Wrestling [2016-2017]

The season is coming! It's still a little down the road, but Gabe Dean is kicking off the season by wrestling in the NWCA All-Star tournament on November 5. Coming off his second championship at 184, he'll be facing Myles Martin (tOSU) who won the title at 174 last year as a true frosh.

FYI: If you're in the New York City area - or coming for Red Hot Hockey - you can go back to MSG the next day to see Cornell take on Hofstra and Rutgers.

The early rankings are out too, and Cornell has a number of ranked wrestlers. Here's a quick summary of the coming season.

Rankings are (Intermat/WIN/Flo)

125: Dalton Macri (13/12/13) qualified for the NCAA tournament last year as a freshman. He was a little out of his depth with the very best of 125 but he could hang with almost anyone else. Another year of experience and we may see his first AA.

133: Mark Grey is coming off a rough year and man, I hope his senior season works out. He was a blue chip recruit, just like his All-American brother (who is a Cornell coach) but had a career marred by injury. A very good freshman year finished one win short of getting AA. His sophomore season was rockier; he moved up to 141 but was overmatched at the weight. After dropping back to 133, his season was better and he qualified for the tournament but went 1-2. Last year, Nahshon Garrett moved up to 133 so Grey had no choice but to go 141 again but he never found a groove and was constantly injured. He's back at 133, allegedly healthy, and if it's true (and he can maintain the weight) he can give Cornell another solid weight class. If he can't Chas Tucker is a freshman who may pick up the slack - but he's dealing with injuries of his own already (though it's a hand injury and apparently not something that's supposed to have long term effects.)

141: Coach's son Will Koll is the guy as the season kicks off. and Dylan Realbuto are the two guys expected to compete for the mat Koll seemed to be the #1 guy before getting his knee blown apart last year. Neither are ranked. I really hope Koll is back to full strength; he's fun to watch. Trence Gillum - a transfer who Cornell picked up after Grand Canyon disbanded their wrestling program - is the most likely guy to compete at 141. Dylan Realbuto may come back to 141, but Coach Koll says he'll mostly be at 149.

149: To my surprise, Joey Galasso wasn't ranked in any poll after qualifying for the NCAAs as a freshman. He's going to have another solid season. Dylan Realbuto is moving up from 141.

157: Dylan Palacio (2/2/2) finally broke through to finish 4th at 165, finally getting AA after finishing a match short the previous two years. He spent the offseason competing for Uruguay, at 74kg, in the hopes of qualifying for the olympics but came up short. He's dropping down to 157 this year and is ranked only behind the returning finalist. He's more fun to watch than any wrestler in the country because he takes crazy chances and more work out than you'd think possible. His matches are freewheeling and high-scoring, and even though it is tempting to wish he'd settle down and just win with caution, I have to admit that I kind of like it better this way.

165: Dillon Artigliere will begin the season as the starter after a solid freshman campaign. Brandon Womack will be the primary backup after missing a lot of last year with an injury. Artigliere was a blue chip recruit; Womack dominated as a high school student in Alabama, though Alabama doesn't have much of a reputation for wrestling. Koll expects Womack to be a top contender at 174 next year.

174: Brian Realbuto (?/?/8) will be rehabbing a bit for the very early tournaments but he'll be back in December according to Coach Koll. An All-American at 165 as a freshman and a finalist as a soph, he came into the tournament as the 2 seed at 174 last year but blew out his knee trying to come from behind in the first round of the NCAA tournament. His lack of height proved to be a disadvantage against a particularly tall wrestler. I think his tourney loss was a combination of fluke and ONE BAD HABIT - he is so good that he overreaches for extra points but because (though strong as hell,) he's kind of short for the weight, it sometimes backfires. If he can stay within himself he's pretty unbeatable.

184: Gabe Dean (1/1/1) Two time returning champ, three time AA. Gabe Dean is awesome. His big challenge this year is that both of last year's finalists from 174 have jumped up to 184, giving the weight class serious depth. Almost all of last year's AAs are returning, and one is even dropping down from 197. Still, Gabe is Gabe and I'm hoping he can finally have an undefeated season - and I think he will as long as he avoids injury.

197: Owen Scott (12/15/UR) returns after a good season that included an NCAA tournament appearance. There's some depth behind him at the weight, but if Scott is fully healthy he's the best chance for an AA at the weight.

Hwt: Jeramy Sweany (19/20/UR) qualified for the NCAAs as a freshman and was a terrible tactical decision away from pulling a huge upset for a tournament win. He was small for the weight class last year, which led to real problems matching strength with the top guys in the class. He's apparently been bulking up, which is good because he's a solid technical wrestler and he should have another solid season. 4 years ago, Craig Scott wrested at 174 for the Big Red. After missing the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with injuries and seeing no time in 2015-16, he has apparently now put on almost 100 pounds and is the primary backup at heavyweight. He was a damn good wrestler at 174 (he wasn't the starter only because he shared a weight with AA Steve Bosak) and if he can naturally carry the extra weight he'd be a hell of a guy at Heavy.

We're ranked in the top 10 in the early season tournament rankings, and I'm looking forward to another great year.

lol literally as soon as I hit send, I saw that FloWrestling announced that Brian Realbuto is confirmed at 174, not 165. They've slotted him in at #8 for 174. The other sites haven't adjusted their rankings yet. I don't know who is going to go at 165 now, but I figure it's a combination of Artigliere dropping down from 174, Chavez coming up from 157 or Kyle Simaz, who was so-so as a frosh but is rostered at 165 already.

A true weight breakdown, from Coach Koll's newsletter is here. It is moderately more informed than my spewing. I've adjusted my spewing accordingly. Notably, moving Artigliere into the top spot at 165 and dropping Chavez out since Koll doesn't even mention him for whatever reason.

Great write-up! I really hope to see Mark Grey return to his freshman form. One name to add is Noah Baughman, who I think will push Macri at 125 if healthy.

And there is a pretty good recruiting class coming in next year as I have to think Yianni D and Vitali Arujua will forego their Ivy Shirts.

Should be a fun year with a chance to send 10 guys to the NCAAs.

mountainred
Great write-up! I really hope to see Mark Grey return to his freshman form. One name to add is Noah Baughman, who I think will push Macri at 125 if healthy.

And there is a pretty good recruiting class coming in next year as I have to think Yianni D and Vitali Arujua will forego their Ivy Shirts.

