Wrestling 2015-16

Chris's topic looked like it was focused on NCAA tix, so I thought a string dedicated to the season made sense. For a team that returns so much talent, there are a lot of changes. I think only one guy returns at his weight from last year.

125 This going to be Dalton Macri (Fr.). Dalton could be the next great CU lightweight, he's ranked and has yet to take the mat.

133 Three time All-American Nahshon Garrett (Sr.) moves up a weight. Nahshon really struggled to make weight last year; he's going to be a contender for a title at this weight.

141 Mark Grey (Jr.) will move up to what is probably his natural weight. He started at 141 last year, but dropped down when no other 133 pound guy stepped up. If he's healthy, he could be very good -- but that has been a big problem. Backing up Mark are Dylan Realbuto (So.) Rob's kid Will (Fr.) and several others.

149 Chris Villalonga has graduated as an All-American. The guy to watch is Joey Galasso (Fr.) who looked great wrestling for the Finger Lakes club. Taylor Simaz (Jr.) is likely the best upperclassman. Early tournaments will settle this.

157 National runner-up Brian Realbuto is up two weights, opening up this weight. The plan seems to be to have Dylan Palacio (Jr.) drop down from 165. Dylan is a two-time national qualifier and one of the most exciting wrestlers on the team (in the sense no one, even Dylan, knows what he will do next). Chris Dowdy (Sr.) has been rock solid and gives the team depth, plus two freshman could earn starts (Jon Jay Chavez and Kyle Simaz). But Dylan is the favorite.

165 Duke Pickett (Sr.) drops down from 174 for his final season. Duke will be pushed by a trio of freshman (Dillon Artigliere, Drew Garcia and Brandon Womack), but every time I've assumed someone would knock Duke out of the starting line-up, Duke has proved me wrong. So, I'm not making that prediction any more.

174 Brian Realbuto (Jr.) makes the rare two weight class jump. He's already ranked in the top 5. Yes, he's that good.

184 Gabe Dean (Jr.). The Bear is the best in the nation.

197 Jace Bennett has graduated, so this weight is wide open. Owen Scott (Jr.) seems to be the favorite, but Jacob Taylor (So.) earned starts at 174 last year and if Steve Congenie (Jr.) heals he could be in the mix. There will be a lot of shuffling here in the early season.

285 Jeramy Sweany (Fr.) will almost certainly start as a freshman for the first semester. National qualifier Jacob Aiken Phillips (Sr.) will then return for his final semester and the two will try to the right to start at the EIWA tournament.

The team is a prohibitive favorite in the Ivies, but Lehigh will make a tenth straight EIWA title a challenge (Cornell is probably a very slight favorite right now). If everyone stays healthy (won't happen, it never does, this is a brutal sport), 7.5 weights are set. The season kind of opens with the Bearcat Open next weekend; most of the team will be there by "unattached" so that the tournament doesn't count toward the number of permissible dates.

OK maybe I won't write a season preview. Thanks, mountainred.

No problem. We ILR grads have to stick together.

The first action for the team - though sort of kind of unofficial - was at the Kaloust Bearcat open, hosted by Binghamton.

This is a strange tournament for a lot of reasons, most notably, we technically weren't there as a team. The wrestlers are officially "unattached", wrestling of their own accord. I think this has to do with Ivy League or NCAA rules but it is unclear. In any event, it didn't look like the red singlets were on site. Also, the tournament is not only for college wrestlers - the farm team at Finger Lakes Wrestling Club sent a number of wrestlers as well. Finally, it is a massive tournament for a one day event - theoretically a wrestler could have as many as 10 matches. We sent multiple wrestlers in a lot of weight classes as a way of getting mat time for everyone as well as having real competition at the weights that aren't yet set in stone.

Lehigh also ssnt wrestlers to the event but, unlike Cornell, they've already had at least one dual so they held back some of their starters since they don't need to shake off the rust. It was a shame because I wanted to see at least returning AA Beckman at 133 and returning finalist Brown at 184.

We sent wrestlers in 9 weight classes and took 5 titles: Nahshon Garrett, in his first real action at 133; Chris Dowdy, in a bit of a surprise at 157, though he won this tournament last year as well; Duke Pickett after coming down to 167; Brian Realbuto after his jump to 174; and of course Gabe Dean at 184, who cruised through the bracket. Jake Taylor finished 2d at 197, which was cool.

Notable matches: at 174, returning finalist Brian Realbuto, jumping up from 157, faced Lehigh's Elliott Riddick, dropping down from 197. Realbuto won 1-0, which is not surprising because Riddick is boring as hell. Dean blew away Thomas, a top 5 wrestler from Penn. He always beats Thomas but it's usually close. Not yesterday.

There were also some very good results from the freshmen: Joey Galasso lost early to Longo (Lehigh) at 149, but got him back in the consolation rounds and finished in third. Dillon Artiglierre finished in fourth at 167, though I think he'd win going away in a rematch against the Binghamton guy who beat him in the third place match. Will Koll finished in 5th and had some very good results as well - only one loss on the mat and a forfeit late in the day.* Jeramy Sweaney finished in 3d at Heavyweight.

Not so great: Mark Grey in his first action at 141 got whipped by a (very good, apparently) wrestler from Navy Prep. He then medically defaulted out of the tournament. Owen Scott went 2-0 at 197 and then dropped out of the tournament.

Overall a very good first week.

* Take these placements with a grain of salt. Because of the meaninglessness and length of the tournament wrestlers were forfeiting all over the place for all kinds of reasons. A lot of the advancement through the consolation brackets was by forfeit.

My two cents: The known studs (Nahshon, Realbuto, and Dean) all looked like studs even though two moved up weights. Duke looked great at 165; he was aggressive and never really threatened after his first match. He may make a big move up the rankings in his senior year.

Recruit and grey shirt Jimmy Overhiser of Lansing also had a good day. He finished 3-2, with an OT loss and a 1-0 loss to a pair of solid wrestlers.

Hot take: Will Koll gets more starts at 141 than Mark Grey. And it turns out okay for the team. (I like Mark, but if ever a wrestler needed a year off to get healthy, it's Mark).

mountainred
Hot take: Will Koll gets more starts at 141 than Mark Grey. And it turns out okay for the team. (I like Mark, but if ever a wrestler needed a year off to get healthy, it's Mark).

Agreed but this is a bummer. I was very happy with Will Koll's performance - had to make his dad pleased as hell too - but Grey at his best can challenge for AA. Alas, he is rarely at his best. Kind of feel the same way about his big brother.

ugarte

mountainred
Hot take: Will Koll gets more starts at 141 than Mark Grey. And it turns out okay for the team. (I like Mark, but if ever a wrestler needed a year off to get healthy, it's Mark).

Agreed but this is a bummer. I was very happy with Will Koll's performance - had to make his dad pleased as hell too - but Grey at his best can challenge for AA. Alas, he is rarely at his best. Kind of feel the same way about his big brother.

I watched the Koll match where he TF'd the kid from Army and, oddly enough, it made me nervous. It was good to see that Koll is apparently strong, but it seemed like the Army kid got to his leg pretty easily, just couldn't finish and Koll turned all of the Army shots into points.

Cornell wins its first dual of the season 37-3. Chris Dowdy and Brian Realbuto win by fall. Solid start.

mountainred
Cornell wins its first dual of the season 37-3. Chris Dowdy and Brian Realbuto win by fall. Solid start.

We were expected to beat Drexel in most of the matches and we did. We got a lot of bonus points too, and won two of the three that were up for grabs.

