Even so, virtually all of the fans chose to stay to witness the match between local hero Jesse Jantzen, the fifth-ranked 149-pounder in the country, and No. 14 Jason DeBruin. Jantzen, who went undefeated throughout his high school career and was the first four-time state champion in New York history, did not disappoint his supporters, winning 6-4.

Harvard 33, Sacred Heart 7

Earlier in the day, Harvard had prepared for the Hofstra meet with a decisive victory over Sacred Heart (5-6, 1-2 CAA).

“The Sacred Heart match was something that we used in our minds to give us the momentum we needed going into the Hofstra match,” O’Donnell said.

Despite the score, however, the Crimson was not wholly satisfied with the result.

“We went into Scared Heart and we knew they weren’t as good a team as we were. I think maybe that had something to do with a performance that was not the best we could have done. I think maybe we underestimated some weight classes,” Rechul said.

Indeed, Griffin came out slowly in the day’s first match before securing a 9-7 victory in overtime.

“It’s always tough leading off the match because you weigh in an hour before the match starts, so you have less time to recover,” O’Donnell said.

“That’s just something that comes with the territory of starting a match. I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore after he did it twice this weekend,” Rechul added.

Following Corl’s loss to No. 15 Anthony Reynolds, the second consecutive Harvard loss up to that point, Rechul came out to face John Miller.

“I just went out there and I kind of figured the team needed a little wake-up call,” Rechul said.

That was exactly what Rechul provided, pinning Miller in just 60 seconds with his signature “crab-ride” maneuver.

“He’s just that dominating right now,” Kaufmann said.

Next weekend, the Crimson takes on Ivy rivals Penn—which traditionally fields one of the best teams in the EIWA—and Princeton, as well as Boston College. This week, the team will be working on its shot defense and scoring earlier in the match, in preparation not only for the upcoming weekend, but also for the end-of-season tournaments that loom even larger than Phil’s shadow.