Should be a fun year with a chance to send 10 guys to the NCAAs.

Next year's freshman class has been ranked #1 by Flowrestling

scoop85

mountainred
Great write-up! I really hope to see Mark Grey return to his freshman form. One name to add is Noah Baughman, who I think will push Macri at 125 if healthy.

And there is a pretty good recruiting class coming in next year as I have to think Yianni D and Vitali Arujua will forego their Ivy Shirts.

Should be a fun year with a chance to send 10 guys to the NCAAs.

Next year's freshman class has been ranked #1 by Flowrestling

I said they were pretty good. Seriously, Yianni could be the #1 prep wrestler in the country and Vitali is consensus top 10. Plus, Ben Darmstadt will finish his year at Finger Lakes and he was a top 20 recruit who was coming on strong at the end of the season.

mountainred

scoop85

mountainred
Great write-up! I really hope to see Mark Grey return to his freshman form. One name to add is Noah Baughman, who I think will push Macri at 125 if healthy.

And there is a pretty good recruiting class coming in next year as I have to think Yianni D and Vitali Arujua will forego their Ivy Shirts.

Should be a fun year with a chance to send 10 guys to the NCAAs.

Next year's freshman class has been ranked #1 by Flowrestling

I said they were pretty good. Seriously, Yianni could be the #1 prep wrestler in the country and Vitali is consensus top 10. Plus, Ben Darmstadt will finish his year at Finger Lakes and he was a top 20 recruit who was coming on strong at the end of the season.

I cant wait for this year to start but I REALLY can't wait for 2017. Bad timing that Palacio, Realbuto and Dean all graduate just as that class comes in.

The season kind of sort of starts this weekend with some exhibition matches.

#1 Gabe Dean is wrestling #2 Myles Martin - two defending national champs, as Martin steps up from 174 at the NWCA All-Star classic in Cleveland tonight.

Tomorrow, Senior Owen Scott (197) and a few guys that will start at Cornell next year, wrestling under the "Finger Lakes Prep" banner, will wrestle at the Southeast Open in Roanoke. One of the FLP guys is Ben Darmstadt, a top recruit who is expected to take Scott's place in the starting lineup after Scott graduates. I'm curious how it will turn out if they face each other.

ugarte
#1 Gabe Dean is wrestling #2 Myles Martin - two defending national champs, as Martin steps up from 174 at the NWCA All-Star classic in Cleveland tonight.

Dean destroyed Martin. 13-4. Dean had 5 takedowns, Martin none. The only points Martin scored were for escapes. Great start to the season and Dean's attempt to win three titles.

[www.teamusa.org]

ugarte

Tomorrow, Senior Owen Scott (197) and a few guys that will start at Cornell next year, wrestling under the "Finger Lakes Prep" banner, will wrestle at the Southeast Open in Roanoke. One of the FLP guys is Ben Darmstadt, a top recruit who is expected to take Scott's place in the starting lineup after Scott graduates. I'm curious how it will turn out if they face each other.

Scott didn't wrestle, but Ben took third at 197 with a win by fall over a top 10 guy from Rider. Plus, Max Dean (Gabe's younger brother) took 3rd at 184 and Foster Harmon finished 6th in the "freshman/sophomore" division. Pretty good showing for the recruits.

mountainred
Ben took third at 197 with a win by fall over a top 10 guy from Rider. Plus, Max Dean (Gabe's younger brother) took 3rd at 184

Yeah, Darmstadt especially. He had a couple of pins, a TF and a major. Only loss was to the guy who I assume will be the starter for Army (Caywood had a very good frosh season but was stuck behind a 4x NCAA qualifier and I don't know if Army benches seniors for freshmen). The pin of a guy who was a win away from All-American last year was particularly sweet.

Dean didn't wrestle anyone particularly distinguished but a third-place finish was sweet all the same, for a kid wrestling as a greyshirt against upperclassmen.

ugarte
greyshirt

Wuzzat?

Trotsky

ugarte
greyshirt

Wuzzat?

A year between high school and college, spent mostly working on wrestling, which is pretty common. It doesn't burn eligibility.

More unofficial action for the team. A number of Cornell wrestlers went to Binghamton for their open tournament. They don't wrestle "for" Cornell because I guess our season hasn't started yet, so they go "Unattached". We don't send all of our starters - and usually don't send the elite guys - and we send most of the bench guys to get some matches in.

The big story (though it isn't really a story, just a lot of speculation) is that Dalton Macri, our starter at 125, lost his first match to a freshman from Maryland (who didn't do much else in the tournament) then forfeited his consolation match. If he got injured that's a big deal; he was starting the season in the top 20. His backup at 125, Noah Baughman, finished in 4th at 125.

133: Mark Grey had a real solid start to his season: 2 major decisions, a first period fall and a win in the finals over a top 20 wrestler.

141: Koll finished in third, with a loss in rideouts in the QF to a kid from Ohio U. (A mild disappointment; the Ohio kid is a SR but has never qualified for NCAAs.)

149: Galasso won - two technical falls, two major decisions and a win over a kid from Penn State in the final*; backup Furnas finished in 4th (his only losses were both to Max Rogers (Princeton)

157: Taylor Simaz lost in the semis and finished in third; his brother Kyle Simaz lost in the quarters, defaulted to Taylor in the consolation bracke and finished fifth.

165: Brandon Womack won over teammate (and expected starter) Dillon Artigliere in the semis and went on to win in the final; Artigliere won his consolation matches and finished in third,

184: Greyshirt** Max Dean finished in second. His only loss was to a top 20 wrestler from Binghamton and he beat wrestlers from some decent programs along the way (Army, Ohio U, Lehigh and Drexel).

197: Ben Honis finished in second; Jake Anderson finished in third but the real story is that both lost to Ben Darmstadt, taking a greyshirt year at Finger Lakes, who is the likely starter at the weight next year. Darmstadt had two techs and a major; Anderson had three majors and a tech; Honis had a tech. We owned this weight class.

285: Sweany finished in second; got teched 15-0 by a guy from Hofstra in the final.

Next week is the first official action, a dual meet against Buffalo.

* This guy is Penn State's backup; PSU's starter is returning champ #1 Zain Retherford,
** I saw an explanation for how this works: Finger Lakes Community College doesn't have an official wrestling team, but they do have a club team. The recruits can enroll, take some classes, compete in open tournaments, and not have the year count against their NCAA eligibility.