125: Macri wins his first official Cornell match 3-2 (3-0 Cornell)
133: Garrett rolls to a Technical Fall (8-0 Cornell)
141: Koll continues to impress with a MD (12-0 Cornell)
149: The match that looked to be the toughest, was, as Galasso loses to NCAA qualifier Cimato (12-3 Cornell)
157: Dowdy looks like he's going to make Palacio work to get back into the starting lineup when he comes back from his surgery. First period pin. (18-3 Cornell)
165: Pickett looks good at his new weight. (21-3 Cornell)
174: As does Realbuto, who won by fall. (27-3 Cornell)
184: Dean cruises to a major decision. (31-3 Cornell)
197: Taylor with a comfortable win (34-3 Cornell)
Hwt: Sweany wins a close one, 4-3. (37-3 Cornell)

Tomorrow the guys who didn't wrestle today are in the NYS Championships (for in-state colleges) - a bracketed tournament, not a dual. We'll have multiple entries at a bunch of weights. The tournament is being held at Barton if anyone on campus is reading this.

Cornell dominated the NYS Championships on Sunday, as expected. There was an "A" bracket for the first team and those competing for it as well as an Open B bracket to get mat time for the reserves and guys who serve mostly as practice partners. The tournament is not very deep - most of the competition is below Division I - so it isn't a surprise that we dominate, but Binghamton, Hofstra and Army send their team as well.

125: Macri MFF'd out of the final with only a blip against a Binghamton wrestler on the way. He faltered early but won going away.
133: Garrett cruised to the title - WBF WBF MD WBF
141: Li'l Buto with a 7-6 win over Li'l Koll in the final. Great showing at the weight for the Red. Probably gets Dylan Realbuto the starting nod until Grey gets back.
149: Simaz finished in 6th with a 2-3 record and losses to Army, Cortland and Jamestown CC. Yeesh.
165: Pickett with a close win in the final, 3-2 over Columbia. TF MD MD MD before that though.
174: Big 'buto cruised to the finals, WBF, WBF, MD before a comfortable 8-3 win over Army in the final.
184: Dean is Dean. WBF WBF TF. The only theoretical competition was in the finals and it was a takedown clinic.
197: Taylor finished in third with his only loss to 3x NCAA qualifier Bryce Barnes from Army.
Hwt: Sweany MFF'd out of the semis and down to 6th place after pins in his first two matches.

It's unclear how serious any of the injuries are but my assumption is "not very serious". Cornell has not cared much about winning these early season tournaments at the expense of aggravating small injuries into big ones. Unless the guys are out for a while I'm not worried about the MFFs from Macri and Sweany.

In the B bracket, Artigliere cruised to the 165 title (MD MD WBF WBF), Garcia won at 174 and Anderson won at 197. 197 was Cornell-heavy, with Choi and FLWC's Honis tying for third. Also, FLWC's Russo and Overhiser closed out the 133 B bracket final.

ugarte
Cornell dominated the NYS Championships on Sunday, as expected. There was an "A" bracket for the first team and those competing for it as well as an Open B bracket to get mat time for the reserves and guys who serve mostly as practice partners. The tournament is not very deep - most of the competition is below Division I - so it isn't a surprise that we dominate, but Binghamton, Hofstra and Army send their team as well.

125: Macri MFF'd out of the final with only a blip against a Binghamton wrestler on the way. He faltered early but won going away.
133: Garrett cruised to the title - WBF WBF MD WBF
141: Li'l Buto with a 7-6 win over Li'l Koll in the final. Great showing at the weight for the Red. Probably gets Dylan Realbuto the starting nod until Grey gets back.
149: Simaz finished in 6th with a 2-3 record and losses to Army, Cortland and Jamestown CC. Yeesh.
165: Pickett with a close win in the final, 3-2 over Columbia. TF MD MD MD before that though.
174: Big 'buto cruised to the finals, WBF, WBF, MD before a comfortable 8-3 win over Army in the final.
184: Dean is Dean. WBF WBF TF. The only theoretical competition was in the finals and it was a takedown clinic.
197: Taylor finished in third with his only loss to 3x NCAA qualifier Bryce Barnes from Army.
Hwt: Sweany MFF'd out of the semis and down to 6th place after pins in his first two matches.

It's unclear how serious any of the injuries are but my assumption is "not very serious". Cornell has not cared much about winning these early season tournaments at the expense of aggravating small injuries into big ones. Unless the guys are out for a while I'm not worried about the MFFs from Macri and Sweany.

In the B bracket, Artigliere cruised to the 165 title (MD MD WBF WBF), Garcia won at 174 and Anderson won at 197. 197 was Cornell-heavy, with Choi and FLWC's Honis tying for third. Also, FLWC's Russo and Overhiser closed out the 133 B bracket final.

Great summary. The weight shifts by Garrett, Realbuto and Pickett all seem like good moves. This weekend's duals with Nebraska and Rutgers are much bigger tests and (I'm hoping) the the medical forfeits (along with Chris Dowdy's non-appearance) were all precautionary.

Huge bummer as Dylan Palacio has withdrawn from Cornell. Palacio aggravated an injury during the 2015 NCAA tournament at 165, but even while obviously wrestling on one leg was seconds away from beating the #4 wrestler in the country and getting to the podium as an All-American. He was set to wrestle at 157 this year and came into the season ranked #6 in the country but had knee surgery in the offseason and apparently also had a bout of appendicitis as well. He wasn't expected back until next semester but now even that is off the table. It's unclear why he withdrew, but at least he's indicating an intent to return.

Chris Dowdy has been very good in his absence, with wins at both the Binghamton tournament and Drexel duel, so hopefully the fall-off won't be too great, but Palacio is something special.

"Withdrawing" is not the best term to use since it sounds like he has decided to permanently leave Cornell, which is not the case. He is taking a leave of absence to deal with his medical situation. Because he decided to do so in the middle of the semester, he was "withdrawn" from his classes.

With it becoming more and more common place, it's time for the Ivies to come together and find a common sense solution to this nonsense of withdrawing and then re-enrolling in order to preserve eligibility. It serves neither the respective athletic departments or the students to make them jump through these hoops in the name of academic integrity.

Dowdy has looked good, but his ceiling is lower than Dylan's. Palacio was a real threat to make All-American; I'd loved to see Chris to that and it would be a great story, but it's unlikely.

I agree completely with Semsox, but Dylan may not be the best piece of evidence. During his "greyshirt" year -- the year between graduating high school and enrolling at Cornell -- Dylan played soccer at TC3. His case could be an exam question regarding NCAA rules.

Nebraska toying with Cornell early. Sad what injuries seem to have done to Grey the younger.

It was a tough day in the Garden for the Red. Other than the studs (Garrett, Realbuto, and Dean) and freshman Heavy Sweaney, who scored a big upset of Nebraska's heavyweight, it was forgettable day.

Good news on Palacio - Koll says that he'll be back for Spring semester. It will be interesting to see what happens then because Dowdy has been a pleasant surprise at 157 and Duke Pickett is already ranked at 165. As for the rest of the squad *tugs collar*

That was a rough day at the Garden. The top guys - Nahshon Garrett, Brian Realbuto and Gabe Dean - all did what they needed to. Dean's dominance of #5 Dudley and Garrett's easy win over #9 Montoya stand out. There were some other pleasant surprises - Jeramy Sweany beating #13 Chris Jensen and Jake Taylor nearly pulling off the upset over #15 Aaron Studebaker - but all of the good stuff came in the Nebraska dual. There is a scenario where we win that dual (flip the Macri and Taylor matches and we get a pleasant surprise) but Nebraska was better and it never really felt otherwise.

The Rutgers dual was a mess. Macri and Galasso lost matches they should have won. Duke Pickett wasn't very competitive against a closely-ranked opponent; Scott kept trying for back points by misjudging his leverage and ended up getting reversed twice and then made a puzzling strategic call that would have probably cost him the match even if it worked. Even Garrett and Realbuto coasted to easy wins but didn't get bonus points where you would have expected them.

And Mark Grey. Oh boy. I assume this trip was a test for him, to see how his rehab is coming along. The answer is "not well". He had an admittedly tough opponent (though Koll gave him the easier of the two matchups) but early in the match he got taken down and came up limping. He spent the rest of the match futilely trying to go on offense but lacked the speed to finish his attacks or the strength to keep from getting countered. He got his ass whipped. It's a damn shame because he's very good at his best but is perpetually injured.

