The tournament hosted some of the best teams in the nation, as 11 of the field’s participating teams earned spots in the top 25.

Such tough competition has been typical of the Crimson’s early-season tournaments, and the pattern will continue when Harvard participates in the Midlands Championships in Illinois at the end of December.

Harvard missed the presence of some of its top wrestlers, including co-captain Walter Peppelman, who has posted two consecutive eighth-place finishes in the NCAA tournament. Sophomore James Fox, who was ranked 20th in his weight class at the beginning of the season, also missed the competition.

Although Weiss has observed progress in his team’s overall performance in the opening month of the season, he nevertheless is eager to see what his squad can do at full strength.

“It’s frustrating because we literally have four starters out of the lineup,” Weiss said. “I know how good we can be with those guys in the lineup…. I think [our success] hinges on getting our guys healthy.”

While Harvard’s top lineup has not yet been able to take to the mat, the trip to Las Vegas provided the team with another chance to assess itself at the start of nearly a month-long break before its next tournament.

“It’s still early in the season, so we can get a feel for where we’re at and where we need to go,” Weiss said. “I think our team’s better; I feel a lot of confidence in my guys. So I think we can do better, and we will do better.”