Current rankings:

(Intermat/WIN/Flo)
125: Macri (15/14/14)
133: Grey (15/UR/15)
141: Koll (UR/UR/UR)
149: Galasso (20/UR/UR)
157: Palacio (2/2/2)
165: Womack (20/UR/UR)
174: Realbuto (5/3*/5)
184: Dean (1/1/1)
197: Scott (UR/16/UR)
Hwt: Sweany (19/UR/UR)

Mark Grey pops up on a couple of lists for the first time. Womack and Galasso sneak in to the intermat rankings because they won a tournament but as far as I know, Artigliere is still the likely starter at 165 (Womack won 2-0 at the Binghamton tournament).

* WIN is still ranking Realbuto at 165.

If healthy -- sadly a big if but last Sunday was encouraging -- Grey should be ranked and should earn a rank higher than 15. Not sure why the wrestling powers that be have no problem with Macri being top 15, but doubt Galasso. The rest of the rankings seem appropriate to me.

The match notes for the Buffalo dual list Noah Baughman as the starter at 125.

mountainred
If healthy -- sadly a big if but last Sunday was encouraging -- Grey should be ranked and should earn a rank higher than 15. Not sure why the wrestling powers that be have no problem with Macri being top 15, but doubt Galasso. The rest of the rankings seem appropriate to me.

The match notes for the Buffalo dual list Noah Baughman as the starter at 125.

I agree, re: Grey. I think the voters are giving him a little time to prove that he's healthy and able to make weight.

I was surprised that Galasso got so little respect preseason too - and I'm equally surprised that Sweany got votes, though I'd love to see him do well.

A busy weekend for the Big Red. On Saturday we have a dual meet against Buffalo. On Sunday, the NYS Intercollegiate Championships.

Injury notes: Dalton Macri is out for a while with a broken finger suffered in his first match at the Binghamton tournament, which explains his first round loss and subsequent forfeit. Jeramy Sweany also apparently hurt his hand, but he is still a maybe for the weekend. Brian Realbuto may be back this weekend but seems likely to return the following weekend for the matches against Hofstra and Rutgers at MSG.

Lineup notes: Dylan Palacio (157) and Owen Scott (197) are out until next semester to preserve their eligibility. Brandon Womack has taken the top spot at 165 from Dillon Artigliere after winning their match at Binghamton (though practice probably factored in as well). Ben Honis beat Jake Anderson at the wrestle-off for 197 and will be the starter until Scott returns. Drew Garcia will wrestle at 174 for Realbuto if Koll chooses to rest Realbuto this weekend. If Sweany can't wrestle, Craig Scott will go in his place.

Buffalo is a dual meet, so only the starters will wrestle. NYS is an open tournament, so most of the roster will be entered. You can read the match notes press release here (fyi it's a pdf).

Cornell holds off Buffalo 18-15. The matches were tied 5-5, but Gabe Dean's pin was worth 3 extra, and difference-making, points. Not a great showing, but not the end of the world considering the injuries. In the order they wrestled.

Noah Baughman filled in for Macri and had a couple of nice takedowns, but couldn't escape from bottom position. Mark Grey looked off; he was ridden out for the entire second period and looked winded at the end when he gave up a late escape to lose his match. Will Koll had no offense at 141 and lost 2-1. Joey Galasso took an early 6-0 and coasted to a win, as did Taylor Simaz. Womack looks solid and explosive at 165, though his defense and match awareness need to improve. He has real potential. Realbuto wrestled and was rusty but basically fine. Dean is a stud. Honis was aggressive but couldn't finish enough of his shots. Craig Scott filled in at heavy and was okay, but lost a close one.

mountainred
Cornell holds off Buffalo 18-15. The matches were tied 5-5, but Gabe Dean's pin was worth 3 extra, and difference-making, points. Not a great showing, but not the end of the world considering the injuries. In the order they wrestled.

Noah Baughman filled in for Macri and had a couple of nice takedowns, but couldn't escape from bottom position. Mark Grey looked off; he was ridden out for the entire second period and looked winded at the end when he gave up a late escape to lose his match. Will Koll had no offense at 141 and lost 2-1. Joey Galasso took an early 6-0 and coasted to a win, as did Taylor Simaz. Womack looks solid and explosive at 165, though his defense and match awareness need to improve. He has real potential. Realbuto wrestled and was rusty but basically fine. Dean is a stud. Honis was aggressive but couldn't finish enough of his shots. Craig Scott filled in at heavy and was okay, but lost a close one.

Thanks mountainred. I saw that 4 of our 5 losses were by a single point. Yeesh.

I hope last week was the real Mark Grey. And I'm really looking forward to the return of Macri, Palacio and Scott.

ugarte

mountainred
Cornell holds off Buffalo 18-15. The matches were tied 5-5, but Gabe Dean's pin was worth 3 extra, and difference-making, points. Not a great showing, but not the end of the world considering the injuries. In the order they wrestled.

Noah Baughman filled in for Macri and had a couple of nice takedowns, but couldn't escape from bottom position. Mark Grey looked off; he was ridden out for the entire second period and looked winded at the end when he gave up a late escape to lose his match. Will Koll had no offense at 141 and lost 2-1. Joey Galasso took an early 6-0 and coasted to a win, as did Taylor Simaz. Womack looks solid and explosive at 165, though his defense and match awareness need to improve. He has real potential. Realbuto wrestled and was rusty but basically fine. Dean is a stud. Honis was aggressive but couldn't finish enough of his shots. Craig Scott filled in at heavy and was okay, but lost a close one.

Thanks mountainred. I saw that 4 of our 5 losses were by a single point. Yeesh.

I hope last week was the real Mark Grey. And I'm really looking forward to the return of Macri, Palacio and Scott.

In a lot of ways, it was whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. I didn't pay to watch the Bearcat, but the Mark Grey I watched yesterday doesn't put up the results Mark did last weekend. The service that hedged on his ranking looks smart this morning.

I know Dylan didn't play soccer this fall. Is this semester off to account for the season of soccer he played at TC3 while at Finger Lakes?