The three stars will be on the podium. The rest of the team looks like it needs some work. I'm keeping myself calm because we started freshman at 125, 149, 197 and Heavy, so if I look past 2016 it isn't as bleak. But this is going to be a rough tournament past the top 3 if guys don't improve quickly in the Spring.

I really felt bad for Mark, it clearly wasn't there. A healthy Mark is the best option at 141, but I wonder if the smartest call isn't just to shut him down for the season and let him fully heal.

This weekend, Cornell is sending a full slate to Las Vegas for the LV Invitational this weekend and a handful of guys to State College to wrestle "unattached" at the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday.

The LV roster is what the current starting lineup looks like: Macri, Garrett, D. Realbuto, Galasso, Pickett, B. Realbuto, Dean, Taylor, Sweany. Hoping for better results than we saw at MSG. This field will be much tougher than what they saw at the other early season tournaments.

The Nittany Open wrestlers are Koll at 141, Simaz at 157, Artigliere at 165 and Scott at 197. How these guys do will tell us a lot about how deep the bench is.

ugarte
This weekend, Cornell is sending a full slate to Las Vegas for the LV Invitational this weekend and a handful of guys to State College to wrestle "unattached" at the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday.

The LV roster is what the current starting lineup looks like: Macri, Garrett, D. Realbuto, Galasso, Pickett, B. Realbuto, Dean, Taylor, Sweany. Hoping for better results than we saw at MSG. This field will be much tougher than what they saw at the other early season tournaments.

The Nittany Open wrestlers are Koll at 141, Simaz at 157, Artigliere at 165 and Scott at 197. How these guys do will tell us a lot about how deep the bench is.

Macri is apparently injured so he didn't go to Vegas.

Garrett is into the QF
Round of 16 is in progress, Galasso, Pickett, B. Realbuto, Dean and Sweany. Realbuto's match was much closer than expected; he was taken down 3 times but won 8-6.
D. Realbuto and Taylor are still alive in the consolation bracket.

Garrett, BRealbuto and Dean are in the finals. Pickett finished in 5th, Sweany in 8th. DRealbuto, Galasso, Dowdy and Taylor didn't place.

ugarte
Garrett, BRealbuto and Dean are in the finals. Pickett finished in 5th, Sweany in 8th. DRealbuto, Galasso, Dowdy and Taylor didn't place.

Garrett facing the #1-ranked guy nationally at 133.

Edit: Against the defending national champ, Garrett fell behind 7-3 on a 6-point move, then came back for a 14-9 win.

Al DeFlorio

ugarte
Garrett, BRealbuto and Dean are in the finals. Pickett finished in 5th, Sweany in 8th. DRealbuto, Galasso, Dowdy and Taylor didn't place.

Garrett facing the #1-ranked guy nationally at 133.

Edit: Against the defending national champ, Garrett fell behind 7-3 on a 6-point move, then came back for a 14-9 win.

Great evening for the Red.
Nahshon Garrett, as Al noted, beat the defending national champ and current #1 - and it was apparently a thorough, decisive whipping.
Brian Realbuto, facing the #15 wrestler, won by MD 11-1.
Gabe Dean, facing the #12 wrestler, won by MD 15-6.

Those three champs bumped Cornell to second place for the tournament despite not sending a wrestler at 125. We also had the most individual titles.

ugarte

Al DeFlorio

ugarte
Garrett, BRealbuto and Dean are in the finals. Pickett finished in 5th, Sweany in 8th. DRealbuto, Galasso, Dowdy and Taylor didn't place.

Garrett facing the #1-ranked guy nationally at 133.

Edit: Against the defending national champ, Garrett fell behind 7-3 on a 6-point move, then came back for a 14-9 win.

Great evening for the Red.
Nahshon Garrett, as Al noted, beat the defending national champ and current #1 - and it was apparently a thorough, decisive whipping.
Brian Realbuto, facing the #15 wrestler, won by MD 11-1.
Gabe Dean, facing the #12 wrestler, won by MD 15-6.

Those three champs bumped Cornell to second place for the tournament despite not sending a wrestler at 125. We also had the most individual titles.

All three champs were impressive, but Nahshon looks like he's on a mission. Brewer caught Garrett for a six point move on a great counter, but Nahshon was clearly the better wrestler yesterday. He was constantly attacking and lost a takedown that came half a second after horn in the first period.

Freshman Heavy Jeramy Sweaney also had nice tournament, a couple of solid wins and a very respectable 6-4 loss to the #2 guy in the nation. He seemed to hit a wall in the second day, but there's a lot to like here.

mountainred

ugarte

Al DeFlorio

ugarte
Garrett, BRealbuto and Dean are in the finals. Pickett finished in 5th, Sweany in 8th. DRealbuto, Galasso, Dowdy and Taylor didn't place.

Garrett facing the #1-ranked guy nationally at 133.

Edit: Against the defending national champ, Garrett fell behind 7-3 on a 6-point move, then came back for a 14-9 win.

Great evening for the Red.
Nahshon Garrett, as Al noted, beat the defending national champ and current #1 - and it was apparently a thorough, decisive whipping.
Brian Realbuto, facing the #15 wrestler, won by MD 11-1.
Gabe Dean, facing the #12 wrestler, won by MD 15-6.

Those three champs bumped Cornell to second place for the tournament despite not sending a wrestler at 125. We also had the most individual titles.

All three champs were impressive, but Nahshon looks like he's on a mission. Brewer caught Garrett for a six point move on a great counter, but Nahshon was clearly the better wrestler yesterday. He was constantly attacking and lost a takedown that came half a second after horn in the first period.

Freshman Heavy Jeramy Sweaney also had nice tournament, a couple of solid wins and a very respectable 6-4 loss to the #2 guy in the nation. He seemed to hit a wall in the second day, but there's a lot to like here.

As expected, by beating the defending champ, Garrett moved from #4 to #1 in (at least one of) the latest rankings.
EDIT: WIN only moved him up to #2.

Kyle Dake beats David Taylor again to capture Senior National Freestyle Championship.

George64
Kyle Dake beats David Taylor again to capture Senior National Freestyle Championship.

And Taylor crushed Ed Ruth with a 13-0 tech fall on the way to the finals.

Cornell is in 3rd place behind Penn State and Oklahoma State after the first day of the Southern Scuffle. I believe that 16 guys ended up being entered -- Grey and Palacio were not among them. Don't know why.

Going into tomorrow's quarterfinals and consy rounds, we have five wrestlers in the championship bracket (seeding follows name) [Garrett (1), Pickett (3), Brian Realbuto (1), Dean (1) and Sweany (10)] and six still alive in the wrestle-backs [Macri (9), Dylan Realbuto, Galasso, Dowdy, Taylor and Richards].

Quarters start at 9 a.m., semis at 1:30 and finals at 7:00 p.m. with wrestle-backs interspersed.

I'm pretty sure Palacio is out until classes start.

I had assumed the same thing about Dylan until I saw the article on the Athletics website that talked about him being seeded in the tournament.

once the semester ends kids can start playing as 2nd semester guys. one of the fball bowls had a kid play who had to miss the enterire first semester. same for bball i would assume wrestling is the same

dag14
I had assumed the same thing about Dylan until I saw the article on the Athletics website that talked about him being seeded in the tournament.

He was a "preseed" - he may have been registered months ago or they may have drawn up the preliminary seeds before his withdrawal from school on the assumption that if Cornell was coming, he'd be wrestling.

The tournament itself was a bit of a disappointment. As expected, Garrett and Dean cruised to the title. Pickett finished in 6th - a mild disappointment as he was the 3 seed and lost to the #10 and #8 seeds before an injury default in his final match. There were a lot of one point losses throughout the lineup as well. The biggest shock, however, was Brian Realbuto. BReal came into the tournament as the #1 ranked wrestler in the country, cruised into the semifinals and then dropped three straight matches to fall to third place. Brutal.

Still, on the strength of Dean and Garrett's rampage through their brackets, the team took third overall.

