"Dawid wrestled some great matches," Volpe said. "He had a great weekend."

While the team's performance in Iowa was disappointing, Volpe thought his team enjoyed a successful year, on the whole.

"We accomplished a lot this year," Volpe said. "We set the bar higher for the future of this program."

Indeed, if viewed from neutral glasses at the beginning of the year, Harvard's season would stand out as a first-rate success. Six Harvard wrestlers qualified for the NCAAs. The Crimson won the Ivy League title, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Assocation (EIWA) championship, and the EIWA's sportsmanship award.

Harvard Coach Jay Weiss was named EIWA Coach of the Year, Picarsic and Rechul won individual EIWA titles, and Rechul was the most outstanding wrestler of the EIWA tournament. With all that success, many Crimson wrestling fans had on rose-colored glasses when they assessd their team's chances at the NCAAs.

"It's a really tough tourney," Volpe said. "You need to be really on top of your game."

Volpe felt that, despite the opening-round losses, the team's performance at Nationals was a success.