Pretty successful day at the NYS Intercollegiate Open, even though a lot of starters weren't there (Grey, Galasso, Palacio, Realbuto and any Heavy). Titles to Noah Baughman at 125, Will Koll at 141, Womack at 165 (pinning teammate Dillion Artigliere in 1:06 of the finals) and Dean at 184. Dean won every match by fall and that gives him four NYS titles; I wonder if he would have wrestled today if he wasn't going for four. Taylor Simaz took second at 157, Milik Dawkins second at 174, and Ben Honis beat Jake Anderson for 3rd place at 197.

The tournament also has a "B side" for redshirts, reserves, etc. Too many guys to track, but a few notes: recruit Ben Darmstadt blew away the competition at 197 with two pins, a shutout tech fall and a injury default. Recruit Max Dean won at 184, and freshman Terence Gillem won at 141 with two pins, a TF, and a major along the way.

Next stop: two duals next week at MSG versus Hofstra and Rutgers.

mountainred
Next stop: two duals next week at MSG versus Hofstra and Rutgers.

See you there?

ugarte

mountainred
Next stop: two duals next week at MSG versus Hofstra and Rutgers.

See you there?

I wish, but MSG is a long drive from West Virginia.

The Garden was good to the Big Red in Wrestling too. Despite being down starters at 125, 157, and maybe 197, Cornell sweeps Hofstra (39-0) and #10 Rutgers (28-10).

Great days for most of the team.

At 125, Baughman fills in for Macri and gets a pair of close wins. His win to start the Rutgers dual was a sign.

Will Koll looked aggressive at 141. Even though he lost his match to top five Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers, it was only 6-4 and as quality a loss as you get.

Brandon Womack got two pins to up his total this year to 5.

Gabe Dean is still a monster. He beat Hofstra with a 30 second pin, then outlasted Rutges' highly-regarded 184 pounder with a crushing third period.

All in all, pretty good work. Next week is the Las Vegas Invitational and then exams.

Thanks for the recap MR.

Cornell shut out Hofstra 39-0 then pulled off a great win against Rutgers 28-10.

125: Baughman was solid in both matches, which played out roughly the same. Trade escapes, late takedown by Baughman. Solid work.

133: In the Hofstra match Grey was dominating Vespa, built a huge lead and was lucky to escape with the 14-12 win. He was nearly pinned multiple times and I'm sure Hofstra wants to see a replay. Against Rutgers, Grey again took an early lead and AGAIN held on, though this time the score was lower. #13 Dippery is his second big win of this young season but I'm seriously concerned about his strength. He's fast and can score but he has a very hard time getting off bottom and I feel like it's really going to cost him soon.

141: Hell of a day for Will Koll. Cruised in his match against Hofstra then damn near pulled off a win against the #5 wrestler in the country. I think Ashnault is the stronger guy but damn Koll really has potential.

149: Galasso didn't have a great day. Close win over Hofstra and then couldn't get off bottom for four full minutes against #10 Theobold. Got called for stalling and turned for four points to boot. Getting off bottom is a pretty widespread problem on the team. DON'T LIKE.

157: Waiting for Palacio to get back. Simaz was fine. Win over Hofstra, outclassed against Rutgers and lost a major.

165: Womack may... be... a beast. Artigliere was supposed to be the starter at 165 but Womack beat him twice... and he's beating everyone else too. Two second period falls today. After a scoreless first period, the Rutgers wrestler chose neutral so he wouldn't be stuck underneath Womack. Didn't matter. Womack took him down, almost turned him a few times before adjusting his position, locking up a cradle and getting the fall. Very, very impressive.

174: Realbuto is back, kind of. He destroyed an overmatched kid from Hofstra 20-3 then won a match that was closer than it should have been against Rutgers. As usual, the points BReal gave up were on a reversal when he tried for a tilt that wasn't there. His late takedown to break the tie and get the win was nice though.

184: Dean is Dean. He went right after Oxley of Hofstra, clearly intending to make it a quick match and save energy for Rutgers. He got the fall in under 30 seconds. Against #13 Gravina of Rutgers, he was never in danger of giving up points but it took until the third for him to break through. When he did, he was savage. Four point tilt, four point tilt, two point tilt, 16-3 major decision. And I thought he was going to get 4 the last time also for the tech.

197: Heck of a day for Honis too. Two matches, two wins. Looked strong, won 9-1 and 4-0. I still think this is Scott's spot when he comes back in January but Honis is going to make him work for it.

Hwt: Sweany had a solid match against Hofstra then a very good one against Rutgers. Against Rutgers he got the takedown and the tilt and seems to have hut his opponent's shoulder turning him over. The guy pretty much stopped fighting back and gave up the fall.

The big positives: Koll and Womack (and a tip of the cap to Baughman). And looking up from the Dean match to see incoming frosh Vito Arujau whip some kid from New Jersey in the NY/NJ all-star match one mat over.

The things that concern me: Grey on bottom, Realbuto doing that thing that worries us all (even though I'm glad to see him back).

ugarte

The things that concern me: Grey on bottom, Realbuto doing that thing that worries us all (even though I'm glad to see him back).

I would add Galasso, who is too talented to be struggling at getting out from bottom position. As far as Realbuto, I think that's just who he is. In the Hofstra match, he scored 4 NF points in a position where I was thinking he was in deep trouble. No result at NCAA's would shock me, from going 0-2 to winning the title.

Thanks for the color on my bare-boned review. Noah and Will both looked much better than a week ago.

mountainred

I would add Galasso, who is too talented to be struggling at getting out from bottom position.

Yes, definitely. Especially because either he looks huge for 149 or Koll looks tiny for 141. Galasso stepped on the mat and it looked like we'd skipped a weight class - and he still couldn't stand up.

Big test for the squad this weekend as they head to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational. 5 top ten teams (including Cornell) in the lineup and a lot of other quality squads.

Based on the "pre-seeds" there are 6-8 top 20 wrestlers at every weight. (I hope that isn't behind a paywall.) Not all of the pre-seeded wrestlers will be there, Macri and Palacio are still out for Cornell for instance. Still, a great chance to see how our guys match-up.

Day one is over for the Big Red. Some really great results.

125: Noah Baughman continues to impress while subbing for an injured Macri. 2 wins, including a TF and a win over a seeded wrestler before losing by MD in the QF.

133: Mark Grey is having another great tournament. Coming in as the 5 seed, he has a Fall, a win and then another Fall over the 4 seed to go to the semfinals. His next match is against a junior who finished in the top 3 both prior years.

141: Will Koll starts the day with a big win over the 7 seed (big early lead, held on for the win) before losing a pair.

