Wrestling Loses To Harvard
February 19, 2000 | Men's Wrestling
BOSTON (Feb. 19) - The Boston University wrestling team's season ended on a sour note, as Harvard handed the Terriers their worst defeat of the year, 35-8, on "The Roof."
Harvard controlled the meet from the outset, winning the first five matches to amass a 20-0 lead. The Crimson's Joey Killar, ranked fifth in the nation, set the tone by opening the match with a 16-0 technical fall over B.U.'s Zak Emond at 165.
The Crimson took the next four matches, three by decision, and one by fall, as Pat O'Donnell pinned the Terriers' Chad Grant in the 184-pound match.
"We got off to a bad start, and it kept going from there," said B.U. head coach Carl Adams. "It was probably the worst we've wrestled all season."
Freshmen Jose Leon and Mike Messina gave the Terrier fans something to cheer about, and provided Boston University with its only points of the meet.
Leon dominated Harvard's David Germakian at 125 pounds, earning a 24-6 technical fall.
Messina followed by earning a takedown and a near-fall in the closing seconds to rally for a 7-4 win over Harvard's Matt Picarsic.
The rest of the day belonged to the Crimson, however, as a forfeit at 141, an overtime pin by Max Odom at 149, and a 2-0 decision by Kevin Kurtz at 157 closed the meet at 35-8.
With the loss, the Terriers finish the 1999-2000 regular season with a 7-5-1 record, marking the team's first winning season since the 1995-96 campaign.
The team will next take to the mats at the East Coast Wrestling Association Championships on March 4-5 for a shot at the conference team title and individual berths in the NCAA Tournament.
Scoring summary: 165 Joey Killar (HU) tech. fall Zak Emond (BU), 16-0 (6:47) 174 Tom Kiler (HU) dec. Ali Abri (BU), 7-5 184 Pat O'Donnell (HU) pinned Chad Grant (BU), 5:52 197 Reggie Lee (HU) dec. Ed Strauss (BU), 5-2 HWT David Rechul (HU) dec. Rich Wilson (BU), 11-7 125 Jose Leon (BU) tech. fall David Germakian (HU), 24-6 133 Mike Messina (BU) dec. Matt Picarsic (HU), 7-4 141 Nick Picarsic (HU) wins by forfeit 149 Max Odom (HU) pinned Malik Elliott (BU), 7:44 (OT) 157 Kevin Kurtz (HU) dec. Chris Simmons (BU), 2-0
