Peppelman Still Alive as Harvard Wrestling Has Strong Showing at Midlands Championships

Peppelman is seeking his first podium finish at the prestigious Midlands Championships (Gil Talbot).

EVANSTON, Ill. – Two-time All-American Walter Peppelman made his return to the Harvard wrestling lineup on Saturday and is in position to finish on the podium at the 50th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Peppelman went 2-1 in his first action of the year as Harvard went a combined 15-13 on the day facing some of the stiffest competition in the country.

"I felt we wrestled very tough today, all of these guys did something that we can build on," Jay Weiss, The David G. Bunning '88 Head Coach for Harvard Wrestling, commented following the first day of competition. "This is a meat grinder of a tournament and I feel our guys responded. Now we need to keep Walter fighting and get him through to third place."

Harvard sent six student-athletes to the tournament which features 14 teams that placed in the top-25 at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Peppelman entered the tournament as the fourth seed at 157 lbs. and dispatched Bloomsburg's Bryce Busler, wrestling unattached, via a 6-1 decision in his first match of the day. The senior co-captain then defeated Eastern Michigan's Aaron Sulzer, 7-3, before falling to Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin, wrestling unattached, 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

Peppelman will face 11th-seeded Ian Miller, also wrestling unattached, in the wrestleback bracket on Sunday. A win will guarantee him no lower than an eight-place finish at what is widely regarded as the second-toughest tournament of the year behind only the NCAA Championships.

Harvard turned in several other impressive performances on Saturday highlighted by freshman Devon Gobbo's run at 165 lbs. After being held out of competition early in the year due to injury, Gobbo registered in a 10-6 decision over the 11th-ranked wrestler in the country, Pierce Harger of Northwestern, in his first collegiate match. Gobbo fell by a score of 3-2 in his second match against Stanford's Jim Wilson, wrestling unattached, but responded with three straight wins in the consolation bracket including a 9-1 major decision over Binghamton's Vinni Grella and a gutsy 4-2 decision in overtime over Oklahoma's Clark Glass. The freshman was bumped from the tournament by eighth-seeded and 17th-ranked Mark Lewandowski from Buffalo via a 9-2 decision.

"Devon was terrific in his first collegiate tournament," Weiss commented. "He proved he can wrestle with the best."

Cameron Croy and Nicholas Gajdzik also posted multiple victories for the Crimson. Croy earned an 18-4 major decision in his opening bout at 174 lbs. and followed it up with a 5-3 win in sudden victory before dropping two matches, including a loss to top-seeded and fifth-ranked Jordan Blanton, to exit the tournament. Gajdzik, meanwhile, recorded a second-period fall to open the tournament before suffering an 11-2 loss to Central Michigan's Jarod Trice, the tournament's top seed at heavyweight and the fourth-ranked wrestler in the country. Gajdzik, a freshman, also earned a 5-2 decision in the consolation bracket before being eliminated.

Freshman Jeffrey Ott and Sophomore Patrick Hogan were also in the lineup for Harvard and each posted a 1-2 record.

 Action will resume at the 50th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Sunday at 1 p.m. EST.

Andrew Chesebro

Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

Harvard University

(617) 495-7692

GoCrimson.com

@HarvardCrimson