149: Joe Galasso had in and a loss in the championship bracket, a pair of wins (including a Fall) in the consolation bracket before losing a wild one in OT.

157: Taylor Simaz with a MD before dropping a pair.

165: Brandon Womack started like a house afire. Fall, MD, Fall before running into a buzzsaw and losing in the QF.

174: Brian Realbuto with a two wins and a MD to get into the semis.

184: Gabe Dean has three straight first period falls to get into the semis.

197: Ben Honis beat the 8 and 9 seed before facing the top seed who took him out with extreme prejudice.

Hwt: Jeramy Sweany lost both of his matches.

After day 1, Cornell is in 4th place.

Just a note for those not familiar with wrestling, Baughman, Womack and Honis are still alive in the consolation round so will wrestle at least one more match today while Grey, Realbuto and Dean hope for the title but can finish no worse than fourth. Which in the case of Realbuto and Dean would definitely be a disappointment since they are seeded first.

Baughman and Honis lost their first consolation matches and were eliminated.

Womack won one (in SV) then lost one (in SV) to go to the 5th place match, where Valencia beat him again, this time a quick fall.

Grey won the rest of his matches and finished in third.

Realbuto and Dean are still to come in their championship matches.

Realbuto lost a close one, 3-2 to stud frosh Valencia from Arizona State (I assume he's the brother of the ASU Valencia who tortured Womack.)

Dean destroyed his opponent, the #8 wrestler in the country, by Technical Fall (19-4). That was basically his closest match of the tournament since it went into the third period. The guy who Dean beat in the final, beat the #2 guy in the country in the semi. Dean looks unstoppable this year.

The wrestling team has the week off (before traveling to Oklahoma for a pair of tough dual meets against the Sooners and Cowboys) but Dylan Palacio, who took the first semester off, is in Hungary wrestling in an international tournament on behalf of Uruguay.* You can watch him if you wake up at, IIRC, 4am Eastern tomorrow.

[unitedworldwrestling.org]

* Palacio was, AFAIK, born and raised on Long Island but his parents are Uruguayan and Colombian, so he can wrestle for them internationally. I think doing so forfeits his right to wrestle for the US (for a while, anyway) but qualifying for our team is somewhere between difficult and unikely and I'm pretty sure the qualification process for Uruguay's team involved making a phone call and asking for a singlet. He finished in 6th place at the last tournament he went to, where he tried to qualify Uruguay (and himself) for the Olympics. He finished a credible 6th but that wasn't enough.

So glad I didn't wake up early. Dylan didn't wrestle. No idea why (injured? Wanted to stay home and get ready for the Oklahoma trip?). But I wanted to spare others from the search of the brackets for his name.

mountainred
So glad I didn't wake up early. Dylan didn't wrestle. No idea why (injured? Wanted to stay home and get ready for the Oklahoma trip?). But I wanted to spare others from the search of the brackets for his name.

oh boy i'm sorry i forgot to tell the board. someone on the wrestling board noticed and i was only kidding about waking up at 4am anyway.

ugarte

mountainred
So glad I didn't wake up early. Dylan didn't wrestle. No idea why (injured? Wanted to stay home and get ready for the Oklahoma trip?). But I wanted to spare others from the search of the brackets for his name.

oh boy i'm sorry i forgot to tell the board. someone on the wrestling board noticed and i was only kidding about waking up at 4am anyway.

I figured it was joke and never seriously thought about getting up early. I should have looked on the wrestling board before searching the brackets for his name.

Any idea if this is a good thing (wanted to focus on college style wresting), a bad thing (injured), or just a thing?

mountainred
Any idea if this is a good thing (wanted to focus on college style wresting), a bad thing (injured), or just a thing?

I tweeted at him to ask but got no response. No info elsewhere as far as I've seen.

Not a win, but an insanely good dual all the same by the #8 Big Red against the #1 Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Oklahoma State started the dual at 174 instead of the more traditional low-to-high, probably because it would get Cornell's strong weights out of the way and let the home crowd see the home team finish strong. The Cowboys are nuts - the lowest rated guy in the lineup was #11.

174: #6 Brian Realbuto (CU) dec. #4 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) 3-2 (CU 3-0)
A pair of 2015 All-Americans who saw their seasons end in injury. Last year when Realbuto was #1 and Crutchmer was #2, they met in the Southern Scuffle. It was a rough tournament for both of them so they met in the 5th place match, where Crutchmer won 4-3 on a takedown with 9 seconds left. This year, after trading escapes, Realbuto got the third period takedown to seal the win. This was Realbuto's first win over a top 10 wrestler this year, after dropping losing to Valencia in Las Vegas. A great win and one he really needed.

184: @1 Gabe Dean (CU) MD #6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) 14-6 (CU 7-0)
Still the best. 7 takedowns and all of Boyd's points were on escapes. A major decision over the only guy who beat him last year. In Dean's defense, he was probably sick at the time and easily won the rematch in the NCAA QF.

197: #5 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. UR Ben Honis (CU) 3-2 (CU 7-3)
Ben Honis damn near had this one. He rode Weigel for the entire second period and was awarded a penalty point when Weigel got dinged for stalling. Given his success on top in the second period, he opted to stay on top for the third; Didn't work. Weigel got out quickly. Then Weigel got a takedown with 40 seconds left and hung on until the end of the match. This, as it turns out would not only have been a great upset but a huge win. Flipping only this match would have given the dual to Cornell (if you ignore the Butterfly Effect).

HWT: @11 Austin Schafer (OSU) dec. UR Craig Scott (CU) 7-3 (CU 7-6)
Jeramy Sweany was out, so Craig Scott stepped in. He acquitted himself well and avoided a major decision or worse.

125: UR Noah Baughman (CU) fall #9 Nick Piccininni (OSU) 4:25 (CU 13-6)
When Dalton Macri got hurt it looked like 125 was going to be a trouble weight since nobody knew what to expect from Baughman. Baughman's been great, though. He got the first takedown of the match and, after NicPic escaped, ended up in a scramble where (still in a neutral position) he was able to press his opponent's shoulders to the mat for a huge pin.

133: #5 Kaid Brock (OSU) MD #17 Mark Grey (CU) 17-6 (CU 13-10)
Brock dominated Grey. No takedowns for Mark.

