Crimson Tabbed 15th in WIN Preseason Poll; Caputo and OConnor Land in Top Five
Photo of Louis Caputo, David G. Bunning '88 Head Coach for Harvard Wrestling Jay Weiss and J.P. O'Connor courtesy of DSPICS.com.
The Harvard wrestling team is tied for 15th in Wrestling Insider
Newsmagazine’s 2009-10 Preseason Tournament Power Index and
has two grapplers ranked in the top five in their respective weight
classes announced by WIN Monday.
The Crimson was the second Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling
Association (EIWA) and Ivy League team on the list behind No. 3
Cornell. Harvard returns a pair two-time All-Americans in senior
captains Louis Caputo and J.P. O’Connor. Both grapplers are
also ranked in the top five at 184 and 157 pounds,
respectively.
Caputo, who finished eighth at the 2009 NCAA Championships, is
ranked fifth at 184 pounds. The Blue Springs, Mo., native compiled
a 34-8 record last winter and became the fifth Harvard wrestler to
record 100 career wins. He is one of three two-time All-Americans
in program history after accomplishing the feat as a sophomore in
2007. Caputo will begin competing for the Crimson in the second
semester
O’Connor, who was the first freshman in Crimson history to
earn All-America honors as a rookie, just missed earning
All-America selection for the third-straight year in 2009. The
Oxford, N.Y., native is ranked fourth at 157 pounds. Last year, he
compiled a 32-4 overall record, earned unanimous first-team All-Ivy
League honors and made his third-straight EIWA Championship final.
He begins the season just three wins shy of 100 career
victories.
The Tournament Power Index (TPI) is compiled by awarding points to
each team for the ranked wrestlers listed in WIN’s current
individual rankings. Teams are awarded points based on how many
potential All-Americans they could have and get advancement points
for wrestlers ranked Nos. 9-20. The order of teams in the TPI
varies greatly from dual meet rankings, as some teams have a number
of highly ranked individuals but may have holes in their dual meet
line-up.
Harvard begins its season Nov. 15 at the Binghamton Open.
