, in the first round and Tim Murphy of Hofstra, 11-5, in the second. He was knocked from championship contention via a 9-4 decision by Binghamton's Cody Reed but rebounded in the wrestlebacks with a 4-1 win over McNeil. Brown's Sterling Hecox defeated Fox in the third-place match by a score of 15-8.
Heavyweight David Ng rounded out Harvard's placewinners by taking sixth. Ng opened his day with a 3-2 win over Penn's Stephen Graziano and advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 win in the first set of tiebreakers over Evan Craig of Rider. Ng was bounced from the championship race by Binghamton's Nick Gwiazdowski, 8-2, before dropping a 2-1 decision to Hofstra's Paul Snyder in his first round of wrestlebacks. In the fifth-place match, Ng was defeated by major decision, 8-0, by Stryker Lane of Cornell.
Harvard will return to action Sunday, Nov. 20 at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa.
Andrew Chesebro
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
Harvard University
(617) 495-7692
GoCrimson.com
@HarvardCrimson