It was Freiburg who had the better of the early stages, despite seeing less of the ball. Jan-Niklas Beste was only denied by some last-ditch defending from Alejandro Grimaldo, who had to be at full stretch to turn away a dangerous driven cross from Yuito Suzuki.
Hearts were then in Leverkusen mouths when Robert Andrich was called into emergency action after goalkeeper Janis Blaswich could only parry, but the referee waved away penalty appeals.
Grifo was the one to find the breakthrough for the Breisgau-Brasilianer in the 34th minute, and though it wasn’t exactly a moment of high quality, the Italy international has the knack of being in the right place at the right time.
His scuffed finish was his 105th goal for the club, moving him alongside Nils Petersen as joint all-time top scorer.
But that was the signal for the game to spark dramatically into life, and Christian Kofane found an equaliser in no time at all, sweeping a first-time effort into the corner from the edge of the box.
The hosts then quickly restored their lead, with Suzuki applying the finish after a really smart Igor Matanović dummy, but Grimaldo still had time for the last word of a breathless half with a trademark free-kick to make it 2-2.
Die Werkself carried that momentum into the second half, and Martin Terrier gave them the lead for the first time in the 52nd minute with a smart run and finish for his first Bundesliga goal since December.
Noah Atubolu may feel he could have done more at his near post, but he stood strong moments later to deny Kofane from close range. Freiburg hung in there, and Johan Manzambi came close to restoring parity after a slaloming run, but could not quite find the finish to match.
Freiburg’s hopes looked to be fading, yet with minutes to play, an unlikely source delivered, as Matthias Ginter popped up in the box to level the contest with his second goal in three games.
And it could have got even better for the hosts when Ginter found the net again in the final stages, only to be denied by the offside flag to ensure the contest ended all square.
The result means Freiburg have now gone 16 home games without defeat, stretching back to the opening day of the season. They stay eighth, with Leverkusen losing more ground in the top-four race.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yuito Suzuki (SC Freiburg)