After shuffling betweenweight classes again, O'Donnell had been asked to fill the void in his weight class created by the departure of All-American Joey Killar '00. Although O'Donnell had produced several solid contributions for the Crimson, his 2000-2001 season had been inconsistent on the whole.

Against Heskett, he turned in the match of his life. Up 4-3 in the second half, O'Donnell suffered a 5-point reversal that found him flat on his back and suddenly behind, 8-4. Faced with the daunting challenge of coming back from four points in under a half, O'Donnell somehow found a way to force overtime.

"He was right there the whole match," Volpe said. "He got caught in a move late, but never gave up."

O'Donnell found resiliency in the opportunity to accomplish something special.

"Just being in it that late in the match is what really drove me," O'Donnell said. "You don't get a lot of chances to face someone of [Heskett's] caliber."

Harvard lost the dual match against Iowa State 29-7, fell to Oklahoma 27-15, and lost to Nebraska 21-13. However, Volpe feels that the team proved it could compete against the nation's best.

"Even though we came out of Dallas with three losses, this prepares us for the EIWA and Ivy League seasons," Volpe said. "A lot of other teams we go up against don't get to face this kind of competition every week. That's why we go to places like Dallas and prepare, with the hopes of peaking in March."