At one time the Harvard Crimson had a very respectable wrestling program. From the 2001-2002 season through the 2011-2012 season a period of 11 years Harvard produced 14 All Americans and 2 National Champions. Since that time they have yet to put another wrestler back on the award stand at the NCAA's and they have had two seasons (2015 & 2019) in the past 7 seasons where they didn't even qualify a wrestler to the national tournament. (Not counting 2021, because it wasn't their fault the Ivy League decided not to participate.) I've been wondering for a while now, "When is Harvard wrestling going to get out of the slump they're in, and make a comeback?"
You gotta start somewhere, and I think somewhere is 2021-2022. I can see Harvard having up to 4 NCAA qualifiers and I think 2 of them stand a real shot at All American honors. Within the EIWA, I think one has a shot at a title and another a very good shot at runner-up honors.
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| 141 Michael Jaffe Junior Record: 19-17 EIWA: 20'8th MIDLANDS: 20'R12 |
Going out on a limb here, but if the EIWA has enough allocations at 141, I can see Jaffe being the type to come in and steal a spot. I'm not giving it a high probability but I am giving it a chance.
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| 149 A.J. Jaffe Senior Record: 55-28 EIWA: 17'7th, 18'5th |
I actually think that Jaffe stands a rather good shot at NCAA qualification this season and honestly had Harvard participated in NCAA wrestling last year, I think he would have qualified last season as well. Jaffe owns some impressive victories thus far in his career including a 3-2 win over P.J. Ogunsanya of Army and a 16-4 major decision over Jimmy Hoffman of Lehigh.
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| 165 Philip Conigliaro Junior Record: 33-8 NCAA: 20'NQ EIWA: 20'3rd |
Conigliaro stands a very good shot at winning an EIWA conference title for the Crimson this season. His toughest competition will be Zach Hartman of Bucknell who he is 1-1 with. He defeated Hartman 7-3 & then lost to him in sudden victory. Should prove to be an exciting finals. With that said, Conigliaro is a legitimate threat to AA as well.
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| HWT Yaraslau Slavilouski Junior Record: 30-8 NCAA: 20'NQ EIWA: 20'2nd CKLV: 20'R12 MIDLANDS: 20'4th |
Other than Jordan Wood of Lehigh, there isn't anyone in the EIWA that Slavilouski hasn't beaten or can't beat. Earning a second EIWA runner-up finish should be no problem for the native of Belarus. Like Conigliaro, he is a legitimate threat to AA.
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125 - DNQ
133 - DNQ
141 - Giving it a chance of NQ
149 - NQ
157 - DNQ
165 - All American
174 - DNQ
184 - DNQ
197 - DNQ
HWT - All American
May not look like much on paper, but honestly 4 qualifiers and 2 All Americans would be a great start in revamping the Crimson wrestling program. I would love to see Harvard get to the status that they were from 2002 through 2012, where they were producing at least one All American every season.
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