Up next is a dual with Missouri. Should be very interesting. And by interesting I mean "we are going to lose this dual but maybe we can get some good individual results along the way."

ugarte
The tournament itself was a bit of a disappointment. As expected, Garrett and Dean cruised to the title. Pickett finished in 6th - a mild disappointment as he was the 3 seed and lost to the #10 and #8 seeds before an injury default in his final match. There were a lot of one point losses throughout the lineup as well. The biggest shock, however, was Brian Realbuto. BReal came into the tournament as the #1 ranked wrestler in the country, cruised into the semifinals and then dropped three straight matches to fall to third place. Brutal.

Still, on the strength of Dean and Garrett's rampage through their brackets, the team took third...

Team finished fourth and Realbuto sixth.

In BReal's defense, his first loss was to a RS freshman who probably was seeded too low who surprised a lot of people on his way to the semi-finals [and maybe even the finals -- I stopped paying attention]. And Brian then lost to the #2 seed who had been upset as well. So while he didn't have a great tournament, he also didn't totally suck. If you recall, Gabe Dean did much the same thing last year at the Las Vegas tournament and look how his year turned out! He has been undefeated since that weekend.

Al DeFlorio

ugarte
The tournament itself was a bit of a disappointment. As expected, Garrett and Dean cruised to the title. Pickett finished in 6th - a mild disappointment as he was the 3 seed and lost to the #10 and #8 seeds before an injury default in his final match. There were a lot of one point losses throughout the lineup as well. The biggest shock, however, was Brian Realbuto. BReal came into the tournament as the #1 ranked wrestler in the country, cruised into the semifinals and then dropped three straight matches to fall to third place. Brutal.

Still, on the strength of Dean and Garrett's rampage through their brackets, the team took third...

Team finished fourth and Realbuto sixth.

"Third" for Realbuto was a typo; I think I checked the team standings before 197. Whoops. Thanks for the corrections.

dag14
In BReal's defense, his first loss was to a RS freshman who probably was seeded too low who surprised a lot of people on his way to the semi-finals [and maybe even the finals -- I stopped paying attention]. And Brian then lost to the #2 seed who had been upset as well. So while he didn't have a great tournament, he also didn't totally suck. If you recall, Gabe Dean did much the same thing last year at the Las Vegas tournament and look how his year turned out! He has been undefeated since that weekend.

PSU's Nickal is very good, to be sure, but Realbuto was leading 7-5 and it all went to hell when he didn't give up an escape and tried an awkward mat return that turned into a reversal. (You can watch it here: [www.flowrestling.org]) Nickal outmuscled him from the top but Realbuto was able to get to his legs; this is going to be a rivalry to watch. Then in his consolation semi against an unranked guy from Penn (who, admittedly, had a great tournament and finished third) - late lead, reversal to his back, couldn't recover. Then in the 5th place match, he had a late lead and was taken down with 9 seconds to go. Just not a very good day.

Last year, Dean's two losses were widely attributed to injury/illness. Not that I wasn't nervous for a few weeks anyway.

ugarte
Up next is a dual with Missouri. Should be very interesting. And by interesting I mean "we are going to lose this dual but maybe we can get some good individual results along the way."

We could have had this one. We lost 18-17. Cornell wrote about it here. I churlishly complained about it here.

Cornell rolled over Harvard this evening, 31-14.
Macri WBF [6-0 Cornell]
Garrett took the day off and we foreited the weight [6-6]
Grey L [9-6 Harvard]
Galasso W [9-9]
K. Simaz L TF [14-9 Harvard]
Dowdy WMD [14-13 Harvard]
Realbuto W TF [18-14 Cornell]
Dean WBF [24-14 Cornell]
Scott MD [28-14 Cornell]
Sweaney W [31-14 Cornell]

I was worried when I saw on Twitter that Garrett had forfeited, so I'm glad it was just a matter of giving him a breather.

scoop85
I was worried when I saw on Twitter that Garrett had forfeited, so I'm glad it was just a matter of giving him a breather.

I assume that is the case but I don't know for sure. There certainly wasn't any indication of an injury after the Missouri dual and no whispers on the wrestling forum.

I have no information as to why Garrett did not wrestle but if it was indeed to give him a day off, why didn't someone else wrestle in his place? He can't be the only guy in his weight class given the number guys on the team.

dag14
I have no information as to why Garrett did not wrestle but if it was indeed to give him a day off, why didn't someone else wrestle in his place? He can't be the only guy in his weight class given the number guys on the team.

He is; we don't have backups at 125 or 133. He had the day off again today. Speculation was he was given the weekend off so that he wouldn't have to cut to 133 twice in a weekend for the separate duals.

Despite the forfeit at 133, Cornell rolled again, beating Brown 30-14.

ugarte

dag14
I have no information as to why Garrett did not wrestle but if it was indeed to give him a day off, why didn't someone else wrestle in his place? He can't be the only guy in his weight class given the number guys on the team.

He is; we don't have backups at 125 or 133.

That must make practice quite a pain.

marty

ugarte

dag14
I have no information as to why Garrett did not wrestle but if it was indeed to give him a day off, why didn't someone else wrestle in his place? He can't be the only guy in his weight class given the number guys on the team.

He is; we don't have backups at 125 or 133.

That must make practice quite a pain.

We have a LOT of decent but not great 141s. I figure that's who the little guys work out with but I have no insider knowledge.

The match report in IJ said that Garrett actually missed the weekend with a minor injury but he is apparently expected back for our (important!) dual with Lehigh on Saturday. Lehigh has a very solid team this year and is probably *gasp* a slight favorite. We can win but we need to be at full strength with good results at the close weights, especially since there aren't many places where we can count on bonus points.

ugarte
The match report in IJ said that Garrett actually missed the weekend with a minor injury but he is apparently expected back for our (important!) dual with Lehigh on Saturday. Lehigh has a very solid team this year and is probably *gasp* a slight favorite. We can win but we need to be at full strength with good results at the close weights, especially since there aren't many places where we can count on bonus points.

Garrett is not wrestling tonight so Cornell will forfeit 133. Gabe Dean has a stomach virus and will not wrestle at 184.

Those 2 weight classes were likely the difference in the match. As Cornell lost to Lehigh.

The broadcast announcers said Garrett's forfeit was the result of an "undisclosed injury." Hopefully he will be 100% soon.

dag14
Those 2 weight classes were likely the difference in the match. As Cornell lost to Lehigh.

The broadcast announcers said Garrett's forfeit was the result of an "undisclosed injury." Hopefully he will be 100% soon.

More than likely, I'd say! Without the points from 133 and 184, Lehigh outscored us 14-13. We were big favorites in both weight classes. I'm really happy with Pickett's win of Presich at 174 and Owen Scott's win over #14 Bolich at 197.

I feel bad for Chavez that he had to wrestle up two weight classes to face #3 Brown at 184. No big surprise that he got teched.

Cornell beat Columbia 25-13 yesterday with a lot of guys either sick or resting for today's match against #4 Oklahoma State. The dual on ESPN3 right now, and I should have told you this last night.

After the first 5 weights:
125: Macri is still sick and forfeited. [OkSt 6-0]
133: Garrett won by TF at 133; he was up 14-0 midway through the first. [OkSt 6-5]
141: Grey couldn't quite keep it below a major; loses 9-1 to the #1 wrestler in the country. [OkSt. 10-5]
149: Galasso has the flu too, and showed it. Pinned in the first period after getting thrown around. [OKSt 16-5]
157: Palacio is back, baby! Big win over a top 5 wrestler and it was a no-doubter. [OkSt 16-8]
--halftime--
165: I look away for a second and Pickett gets pinned by #1, 2x champ Dierenger. [OkSt 22-8]
Upcoming:
174: OkState's top 5 guy got hurt yesterday so Realbuto MD over his backup. [OkSt 22-12]
184: Gabe Dean… looked like he is still sick. Totally gassed. Lost to the #16 guy in the country for his first L of the year. [OkSt 25-12]
197: Scott can't convert a couple of first period shots and it costs him the match. Gives up an escape but gets ridden out in the third. Loses 2-0. [OKSt 28-12]
Hwt: This will go poorly. EDIT: Could have been worse. Sweaney loses 16-3 but does get a nice TD against the #5 wrestler. [OKSt 32-12]

Very humbly season continues. Combination of poor recruiting and bad luck (injuries/illness). Man we were spoiled for a few years. Now a good team is a disappointment. Next year looks like it'll be even tougher. Rob needs to step up recruiting big time.

ithacat
Very humbly season continues. Combination of poor recruiting and bad luck (injuries/illness). Man we were spoiled for a few years. Now a good team is a disappointment. Next year looks like it'll be even tougher. Rob needs to step up recruiting big time.

