Jay Weiss<\/a>, who is in his 16th season at Harvard. \u201cIt was a difficult year for the guys. But I think everyone\u2019s pretty fired up right now, which is good because hopefully it\u2019s going to carry on to spring and summer of next year.\u201d<\/p>\nFor the two-time All-American seniors, it\u2019s their fourth trip to the NCAAs, and their final run. There are high expectations for the co-captains, particularly with O\u2019Connor coming into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and Caputo the eight-seed. O\u2019Connor finished the regular season undefeated, 30-0, while Caputo completed the year 22-3.<\/p>\n
Starting Thursday (March 18) morning, O\u2019Connor opened the tournament with an impressive 15-2 first-round win, and followed that up with an 8-1 win against his second-round opponent to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Caputo, who won his first matchup, 5-2, but dropped his second by the same score, will continue to wrestle for a third-place finish today, aiming for a shot at All-American status. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class are crowned All-Americans.<\/p>\n
The 125-pound grappler Keith, who entered the tournament unseeded two weeks after placing third in the EIWA Championships, is just the 10th Harvard wrestler under Weiss to qualify for the national championships as a freshman. Facing tough competition in his first two tournament matches, the newcomer lost both to end an impressive rookie season. Despite the losses, it is clear that with the departure of the two senior co-captains, Keith represents Harvard wrestling of the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteven\u2019s inspiring,\u201d said Caputo. \u201cHe has a fire and tenacity that\u2019s not in most freshmen. I look forward to following him in years to come, and I couldn\u2019t be more thrilled for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely learned a lot from Steven, watching the way he competes, watching the way he lives his life, and he\u2019s just doing everything right all the time, and it pushes me to be a better captain, a better person, a better wrestler,\u201d said O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n
Although familiar with success \u2014 Keith was a Junior National and two-time state champion in high school \u2014 the rookie turned heads this season with a 20-11 record, and exceeded all expectations, including his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing into the season, I talked with my parents about what I should expect for the upcoming year, and we agreed that maybe just over a .500 season with a good shot of placing somewhere in the EIWAs\u201d was the goal, said Keith. The Shoreham, N.Y., native made a stunning run in the EIWA tournament, knocking off the No. 3 and No. 2 seeds to claim third place and an NCAA Championships berth.<\/p>\n
And for O\u2019Connor and Caputo, no matter how they finish, they will go down as two of the greatest wrestlers Harvard has ever seen. They will both finish in the top three for career wins and have a chance at becoming three-time All-Americans, which has only been done once at Harvard, by Jesse Jantzen \u201904, 2002-04.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a coach can coach somebody like them once every 10 to 15 years. I have two of them at the same time,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cThey are phenomenal people, and I can honestly say they\u2019re two of my really good friends. I just want the best for them. They\u2019ve put their time in, they\u2019ve raised the bar of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the sport \u2026 I wanted to take that one more opportunity to compete, to do the sport I love, and to represent Harvard,\u201d said Caputo, who finished undefeated in Ivy League competition this season. \u201cMy time here has been fantastic, and I love competing for Harvard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year I have a confidence I really don\u2019t think I\u2019ve had in the past,\u201d said O\u2019Connor. \u201cI developed a motto for this season with one of my coaches: Just no regrets. \u2026\u00a0 This year has been a year of recognizing that, and trying to take that love for the sport and the passion, and allow myself to wrestle to my potential and get it done, bringing a national title back to Cambridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Closing in on the national title, the No. 1-seeded O\u2019Connor is already the first Crimson athlete to be named Ivy Wrestler of the Year twice (2008, 2010), and he would be the first ever at Harvard to finish an entire season undefeated.<\/p>\n
\u201cJ.P. was a natural leader coming in as a freshman,\u201d said Caputo. \u201cHe was the most successful freshman in Harvard history, and he\u2019s been an unbelievable inspiration in the wrestling room every day. \u2026 He has a competitive drive that\u2019s unparalleled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on a lot of teams, and there\u2019s been no one quite like J.P. as far as drive and mental toughness. I couldn\u2019t have been happier for him this season. He\u2019s getting everything he deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although all three are clearly gifted wrestlers, Weiss and his coaching staff have been significant factors in their success.<\/p>\n
In his time at Harvard, Weiss has coached 50 NCAA qualifiers, 15 EIWA champions, 15 All-Americans, an NCAA champion, and an NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler. That\u2019s certainly no accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the day I got here, coach Weiss was like a father figure to me. I respect him, care about him, and love him like I do my own parents. That\u2019s how much he means to me,\u201d said O\u2019Connor. \u201cA big thing with coach is development of character and development of the person, and I think that\u2019s something that I got here that I definitely wouldn\u2019t have gotten anywhere else in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so for the seniors, the end of the tournament marks the conclusion of two unforgettable careers at Harvard. For the freshman, it\u2019s just the beginning. And when the dust settles, it won\u2019t be the Crimson\u2019s two wins that will be the story of the 2009-10 season, but the three Harvard wrestlers who spent their spring break in Omaha representing Harvard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For three Harvard wrestlers, spring break means one thing: Omaha, Neb. Traveling to the heartland of America, Louis Caputo \u201910, J.P. O\u2019Connor \u201910, and Steven Keith \u201913 are competing at this year\u2019s NCAA Wrestling Championships, with aspirations of returning to Cambridge as All-Americans and national champions in each of their weight classes. Mostly, it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}