“[Right now] I’m really focusing on day-to-day things, not really big goals,” Griffin said. “They’ll come at the end of the year.”

Odom, who took last year off to recover from shoulder surgery, recently re-injured the same shoulder.

“We were excited to bring Max back from last year’s [time off],” Weiss said. “But we’re very cautious on that shoulder. It’s a pretty extensive surgery.”

Odom’s status for the remainder of the season has yet to be determined.

“We have to be healthy at the beginning of the season—that’s what we’re training for,” said co-captain Nicholas Picarsic (157 lbs.), who suffered a concussion during preseason.

Junior PJ Jones (174/184 lbs.) and sophomore Eddie Jones (174/184 lbs.) are also ailing.

“Injuries are a big thing that we’re tasting a lot of right now,” Weiss said. “When we’re healthy, I’ll put our lineup against anyone’s.”

But until the Crimson is back at full strength, other Harvard wrestlers will have to fill in, including two freshmen, Max Meltzer and Daniel Jones.

“That kid Max Metzler is gonna be a big part of our team,” Weiss said.

Metzler (133 lbs.) finished third in the 2002 Junior Olympics.

Jones (174/184 lbs.) is the other freshman expected to start in this weekend’s opening tournament for Harvard. He joins brother Eddie Jones and PJ Jones (unrelated) in competition for the spot at 184 lbs.

“We’re all Jonesed up up top,” Weiss said.

Another exciting addition to Harvard’s squad is assistant coach Brian Snyder, a star wrestler from Nebraska.

“He’s been running a lot of our practices,” Griffin said. “They’ve been a little shorter than in years past, but they’ve been a little bit more intense.”

Snyder was a standout at Nebraska, advancing to the national final twice. On his second trip, in 2002, he suffered his only loss of the season against 33 wins, 5-4 in a tie break.

With so much news buzzing around the team, the Crimson is remarkably calm about its season-opening tournament, the East Stroudsburg Invitational.

“You don’t want to concentrate on the outcome,” Weiss said. “You want to make sure everyone is wrestling hard and this is going to be the first time in a long time the guys are going to compete, so there are going to be mistakes.”

The first true test for Harvard will come at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, where several top teams from around the nation will be competing.

“[That’s] where we want to peak first semester,” Weiss said.