141: #1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. UR Will Koll (CU) 6-1 (13-13)
Koll couldn't get any offense going against the defending national champ but he kept it close.

149: #3 Anthony Collica (OSU) fall UR Joey Galasso (CU) 3:31 OSU 19-13
Collica dominated this won from the jump. He was already putting on a takedown clinic when he got the pin early in the second period. Galasso's had some decent wins but overall a rough start.

157: #3 Joe Smith (OSU) MD UR Kyle Simaz (CU) 15-6 OSU 23-13
The hope was that this would be a matchup of two top three guys making their season debuts. Alas, #2 Dylan Palacio is still not back in the Cornell lineup and, as it turns out, neither was his backup Taylor Simaz. Instead, third-stringer Kyle Simaz took the mat. Smith took care of him easily and clinched the win for OSU.

165: #20 Brandon Womack (CU) fall #8 Chandler Rogers (OSU) 1:05 OSU 23-19
Going into Las Vegas, Womack was a pinning machine, but he hadn't faced much competition. At Las Vegas he picked up three losses to a couple of wrestlers a few slots ahead of him in the rankings. Tonight he took it right to a top 10 guy, getting a quick takedown, back points and then a pin in just over a minute. He's something else. This was a huge win for him.

An insanely good night. Even most of the losses were better than expected. Flip one of the matches we lost (and 197 is the one that got away) and Cornell shocks the wrestling world and wins the dual.

On Sunday we face Oklahoma. Another tough matchup, though not nearly this tough on paper.

ugarte
Not a win, but an insanely good dual all the same by the #8 Big Red against the #1 Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Oklahoma State started the dual at 174 instead of the more traditional low-to-high, probably because it would get Cornell's strong weights out of the way and let the home crowd see the home team finish strong. The Cowboys are nuts - the lowest rated guy in the lineup was #11.

174: #6 Brian Realbuto (CU) dec. #4 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) 3-2 (CU 3-0)
A pair of 2015 All-Americans who saw their seasons end in injury. Last year when Realbuto was #1 and Crutchmer was #2, they met in the Southern Scuffle. It was a rough tournament for both of them so they met in the 5th place match, where Crutchmer won 4-3 on a takedown with 9 seconds left. This year, after trading escapes, Realbuto got the third period takedown to seal the win. This was Realbuto's first win over a top 10 wrestler this year, after dropping losing to Valencia in Las Vegas. A great win and one he really needed.

184: @1 Gabe Dean (CU) MD #6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) 14-6 (CU 7-0)
Still the best. 7 takedowns and all of Boyd's points were on escapes. A major decision over the only guy who beat him last year. In Dean's defense, he was probably sick at the time and easily won the rematch in the NCAA QF.

197: #5 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. UR Ben Honis (CU) 3-2 (CU 7-3)
Ben Honis damn near had this one. He rode Weigel for the entire second period and was awarded a penalty point when Weigel got dinged for stalling. Given his success on top in the second period, he opted to stay on top for the third; Didn't work. Weigel got out quickly. Then Weigel got a takedown with 40 seconds left and hung on until the end of the match. This, as it turns out would not only have been a great upset but a huge win. Flipping only this match would have given the dual to Cornell (if you ignore the Butterfly Effect).

HWT: @11 Austin Schafer (OSU) dec. UR Craig Scott (CU) 7-3 (CU 7-6)
Jeramy Sweany was out, so Craig Scott stepped in. He acquitted himself well and avoided a major decision or worse.

125: UR Noah Baughman (CU) fall #9 Nick Piccininni (OSU) 4:25 (CU 13-6)
When Dalton Macri got hurt it looked like 125 was going to be a trouble weight since nobody knew what to expect from Baughman. Baughman's been great, though. He got the first takedown of the match and, after NicPic escaped, ended up in a scramble where (still in a neutral position) he was able to press his opponent's shoulders to the mat for a huge pin.

133: #5 Kaid Brock (OSU) MD #17 Mark Grey (CU) 17-6 (CU 13-10)
Brock dominated Grey. No takedowns for Mark.

141: #1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. UR Will Koll (CU) 6-1 (13-13)
Koll couldn't get any offense going against the defending national champ but he kept it close.

149: #3 Anthony Collica (OSU) fall UR Joey Galasso (CU) 3:31 OSU 19-13
Collica dominated this won from the jump. He was already putting on a takedown clinic when he got the pin early in the second period. Galasso's had some decent wins but overall a rough start.

157: #3 Joe Smith (OSU) MD UR Kyle Simaz (CU) 15-6 OSU 23-13
The hope was that this would be a matchup of two top three guys making their season debuts. Alas, #2 Dylan Palacio is still not back in the Cornell lineup and, as it turns out, neither was his backup Taylor Simaz. Instead, third-stringer Kyle Simaz took the mat. Smith took care of him easily and clinched the win for OSU.

165: #20 Brandon Womack (CU) fall #8 Chandler Rogers (OSU) 1:05 OSU 23-19
Going into Las Vegas, Womack was a pinning machine, but he hadn't faced much competition. At Las Vegas he picked up three losses to a couple of wrestlers a few slots ahead of him in the rankings. Tonight he took it right to a top 10 guy, getting a quick takedown, back points and then a pin in just over a minute. He's something else. This was a huge win for him.

An insanely good night. Even most of the losses were better than expected. Flip one of the matches we lost (and 197 is the one that got away) and Cornell shocks the wrestling world and wins the dual.

On Sunday we face Oklahoma. Another tough matchup, though not nearly this tough on paper.

Terrific summary. I followed the match on Twitter and was impressed with how we performed.

This won't be quite as good as ugarte's write-up about OSU, but the Big Red get a nice 21-19 win at Oklahoma.

The good: Realbuto and Dean take care of business against overmatched opponents (Breal with a 16-0 tech fall and Dean with a first period pin). Craig Scott and Joey Galasso get huge upset wins over ranked opponents (Joey G's was a major) and Grey hits a late move to win at 133.

The oh so close: Womack loses OU's #7 ranked senior 3-1 because of a takedown with less than a second left in the second period. Ben Honis just misses an upset of his own, losing in sudden victory. And Wil Koll loses a 5-4 decision that the Cornell coaching staff challenged (my computer froze, so I don't know why).

The disappointing: Noah Baughman was caught in a bad position and pinned quickly.

The he did his job: Kyle Simaz lost 12-0 in the last match with instructions to not get pinned. He wasn't and Cornell won.

