Harvard wrestling began its 2024-25 campaign this past weekend, competing in the Journeyman Classic held at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. With two individual top-five finishes, the Crimson came out strong from the start.

The Crimson is led by head coach Jay Weiss, who enters his third decade at the helm of the program, along with captains Diego Sotelo, Luke Rada and Cael Berg. This is the first year the Crimson will compete in an Ivy League wrestling tournament, after the program decided to leave the EIWA conference last year. The move is also part of a broader moment of change for the program, with star wrestler Phillip Conigliaro ’24 graduating in May and seven new freshmen joining the team in his place.

“They have integrated very well, better than expected. They all have a lot of fuel in them and they are all very excited about a big fall that awaits them,” Sotelo said in reference to the rookies. “We’re all on the same page and excited. The weekend was a good test. We are not where we want to be, but we are where we need to be. »

The weekend marked the start of the individual tournament portion of the season, which lasts until the end of the calendar year, with doubles matches on the schedule. These individual tournaments are an opportunity for the larger team to compete on the national stage before Coach Weiss must select a ten-player roster to duel in mid-January. Seventeen Crimson wrestlers competed this weekend in various weight classes at the pool-style tournament.

“We’ve been super excited for weeks. The pre-season was long and it was a good test for our first competition,” said Sotelo.

The pools included wrestlers from 20 other top programs, including conference rivals UPenn and Cornell. Three freshmen – Logan Brzozowski, Haden Bottiglieri and Hudson Skove – each saw their first games in a Harvard jersey, while three upperclassmen scored upsets on the national stage.

Sotelo, who entered the season ranked 14th in the 125 lb. weight class, defeated No. 7 Jakob Camacho of NC State by major decision. With this victory this weekend, Sotelo ranked fifth in the weight class. Although the rankings suggest that Sotelo’s victory was a surprise, over the past two seasons, Sotelo has established himself as one of the nation’s top contenders in his weight class, which stands out for anyone interested in the college wrestling scene.

For the remainder of the season, Sotelo aims to take advantage of every opportunity to collect individual accolades, while leading the team to a first Ivy League title.

“I’ve been trying to get on this podium for three years, so this is the last time I’ll be able to be here. So individually, that’s my goal. As a team, it would definitely be about getting us to win the Ivys,” said the Plainfield, Illinois, product.

The other notable performance of the weekend came from junior Jimmy Harrington, who placed third in his pool in the 157 lb weight class, going 1-2 on the weekend. Harrington notably beat No. 8-ranked Ed Scott, also of NC State, to cap off his weekend.

Despite playing in fewer than five matches during his freshman year, sophomore Matt Walsh defeated No. 20 Brian Soldano of Rutgers in his opening match of the weekend. The Massachusetts native then fell in his second and third matches to No. 5 Edmund Ruth and teammate Dylan Connell, both of the University of Illinois.

The Crimson will be back in action, again in Pennsylvania, on Sunday, November 24 when wrestlers compete at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia.

—Editor Sydney Farnham can be contacted at [email protected].