“I don’t think we wrestled to the absolute best of our potential,” Grimaldi said. “There’s a couple little things everyone could have fixed. That being said, everyone put up a hard fight, but it showed us that we still have a lot to learn.”

Sophomore Max Mejia was the first of the Crimson squad to fall, as Penn’s Jeremy Schwartz outmaneuvered him at the 125-lb weight class to kick off the contest.

This early deficit for Harvard was widened as sophomore Jeffrey Ott lost to Penn’s Ken Bade. Ott gained the initial lead with a takedown and reversal early in the first period, but this momentum quickly turned as Bade registered his own reversal and managed to pin the sophomore on his back to register the fall. With this, Bade took the win 9-0, bringing the Crimson’s team score to 0-9 as well.

Preston broke the losing streak for Harvard, as the first of the Crimson to get on the scoreboard. After a final takedown, Preston managed to notch the decision over Jeff Canfora, 6-2, in the 141-lb weight class.

Another standout performance came from Fox, who registered his tenth victory of the season against Penn’s Frank Mattiace in a decision, 5-3.

Penn’s team was anchored by two nationally ranked wrestlers, No.19 Casey Kent and No. 10 Lorenzo Thomas, each of whom registered crucial wins for the Quakers.

—Staff writer Jillian Dukes can be reached at jdukes01@college.harvard.edu.