Whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Saturday, the Harvard wrestling team knew on Friday it had only six weekends to build momentum for the EIWA Championships at Lehigh Mar. 9 and 10. While Phil was getting some rays, the team handily defeated Sacred Heart, 33-7, before being edged out 24-18 by No. 22 Hofstra later that evening.

Hofstra 24, Harvard 18

Normally, one might think that getting off a bus to wrestle one’s second match of the day against a fresh home team supported by an estimated 2,000 fans would be disheartening. The Crimson (3-4, 1-1 EIWA), though, was significantly more prepared to wrestle upon arriving in Hempstead, N.Y., than the circumstances would suggest. Indeed, Harvard had earlier weighed-in at Fairfield, so the wrestlers had plenty of time to eat and hydrate themselves. Furthermore, co-captain Dawid Rechul and sophomore Jesse Jantzen, both native Long Islanders, had brought their own contingent of supporters.

“We channeled the crowd to our advantage,” said No. 12 Rechul.

The meet began with three pivotal, “toss-up matches” at 157, 165, and 174 pounds. Although junior Robbie Griffin and sophomore P. J. Jones lost the first and third by decision, 7-3 and 3-2, respectively, those two losses were sandwiched around junior Pat O’Donnell’s defensive pin of No. 20 John Garriques at 4:09.

“When Pat is on bottom, he’s the offensive wrestler,” co-captain Kevin El-Hayek said.

At 184, with junior Reggie Lee still unable to compete due to an ankle sprain, the Crimson trotted out sophomore Brandon Kaufmann, who normally wrestles at 157 pounds and thus, by league rules, has to weigh-in at that weight every meet. Outweighed by over 25 pounds, Kaufmann was not expected to win; his day would be a success if he could stay within seven and only concede three points to the Pride (7-6, 1-0 CAA), rather than four for a major decision or six for a pin.

“I’m looking for the win, if possible, but also trying to minimize the score and keep it as close as possible,” Kaufmann said. “All it is is trying to slow down the pace of the match and not let it get out of hand.”

Ultimately, he did just that, falling 7-1.

Hofstra then extended its lead to 14-6 as No. 9 Chris Skretkowicz beat freshman Jonas Corl 16-0 at 197 pounds. Despite the loss, Corl, who was unexpectedly thrust into a starting role this year when senior Bradley Soltis chose to focus on his thesis, has a bright future ahead of him.

“He’s got the tools; he’s got the arsenal,” Rechul said. “He doesn’t have the key to access that arsenal, but I think that will come with experience and confidence.”

After a 10-minute halftime, Rechul dominated Hofstra heavyweight Matt Daddino, registering over three minutes of riding time in his 9-2 victory. However, Hofstra had scouted Rechul’s pinning combination and Rechul was unable to vary it sufficiently to record the pin.

After 125-pounder David Germakian lost to No. 16 Tom Noto by major decision, El-Hayek, whose practice time this week was limited by injury, took a 5-0 lead before pinning his 133-pound opponent, energizing the Crimson and bringing the team within three at 18-15.

At 141 pounds, Jonathan Mankovich led with only 90 seconds remaining and things looked bright for Harvard. Unfortunately, his Pride opponent pulled what Rechul referred to as a “funky move” and caught Mankovich in a defensive pin, securing the win for Hofstra.

“It’s the second week in a row that we were in a position to win late in the match and things didn’t go our way,” Coach Jay Weiss said.