Yeah, we used to come at teams in waves. Dean certainly looks like a guy who is not back at full strength. It's hard to imagine Grey (who was, I believe, a top-5 national recruit) ever amounting to a serious threat. Time will tell if Koll can regain his mojo, or if Cornell wrestling is truly in decline like so many other of our teams.

Rough dual. Someone check the water in Ithaca because a bug has been ripping through this squad. Missing a lot of wrestlers due to illness, not injury, which is just weird.

That said, Dylan Palacio beating a top 5 guy to show that he's back is fantastic.

Kyle Dake update.

George64
Kyle Dake update.

The most surprising thing I learned from this link is that the "Redman" mascot guy is in the autograph signing panel.

The EIWA tournament starts tomorrow at 9AM. No preview from me but here's one at random that I haven't read yet. You can watch with a subscription at flowrestling.com or follow the matches in roughly real time here. At the very least the Cornell Wrestling twitter account will provide real time results if not always in-match updates.

So far a decent morning:

125: Macri MD in the first round, L in the QF. wBF in the consolation match and is still alive.
133: Garrett WBF in the first round, MD in the QF.
141: D. Realbuto lost on a late TD in the first round. WBF, WBF in the consolation rounds and is still alive.
149: Galasso MD in the first round, W in the QF.
157: Palacio WBF in the first round, W in the QF.
165: Pickett MD in the first round, W in the QF.
174: B Realbuto MD in the first round TF in the QF.
184: Dean WBF in the first round, WBF in the QF.
197: Scott WBF in the first round, L in the QF. W in the consolation match and is still alive.
285: Sweany W in the first round, W in the QF.

Galasso in particular looks to have caught a huge break because the #1 seed forfeited his first round match, so he will face an unseeded wrestler in the semifinal.

After day 1, Cornell is up on Lehigh 91.5 -82.5. Both teams have all 10 wrestlers alive; Cornell with 7 in the championship bracket, Lehigh with 6.

Semis and consolation rounds tomorrow morning.

Scott with a 7-5 decision.

ugarte
So far a decent morning:

125: Macri MD in the first round, L in the QF. wBF in the consolation match and is still alive.
133: Garrett WBF in the first round, MD in the QF.
141: D. Realbuto lost on a late TD in the first round. WBF, WBF in the consolation rounds and is still alive.
149: Galasso MD in the first round, W in the QF.
157: Palacio WBF in the first round, W in the QF.
165: Pickett MD in the first round, W in the QF.
174: B Realbuto MD in the first round TF in the QF.
184: Dean WBF in the first round, WBF in the QF.
197: Scott WBF in the first round, L in the QF. W in the consolation match and is still alive.
285: Sweany W in the first round, W in the QF.

Galasso in particular looks to have caught a huge break because the #1 seed forfeited his first round match, so he will face an unseeded wrestler in the semifinal.

After day 1, Cornell is up on Lehigh 91.5 -82.5. Both teams have all 10 wrestlers alive; Cornell with 7 in the championship bracket, Lehigh with 6.

Semis and consolation rounds tomorrow morning.

Great day 2 for the Big Red so far.

125: Macri with a TF and a 4-0 win over the 3 seed to move to the 3rd place match. Only 3 automatic qualifiers at this weight so Macri needs a win to punch his ticket to NCAAs. His work here may be enough for an at-large bid but a win would be nice. He'll have to avenge his QF loss to do it.

133: Garrettc cruises into the finals with a TF. Will face the 2 seed in the final.

141: Realbuto lost his morning consolation match and then lost the 7th place match. Only 6 AQ spots and he's a very unlikely candidate for an at-large.

149: Galasso moves into the final with a 5-3 win. Will face the 2 seed in the final.

157: Palacio with another one point win. Will face the 2 seed in the final.

165: Pickett with a comfortable 6-1 win. Will face the 3 seed in the final.

174: Realbuto with a 9-3 win. Will face the 3 seed in the final.

184: Dean with a 5-3 win. Will face the 3 seed in the final. (Huge upset in the 2-3 semi.)

197: Scott with a pair of wins will face the 2 seed for 3rd place.

Hwt: Sweany loses by TF and then LBF and will wrestle an unseeded wrestler for 5th place. This is good enough for a spot at NCAAs.

Finals and other medal rounds at 3:30.

Decent afternoon session:

125: Dalton Macri loses 4-2 in SV in the 3d place match to Zach Fuentes of Drexel - the same wrestler that beat him in the QF. EIWA only got 3 Automatic Qualifiers so it is touch and go for Macri now. He's not helped by the fact that the 3 seed, #15 Terao of American, is a more likely at-large candidate. Fuentes, by placing third as the 5 seed, may have stolen Macri's slot.

133: #1 Nahshon Garrett whips 2 seed Mason Beckman 12-1 to win the conference championship with a major decision. Garrett will head to the NCAA's as the 1 seed with a 31-0 record. Let's go, Nahshon. Get that title.

149: Joey Galasso loses a close one, 5-4 in the final to the 2 seed, #10 Matt Cimato of Drexel. I didn't get to watch but at least one viewer thought Galasso was robbed on a call at the end [EDIT: as did the coaching staff, who called for a review, hoping to get 2NF points awarded to no avail - read the Cornell recap!]. Either way, Galasso is going to the NCAAs as a freshman.

157: #7 Dylan Palacio beats #14 Jay Boyle of American 8-3 to win the conference championship. Palacio heads to the NCAAs after a tricky year. He had to withdraw from school during the fall semester because of illness and injury but returned in January firing on all cylinders. He heads to the NCAA tournament with only one loss on the year.

165: #15 Duke Pickett falls 2-1 in the finals to #20 Devon Gobbo of Harvard. Tough loss because Pickett was probably borderline for a seed at NCAAs and now he could end up facing anyone in the first round. Still, a great year for the Senior that will finish up with a trip to NCAAs.

174: #3 Brian Realbuto wins 12-6 over #17 Brian Harvey of Army. With the exception of the Southern Scuffle, where Realbuto lost an inconceivable three matches in a row, Realbuto has been perfect this year. He will head into NCAAs with a realistic shot at a national championship.

184: #1 Gabe Dean wins by fall in 55 seconds over #14 Mathew Miller of Navy. Dean heads into NCAAs as the defending national champion and prohibitive favorite, with only one loss on the year. #3 Nate Brown of Lehigh had a tough tournament, losing to Miller and then again to #16 Lorenzo Thomas of Penn in the third place match.

197: Owen Scott took it to #17 John Bolich of Lehigh, winning 12-6 in the 3rd Place match. Scott heads to NCAAs on a high note.

Hwt: Jeramy Sweany loses 9-7 to Antonio Peluso of F&M to finish in 6th place. Tough finish for Sweany but he's an undersized true freshman heavyweight and he qualified for NCAAs, which is pretty impressive.

Cornell won the team title, 170.5-160 over Lehigh. Princeton was the closest Ivy, in fifth place with 71.5 points. The Cornell recap is here.

Cornell qualified 8 wrestlers for NCAAs and will hopefully get at least one more in with an at large bid. NCAA's start on March 17th at noon; there is probably going to be a livestream on ESPN3, though I hope to be at MSG to see day one in person.

ugarte
125: Dalton Macri loses 4-2 in SV in the 3d place match ... EIWA only got 3 Automatic Qualifiers so it is touch and go for Macri now. He's not helped by the fact that the 3 seed, #15 Terao of American, is a more likely at-large candidate. ...