This isn't a vintage Sooner team, but winning in Norman is sweet no matter what.

mountainred

The he did his job: Kyle Simaz lost 12-0 in the last match with instructions to not get pinned. He wasn't and Cornell won.

I was out for this whole dual so I caught up by reading the Big Red Wrestling twitter feed and man did I laugh at the play by play of Simaz's match. I think he gave up 3 or 4 stalling points. Even on Twitter you can tell what that means - flattening out after being taken down and making no effort to get up, as the clock winds down.

Great day for the team despite the minor disappointments.

Cornell at Oklahoma is on one of the Fox stations NOW!

marty
Cornell at Oklahoma is on one of the Fox stations NOW!

I just watched a bad cellphone video of it on the Big Red Wrestling Periscope.

ugarte

marty
Cornell at Oklahoma is on one of the Fox stations NOW!

I just watched a bad cellphone video of it on the Big Red Wrestling Periscope.

I was watching that live and got pretty dizzy.

The team is in Chattanooga for the Southern Scuffle and it hasn't been great.

125: Noah Baughman is out after going 1-2.
133: #4 seed Mark Grey is in the round of 12 after going 2-1, losing to the 5 seed in OT.
141: Will Koll pulled out before the tournament. Trence Gillem went 2-2.
149: Joey Galasso pulled out before the tournament. Jonathan Furnas went 0-2.
157: Dylan Palacio pulled out before the tournament. Simaz is in the round of 12 after going 2-1 plus advancing on a forfeit.
165: Brandon Womack lost in OT in the first round but has won four in a row to get to the round of 12. Artigliere won by fall in the first round but got a concussion in the second match and defaulted out of the tournament.
174: Brian Realbuto pulled out before the tournament. We didn't have anyone at 174.
184: Gabe Dean, of course, is in the semifinals with a first period fall and a MD. His brother Max, who is spending a greyshirt year at FLCC, is 3-1 and alive in the round of 12.
197: We sent 3 wrestlers (Owen Scott, Ben Honis and Jake Anderson), plus FLCC greyshirt Ben Darmstadt. All 4 are in the round of 12. Honis (3-1) and Anderson (2-1) will face each other for a spot on the podium; Scott (2-1) and Darmstadt (2-1) will face each other if they both win.
Hwt: Craig Scott won his first round match, then got hurt in his second round match and injury defaulted out of the tournament. Jeramy Sweany went 2-2, getting pinned twice.

So, a lot of injuries, Dean is the only guy still alive in the championship bracket. 6 left in consys plus 2 greyshirts... with four guys in the same weight class. The team is sitting in 9th. This has not been great.

My concern is Realbuto and Palacio who were advertised as participating but were not in the brackets published last week. Injuries?

dag14
My concern is Realbuto and Palacio who were advertised as participating but were not in the brackets published last week. Injuries?

No personal knowledge, but if they were seriously injured, I doubt they would have been entered. Considering the sheer number of starters who were pulled late, and the overall blah performance, the likely culprit is either a flu bug or a team-wide issue with a holiday weight cut. I think I read that Koll changed up the holiday schedule, so maybe the change didn't work out well?

mountainred

dag14
My concern is Realbuto and Palacio who were advertised as participating but were not in the brackets published last week. Injuries?

No personal knowledge, but if they were seriously injured, I doubt they would have been entered. Considering the sheer number of starters who were pulled late, and the overall blah performance, the likely culprit is either a flu bug or a team-wide issue with a holiday weight cut. I think I read that Koll changed up the holiday schedule, so maybe the change didn't work out well?

I think Galasso and Koll have been dinged up. Don't know the deal with Palacio and Realbuto but I guess we'll hear soon.

Not a great second day.

Grey lost to an unseeded wrestler 6-0; Womack, as the 7 seed, lost to the 4 seed in OT. Max Dean gave up a takedown with 1 second left to lose 5-4. None will place.

At 197, Honis beat Anderson 8-4; both Scott and Darmstadt won. Darmstadt was supposed to face Scott next, but defaulted out (probably coach's instruction) to put Scott in the consolation semis. Honis lost his next match and will wrestle Darmstadt for 7th (though I expect another coach's decision here so Cornell gets the team points).

Taylor Simaz has been a bright spot won a pair to get to the consolation semis.

Gabe Dean, of course, is in the final, winning his semi with a second period pin. He'll face OK State's Nolan Boyd, who gave him his only loss last year - though Dean has handled him easily in the two times they've met since.

... to put Scott in the consolation semis.
Taylor Simaz has been a bright spot won a pair to get to the consolation semis.

Simaz lost by tech fall to the 5 seed from UVA, 15-0. He'll face the 4 seed from Minnesota for 5th.

Scott lost 4-0 to Preston Weigel, the 3 seed from Oklahoma State. (Oddly, Weigel has managed to wrestle all of Cornell's 197s this year.). He'll face the 4 seed from UPenn for 5th.

157: Simaz lost; finished 6th.
197: Scott lost; finished 6th.
197: Honis WMD over Darmstadt for 7th, showing the kid that he isn't going to hand over the starting spot next year.

184: Dean, of course, beat Boyd again. 7-2 this time, becoming only the third wrestler ever to win the Southern Scuffle four times.

The team finished in 8th, well behind Oklahoma State and, more importantly, EIWA rival Lehigh who took third.

ugarte
157: Simaz lost; finished 6th.
197: Scott lost; finished 6th.
197: Honis WMD over Darmstadt for 7th, showing the kid that he isn't going to hand over the starting spot next year.

184: Dean, of course, beat Boyd again. 7-2 this time, becoming only the third wrestler ever to win the Southern Scuffle four times.

The team finished in 8th, well behind Oklahoma State and, more importantly, EIWA rival Lehigh who took third.

8th place with four starters out isn't the end of the world, but what a blah way to start the year. And the Hawkineers were hitting on all cylinders.

Looking back, Womack's losses weren't that bad; sudden victory defeats to the guys who finished 4th and 6th. So, you can argue he was close to being on the podium. And it was nice to see Owen Scott back; he lost to the 1, 3 and 4 seeds and only J'Den Cox beat him soundly.

Still, when you start pointing out who your guys lost to, it was a tough event.

