Certainly the achievements haven’t come easily. Both co-captains missed significant time due to knee injuries over their careers, with Caputo even withdrawing for a semester to preserve his senior status. And it took John O’Connor a long time to warm to the idea of his son in a perpetual headlock.

“I was concerned about the physical nature [of wrestling] and some of the weight aspects,” said John, a former basketball player. “We just wanted him to be able to stay healthy and injury-free. It’s not necessarily a sport that’s easy to do that in.”

But his son managed to stay on his feet through an undefeated senior season, capping his campaign with something every sportswriter dreams to write about—a hard-fought win for the national championship.

And though only one got to walk away with the trophy, both Caputo and O’Connor leave their names in the record books, and, much more importantly, a legacy that will motivate Harvard grapplers for years to come.

“They’re an inspiration in the room each day,” Hogue said. “[O’Connor and Caputo] are both so successful with the same circumstances, the same training room, that everyone else has. It’s a reminder that if you work hard and are determined, everything is possible.”

For the Crimson co-captains, it seems the journey was well worth it.

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.