Cornell qualified 8 wrestlers for NCAAs and will hopefully get at least one more in with an at large bid. NCAA's start on March 17th at noon; there is probably going to be a livestream on ESPN3, though I hope to be at MSG to see day one in person.

Make it 9 qualifiers. Dalton Macri gets an at-large bid at 125. So did Terao. Glad there was room for both.

It's a little disappointing that we didn't get 10, though not surprising. Dylan Realbuto didn't have the resume for an at-large bid. 141 was snakebit all year. The on-paper best wrestler, Mark Grey, never could quite get healthy, a problem he's had throughout his career. Will Koll, who was opening eyes early in the year, had his knee torn up in a match. Dylan Realbuto had injury issues of his own this year but recovered and came within a single match of qualifying for NCAAs at the conference tournament. It will be an interesting weight for the team next year.

Brackets are out
Mini-preview:

125: Dalton Macri comes in unseeded and will face #11 Rios (Oregon St.) in the first round. If he wins, he'll face either Youtsey (Mich) or #7 Klimara (Oklahoma State). Not a terrible draw.

133: #1 Nahshon Garrett faces Mason Beckman (Lehigh) in the first round. Beckman is a two-time AA and was torture last year for Grey, beating him over and over in close matches. That made it particularly satisfying when Garrett whipped him in the EIWA finals.

149: Joey Galasso will open with #7 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska). Sueflohn dominated this matchup earlier in the year, coincidentally also at MSG, winning a 12-4 MD. Galasso is coming off of a bad-call loss to the #4 seed in the conference final, so hopefully he can carry that momentum forward. A win would give him a winnable second round match.

157: #5 Dylan Palacio will face LeRoy Barnes (Missouri) in the first round, who he beat in a close match earlier this year in Palacio's first match back from injury. Projecting forward, the interesting match for Palacio would be in the QF against #4 Ian Miller (Kent State). Last year's big tournament controversy came during the 157 QF when the scorer's table forgot to give Miller credit for an escape, an error that cost Miller a point and sent his match against Brian Realbuto to OT, where Realbuto won. Arguably Realbuto would have wrestled differently had the scoreboard been accurate, but time was very short in the match and this was a pretty serious screwjob. Miller will be looking for revenge, even if someone else is wearing the Cornell singlet.

165: Duke Pickett comes into the tournament unseeded after slipping a bit in the rankings and will start with #6 Rodrigues (Illinois). Pickett was the only Cornellian to go 0-2 last year, so I'm hoping he can get at least one win this year.

174: #2 Brian Realbuto opens with Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) and, barring catastrophe will have a clear path to the semis where he'll probably face #3 Blaise Butler (Missouri). He defeated Butler 3-2 earlier in the year.

184: #1 Gabe Dean has a crazy draw for a top seed. He faces the winner of the pigtail (basically the play-in), which would usually be cool, but the play-in somehow includes and unseeded Jack Dechow. Dechow was an All-American in 2014 and came in to the 2015 tournament seeded #3 before crashing out. After that, he's got a decent Penn State wrestler and then Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State), the one guy to beat him this year. An oddly tough path. I'm not worried though - not after the way Dean ripped through EIWAs.

197: Owen Scott opens with #13 Jacob Smith (WV) but, naturally the second round gets tough. (I mean, it already starts tough, but the 13 seed is about as good a first round you can get as an unseeded wrestler.)

Hwt: Jeramy Sweany faces #7 Amarveer Dhesi in the first round with #10 Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) in the second round. I know nothing about Dhesi but I know that Stolfi killed Sweany at EIWAs.

The tournament starts Thursday at noon. I can't wait.

EDIT: Got my tickets for Session 1. If you're going, PM me and maybe we can say hi.

FYI Session 1 tickets (Thursday at noon) are cheap as hell [www.stubhub.com]

Live and Streaming TV Information:

Television and Digital Coverage
ESPN will televise the semifinals (March 18) and finals (March 19) in prime time and ESPNU will televise the first and second rounds (March 17), quarterfinals (March 18) and medal round (March 19).
ESPN3 will carry individual mat feeds throughout the entire tournament allowing fans to choose which wrestlers and/or schools to follow at any time. Eight mats will be used for the first, second and quarterfinals, before the competition is reduced to six mats for the semifinals, three mats for the medal round and one mat for the finals.

Additionally, for computer users, ESPN3 will once again offer multi-mat, simultaneous viewing which allows fans to watch up to four different mats at one time. Also for the third consecutive year, Off the Mat – a special presentation of the Championships finals – will be seen on ESPN3.

Links to the webcasts are at the bottom of this article.

Brian Realbuto loses in round 1.. a shocker

upprdeck
Brian Realbuto loses in round 1.. a shocker

Looks like he got injured. Barely made it through the match. I guess that was the catastrophe.

It is theoretically possible to have had a worse first session but only barely.

125: Unseeded Macri was clutch and saved the session from the depths with an upset of #11 Rios (Oregon State). Even without the point for the third caution he was set to win on RT because of his fast OT escapes. And he catches a break (sort of) because #6 Klimara lost to Unseeded Youtsey. Youtsey is a former All-American, though, so still a tough matchup.

133: #1 Garrett wins easily but throws away a major by letting up 2x All-American (but unseeded) Beckman (Lehigh), who showed no ability to get out on his own, with ~25 seconds left. Only thing I can figure is that he has a stall warning and thought he was about to get dinged for a penalty point. Still, it was grating.

149: Galasso never had a chance against #7 Sueflohn (Nebraska). Loses by MD 8-0.

157: #5 Palacio made it as interesting as he usually does but in the end was just too strong for Barnes (Missouri). His first takedown, which started as defense hanging upside down on Barnes' back, was Peak Palacio. Good win.

165: Not as close as the final score. Pickett didn't come close to scoring on #6 Rodrigues (Illinois), and lost 5-2.

174: The match started poorly because Weatherspoon (Iowa State) was very tall and #2 Realbuto had trouble finishing his takedowns when he got a hold of one leg. BReal recovered to take a 4-2 lead though. For reasons I'll never know, as time was running down in the second period, he tried to turn from a not-quite perfect position and - as happens far too often for a wrestler of his caliber - he got reversed and the period ended 4-4 with Weatherspoon starting the third on bottom. It went pear-shaped in the third. He gave up the early escape and then a missed takedown attempt ended up with Realbuto taken down himself. Down by three late, he went for a cement-mixer* as time was running down but his leg was trapped under Weatherspoon and he wrenched his knee VERY badly. He basically dragged his leg off the mat when time ran out. I'd be stunned if he wrestled tonight. I feel terrible for the kid. It's also devastating for the team's chances at a top 5 finish.

184: #1 Dean was workmanlike. Tough draw against a former All-American and he escaped it. Dechow (Old Dominion) didn't try much offense and Dean couldn't take down a guy in reverse.

197: Scott couldn't convert his early shots our generate any late ones against #13 Smith (West Virginia) and lost 3-2. Oh well.

Hwt: Sweany needs to get big. Facing #7 Dhesi (Oregon State), he was taken down pretty easily, straight to his back and it was over in 1:17. Oof.

4-5 record, no bonus points, we lose one of our horses from the top bracket and, possibly, for the tournament. Le sigh.

Championship bracket

125 Macri v Youtsey (Mich)
133 #1 Garrett v Kraiser (Campbell)
157 #5 Palacio v #12 Murphy (Michigan)
184 #1 Dean v Sleigh (Bucknell)

Consolation bracket

149 Galasso v Griffin (Purdue)
165 Pickett v #11 Staudenmeyer (UNC)
174 #2 Realbuto v Mappes (Chattanooga)
197 Scott v Noon (N. Colorado)
Hwt Sweany v #10 Stolfi (Bucknell)

125: Macri misses avoiding OT by 2 seconds of RT and loses 7-5 in SV.

133: Garrett win by fall in 1:40

157: Palacio gets a leg elevated tries to trip the other leg to finish the takedown and… misses completely. He ends up underneath and on his back to go down 4-0. He gets a reversal but then gets reversed himself to go down 6-2 at the end of 1. He comes back to make it close, and nearly gets a TD at the whistle to win, but loses 8-7. GAH!

184: Dean does not mess around in the second round. Gets a quick TD, lets Seligh up, gets another quick TD and drops him right on his back for 4 more points. Repositions, tilts for another 4 back points and then shifts his weight to push down for the fall in around 2 minutes.

------
149: Galasso with a comfortable 4-1 win. Good defense, good ride, got the TD he needed. Really tough match against BJ Clagon (Rider) next. Clagon was an All-American last year. Hard to see how he was unseeded.

165: Pickett down 7-2 to #11 Staudenmeyer. He's out.

174: In one of the hardest matches I've ever watched, Realbuto, on one leg, damn near won. Down 6-5 with seconds left, he looked to have the winning takedown but after video review, they ruled that the takedown was just after time ran out. Realbuto is out. I can't believe he even took the mat.

197: Owen Scott with a huge 8-4 win over Trent Noon. I was having streaming trouble so I only saw him hang on for the win at the end.

Hwt: Sweany with one of the more inexplicable decisions I've ever seen. Facing #10 Stolfi, who destroyed him 17-2 at EIWAs, he had a 6-1 lead and RT heading to the third period. Why? Because Stolfi was effectively wrestling with one arm - his shoulder was taped up and he clearly wasn't himself. For some reason Sweany chose down - I guess he was trying for a MD. Greedy, I think. Stolfi used his stronger legs and leverage from the top to wrench Sweany to his back and got the fall almost immediately. COME ON. Anyway, he's out.

upprdeck
Brian Realbuto loses in round 1.. a shocker

Whole season's been a shocker. Rob really needs to find his recruiting mojo fast.

Without knowing too much, sounds like the consi's tonight were also brutal...

Day 2 / Session 3:

133: #1 Garrett v #8 Hall (Iowa State)
184: #1 Dean v #8 Boyd (Oklahoma State) - Dean's only loss this year

----

125: Macri v Romero (Air Force)
149: Galasso v Clagon (Rider)
157: #5 Palacio v #11 Smith (Central Michigan)
197: Scott v #14 Nye (Virginia)

semsox
Without knowing too much, sounds like the consi's tonight were also brutal...

The two wins were nice. Realbuto was a soldier but couldn't quite pull it off. Sweany's loss was stupid as hell. I'm still angry about it.

Sounds like a torn ACL/MCL for Realbuto. Total bummer

watching the Realbuto replay , it seemed like he completed the move with time left on the clock. the announcers are even applauding the effort before the clock goes to zero.

the Fr heavy being up 6-1 late and getting pinned was not good.

upprdeck
watching the Realbuto replay , it seemed like he completed the move with time left on the clock. the announcers are even applauding the effort before the clock goes to zero.

The officials confirmed the TD but after protest ruled that it was completed after time expired. Sigh.

Great start to day 2 from Macri and Garrett. Galasso was outclassed.


133: The match started oddly as both wrestlers were complaining that the other guy was slippery. Turned out that Garrett's hands were slick because of the grease (vaseline? lotion?) on the back of Hall's legs. Cleaning up Hall's legs counted as "injury time" so Garrett could choose position on restart. Basically a free point when he chose bottom. He then got a TD and rode out the period. He rode through the second period as well. A third period escape and RT are a 5-0 win. Garrett moves into the Semifinal and is an All-American.

184: Dean, facing the only guy to beat him this year, #8 Nolan Boyd, makes as clear as possible that he was injured that day. Dean cruises to an easy 10-4 win. 4TDs, an escape and RT. He moves into the semifinal, which is now wide open, as everyone from 2-6 has lost. He'll face #13 Renda (NC State) with #7 vs #11 in the other semi. With the win, Dean moves into the Semifinal and is an All-American.

-----

125: Macri and Romero were both active but Macri was able to finish his shots for points. Then, in the second period, he made a hell of a move to put Romero on his back and flatten him out for the Fall. Macri still has work to do: two more wins to get on the podium. Up next, #14 Rodriguez (NDSU), with #9 Peters (Northern Iowa) in his way for AA.

149: Galasso was manhandled by Clagon (Rider). 19-6. Never really close. Galasso tried for a cement-mixer from a headlock early but Clagon pushed through and came very close to flattening him out for the fall. Clagon never looked back. Not a bad freshman year for Galasso.

157: #5 Palacio wins 5-3 over #11 Smith. A little hairy at the end. Holding a 4-1 lead late, it looked like Palacio tweaked his knee a little. With time winding down, Smith appeared to get TD, then release Palacio and then get another TD with a couple of seconds on the clock, which would have sent the match to OT. Fortunately, the refs ruled that there wasn't "separation" on the escape, so the escape and second TD didn't count, leaving the score at 4-3. Because the team only had one challenge left (across all matches, IIRC), Smith told his coaches not to challenge, essentially conceding the match. He requested a neutral start to make it 5-3. Things got a little hairy at the end. Without really time for a TD, Smith still charged at Palacio, which annoyed Palacio enough to give him a shove after the whistle. No unsportsmanlike was called, though. To AA he's got to go through #14 Matthews (Edinboro) and #7 Cody Pack (SDSU).

197: Scott wasn't fast enough to deal with #14 Nye. Goes down 8-2. He's out. As a senior, he gets to end his career with a trip to Nationals and gets a win to boot. That ain't bad.


-----
125: Macri got a TD with 6 seconds left but it wasn't enough. Loses 5-4 to Rodriguez and he's out. A decent freshman campaign. We'll see if he goes to 133 next year.

157: Palacio took a couple of periods to figure out how to beat Matthews, but in the third period he dominated, and won going away 12-6. He'll wrestle Pack tonight for AA.

Tonight's schedule:

Championship:

133: #1 Garrett v #4 Brewer (Oklahoma) Brewer is the defending national champ. Brewer was #1 early in the year before Garrett beat him and took the top spot away. Brewer lost again to a wrestler at Oklahoma State who would have been one of Garrett's top challengers but for a season-ending injury.

184: #1 Dean v #13 Renda (NC State) They've never faced each other.

-----

157: #5 Palacio v #7 Pack (South Dakota State) Winner gets AA. They've never faced each other.

Garrett gets the pin in 21 seconds to advance to the finals. It was ridiculous!

And then Dylan Palacio dominates Cody Pack to move into the finals with a 10-3 win. Inexplicably, up 10-1 with 5 seconds left in the match, he let Pack up and then ran away so obviously that he got hit with a second stalling call, which cost him a Major Decision.

That was Dylan hot-dogging it. He did the same thing after his last win but didn't blow the MD in the process. I am going to guess that he is getting an earful from his coach....

125: Garrett with a shot right off the whistle, grabs two ankles and takes Brewer right to his back for a quick 6 points, and almost a pin. It looks like Brewer might get out but Garrett grabs him again, throws him to his back again and flattens him out for the fall in an amazing 21 SECONDS.

In the final he faces #2 Corey Clark (Iowa). They've never faced each other.

184: Dean dominates #13 Renda (NC State). Easy 9-4 win. Back to the finals for the second year in a row. Amazing.

In the final he'll be against #7 Dudley (Nebraska). Last year, Dean faced Dudley in the QF and Dudley had him on the ropes but got gassed in the third period. Dean was barely able to beat the clock for a one-point win. Earlier this year, at MSG, Dean won by MD.

-----

157: Wrestling for his first All-American honors, Palacio did his usual thing: scoring off of his opponent's attempts to score. Pack took a deep shot and as he tried to convert, Palacio took control from a defensive position and exposed Pack's back for 4 points as the first period ended. He scored another takedown with two NF as the second period ended, again from a neutral position that started with Pack's offense. As I wrote above, Palacio gave away the MD by throwing away two points. I'd kind of like an explanation for that but, to be honest, it doesn't matter that much. It would have been worth another half-point in the team score.

His next match will be against #6 Smith (Oklahoma State), who he beat earlier this year, making clear that he was all the way back from his first semester illness.

DYLAN PALACIO PINS SMITH! Again, Palacio scores from a defensive position. he was literally leaning backwards into Smith first for a reversal and then was able to push him to the mat for the Fall. Palacio is always fun to watch.

dag14
That was Dylan hot-dogging it. He did the same thing after his last win but didn't blow the MD in the process. I am going to guess that he is getting an earful from his coach....

But why even let him up? He could have just sat on him until the end.

What a GREAT session. 4-0 for the Big Red. Two in the finals (Garrett and Dean), one in the consolation semis where he can finish no worse than 6th (Palacio).

125: #1 Garrett v #2 Clark (Iowa)
184: #1 Dean v #7 Dudley (Nebraska)

157: #5 Palacio v #4 Miller (Kent State) - Miller may be looking for revenge against anyone in a Big Red singlet. He lost the QF to Realbuto last year on an error by the scorer's table.

Heading into tomorrow here are the team standings:
[Team - Points (Finals / 3d/5th/7th)
1. Penn State 114 (5/1)
2. Oklahoma State 79.5 (2/4)
3. Iowa 78.5 (3/3)
4. Virginia Tech 69.5 (0/6)
5. Ohio State 68 (2/2)
6. Missouri 58.5 (1/3)
7. Nebraska 56 (1/2)
8. Cornell 53.5 (2/1)
9. NC State 43 (1/2)
10. Illinois 42 (1/2)
12. Lehigh 30 (0/3)
18. Penn 20 (0/1)
28. Princeton 12.5 (0/1)

Garrett's win is #5 in the ESPN Sports Center top 10! They show the whole 20.6 seconds, speeded up.

Garrett is an awesome wrestler but even greater person!

Nashon Garrett is NCAA champ with a 7-5 win!

Dylan Palacio advanced to the consolation final when Miller took a medical forfeit. Miller hurt himself late in his semifinal match. He still almost pulled off the win against defending champ Isaiah Martinez but couldn't quite convert a late takedown. My guess is that he'd have been willing to go in the final, but wasn't going to risk injury for third place since he was already an All American.

In the third place match, Palacio was pretty passive. He lost 4-1 without really taking an offensive shot. That said, finishing 4th and finally getting the spot on the podium that poorly-timed injuries stole from him the last two years was fantastic. Great to see him get All-American honors.

Gabe Dean makes it 2 for 2 for the Big Red in the finals.

jkahn
Nashon Garrett is NCAA champ with a 7-5 win!

It said 7-6 on the scoreboard after a late, dubious stall call but I can't quite add up those points. For a close score it was a dominant win. Garrett's points came on three takedowns and an escape. Clark's points all came on escapes or stalling calls he never came close to scoring on offense.

This caps an amazing career for Garrett:

2013: Wrestling at 125, Garrett won his first EIWA championship. Seeded #6, he finished in 3rd, earning his first AA. His only loss at NCAAs was in the semis to eventual the eventual champion, Jesse Delgado. In the third place match, he beat the #1 seed 6-1. He finished 43-5 with no losses to any wrestler ranked lower than #4 in the country.

2014: He won his second EIWA championship. Returning to the NCAAs as the #2 seed. He lost in the finals, again to Jesse Delgado, earning his second AA. Finishing the year at 33-2, his only 2 losses were to Delgado.

2015: Again at 125, Garrett won his third EIWA championship. Struggling a bit with weight, his junior year was a disappointment but the kind of disappointment that only comes from national title expectations. A 5th place finish and third AA.

2016: Unsure of how Garrett would adjust to his new weight, the rankings started him at (IIRC) 5th. After blazing through the early season schedule, he met returning national champ and top-ranked Cody Brewer… and won 14-9, dominating the third period. He was moved up to #1 and never looked back, capping a 37-0 season with his fourth EIWA title and first NCAA championship. Along the way, he met Brewer again… and pinned him in 21 seconds. An amazing run. I'm really going to miss him.

jkahn
Gabe Dean makes it 2 for 2 for the Big Red in the finals.

Amazing match, never in doubt. 5-3 win in a tournament where he was never seriously challenged. Second national title in three years. Gabe Dean is amazing and I can't wait to see him again next year.

Cornell as a team finished in 7th place with three All-Americans and two titles. An up and down year that ended so well*. So fucking well.

* With the exception of Brian Realbuto's injury; I hope to hell he's OK for next year, for himself and for the team.

I am a Garrett fan and he will be sorely missed! Congrats to Gabe Dean as well!

Photo essay (head shots) and short story in The New Yorker. Wrestling now exists once the NCAAs came to Madison Square Garden.

The Faces of College Wrestlers

"Close, but no cigar."

George64
"Close, but no cigar."

It was a real bummer. Cox earned it. Beat the #1 seed in the QF before knocking off #2 Dake in the final. He was the better wrestler too.

Garrett - who will be a force to be reckoned with if he can consistently make weight - wrestled for the lightweight spot and almost knocked off the #1 guy in the first round but was hit with a decisive penalty point for (effectively) stalling with 10 seconds left in the match.

Future Cornellian, Yianni Diakomihalis, named to USA Today’s All-USA wrestling team in the 138-pound class. A junior and four-time NYS champion, he has an opportunity to become only the second wrestler to win five state championships. The other - four-time All-American Troy Nickerson '10.

George64
Future Cornellian, Yianni Diakomihalis, named to USA Today’s All-USA wrestling team in the 138-pound class. A junior and four-time NYS champion, he has an opportunity to become only the second wrestler to win five state championships. The other - four-time All-American Troy Nickerson '10.

Also named the D&C's All-Greater Rochester wrestler of the year for the 4th straight year. His record is 232-3 with one year remaining. Let's hope his younger brother is a strong student as well. He won his first state title as an 8th grader.

[www.democratandchronicle.com]

ithacat

George64
Future Cornellian, Yianni Diakomihalis, named to USA Today’s All-USA wrestling team in the 138-pound class. A junior and four-time NYS champion, he has an opportunity to become only the second wrestler to win five state championships. The other - four-time All-American Troy Nickerson '10.

Also named the D&C's All-Greater Rochester wrestler of the year for the 4th straight year. His record is 232-3 with one year remaining. Let's hope his younger brother is a strong student as well. He won his first state title as an 8th grader.

[www.democratandchronicle.com]

More on future Cornellian Yianni Diakomihalis.

George64

ithacat

George64
Future Cornellian, Yianni Diakomihalis, named to USA Today’s All-USA wrestling team in the 138-pound class. A junior and four-time NYS champion, he has an opportunity to become only the second wrestler to win five state championships. The other - four-time All-American Troy Nickerson '10.

Also named the D&C's All-Greater Rochester wrestler of the year for the 4th straight year. His record is 232-3 with one year remaining. Let's hope his younger brother is a strong student as well. He won his first state title as an 8th grader.

[www.democratandchronicle.com]

More on future Cornellian Yianni Diakomihalis.

ooh! Yianni!
[movie-sounds.org]

Incoming freshman, Yianni Diakomihalis, won United World Wrestling cadet freestyle championship at 138.9 pounds this weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia.

George64
Incoming freshman, Yianni Diakomihalis, won United World Wrestling cadet freestyle championship at 138.9 pounds this weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia.

I believe another incoming frosh, Vito Arujau, placed second in his weight class.

Al DeFlorio

George64
Incoming freshman, Yianni Diakomihalis, won United World Wrestling cadet freestyle championship at 138.9 pounds this weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia.

I believe another incoming frosh, Vito Arujau, placed second in his weight class.

For the uninitiated, they are "incoming" in the fall of 2017.

Still, we've got a great team coming back: a returning champ, two other returning All-Americans (Palacio from 2016, Realbuto from 2014 and 2015), and fave returning NCAA qualifiers (Macri, Galasso, Scott and Sweany in 2016; Grey in 2014 and 2015). Plus a solid freshman class.

This year is going to be fun. Cornell is back at the Garden the same weekend as Red Hot Hockey.