Teams were not limited to 10 wrestlers so I don't know that Lehigh's score is necessarily indicative of the team's real strength. At one point in the team standings, Okla State had 14 wrestlers in the championship round and 4 alive in the consis -- at the end Okla had 12 wrestlers place overall. While we also had more than 10 guys wrestling, we were missing key starters.

On the other hand, most of the weight classes were not full even for the round of 32; Gabe had a bye into the round of 16. So good teams with a deep roster should have done well in team scoring just as a result of sheer numbers.

mountainred
8th place with four starters out isn't the end of the world, but what a blah way to start the year. And the Hawkineers were hitting on all cylinders.

Sure, sure. But the four starters out is it's own issue! Until I hear a benign reason for their absence I reserve the right to worry!

We got a few disappointing performances, two in-tournament injuries and only Gabe Dean finished better than 6th. When the non-Dean bright spots are Taylor Simaz and Owen Scott "not losing too badly" that's a rough tournament.

dag14
Teams were not limited to 10 wrestlers so I don't know that Lehigh's score is necessarily indicative of the team's real strength.

Lehigh did very well. If their scoring was a result of two guys placing in a weight class, that speaks well of their depth, if not NCAA tournament scoring strength. We are not showing a lot of depth behind our starters.

ugarte

mountainred
8th place with four starters out isn't the end of the world, but what a blah way to start the year. And the Hawkineers were hitting on all cylinders.

Sure, sure. But the four starters out is it's own issue! Until I hear a benign reason for their absence I reserve the right to worry!

Hey, I don't want to deprive you of the joy of worrying. {I know there is an smiley that fits here, but no idea which one.} My concern is mitigated by the nice results at MSG, Vegas and Oklahoma. If the Big Red still looks blah vs. Drexel and Mizzou, I will join you in worrying.

Cornell recruit's high school career ends with injury . . .

George64
Cornell recruit's high school career ends with injury . . .

You're just giving ugarte more reasons to worry.

mountainred

George64
Cornell recruit's high school career ends with injury . . .

You're just giving ugarte more reasons to worry.

lol i know about this. i'm only worried that it makes it more likely that he'll take a greyshirt year he might not have in order to get back in fighting shape.

Cornell beats Drexel 24-18, but it won't ease ugarte's mind too much. Dylan Palacio finally returns to the mat, but up a weight. Maybe he just can't make 157 anymore.

Good stuff: Grey wins by first period fall, Koll and T. Simaz get impressive majors, Palacio returns and looks good, and Realbuto wrestled up a weight and still destroyed his opponent. All but Koll are seniors.
So-So stuff: John Furnas filled in at 149 and lost a major decision to the reigning EIWA champ, Womack wrestled up a weight and couldn't quite hit what he wanted to hit (I still don't know how he fought off a pin).
Disappointing stuff: Honis and Sweaney close the dual with close losses to unranked guys, Dean had the night off.
WTF stuff: Baughman was dominated in a second period tech fall at 125. His unranked opponent scored a reversal and then tilted Noah at will.

Little rest, as the Big Red faces #8 Missouri (who maybe without bronze medalist J'Den Cox at 197) Saturday afternoon.

mountainred
Cornell beats Drexel 24-18, but it won't ease ugarte's mind too much. Dylan Palacio finally returns to the mat, but up a weight. Maybe he just can't make 157 anymore.

My hope is that they gave Palacio an easier cut for one day against a Drexel team we were expected to handle (who wasn't even at full strength) and he'll be down at 157 today against Missouri. Palacio/Womack is much better than Simaz/Palacio with Womack squeezed out of the lineup. I also hope that Galasso is back because Galasso to Furnas is the biggest dropoff from starter to backup anywhere in our lineup (not counting Dean who isn't allowed to get hurt).

Cornell - Missouri off to a rough start. Galasso, Palacio and Dean are all sitting. Kyle Simaz, Womack and Realbuto all wrestling up a weight. J'Den Cox. defending 197 champ and Olympic bronze medalist is also sitting for Mizzou.

125: Baughman loses 7-2 to McGhee a top 20 wrestler. (MIZZ 3-0)
133: Grey loses 8-2 to Erneste (ranked very similarly in the bottom of the top 20). (MIZZ 6-0)
141: Koll loses by major decision 15-5 to Eierman, a top 10 wrestler. (MIZZ 10-0)
149: Galasso sits again, so Furnas will face Mayes, a top 5 wrestler... and loses by MD 12-3. (MIZZ 14-0)
157: T. Simaz vs top 10 Levalley...

It's early but Cornell is just getting the snot smacked out of it.

It's getting late and getting worse. Rob clearly needs to step up his recruiting.

25-11 final that looks actually better than it really was. Pretty sure no Cornell wrestler scored a TD until Realbuto at 184. At least, Honis and Sweaney get bounce back wins.

ugarte
Galasso, Palacio and Dean are all sitting. Kyle Simaz, Womack and Realbuto all wrestling up a weight.

We only thought Galasso was sitting. Can anyone explain the logic of going Furnas, T. Simaz, Galasso, Womack, BRreal from 149-184? Joey G at 165 was ugly.

mountainred

ugarte
Galasso, Palacio and Dean are all sitting. Kyle Simaz, Womack and Realbuto all wrestling up a weight.

We only thought Galasso was sitting. Can anyone explain the logic of going Furnas, T. Simaz, Galasso, Womack, BRreal from 149-184? Joey G at 165 was ugly.

I think Kyle Simaz at 165 would have been just as ugly. I wonder if Artigliere is still under the concussion protocol. I don't know what the deal is with Palacio getting the dual off after having an entire semester off and a seemingly easy time of it last night.

I don't begrudge Dean getting a weekend off but boy did it make our lineup weird. Everyone from 165 - 184 was fighting at a disadvantage because they had to weigh in light enough to stay eligible for their regular weight and Galasso got it the worst of all.

No wrestler "got the weekend off." Stuff happens at practice; guys get sick, etc. and every starter who didn't wrestle sat for a reason. Fortunately none of the issues are serious or long-term. It is too bad it happened when we faced a ranked opponent.

ugarte

mountainred

ugarte
Galasso, Palacio and Dean are all sitting. Kyle Simaz, Womack and Realbuto all wrestling up a weight.

We only thought Galasso was sitting. Can anyone explain the logic of going Furnas, T. Simaz, Galasso, Womack, BRreal from 149-184? Joey G at 165 was ugly.

I think Kyle Simaz at 165 would have been just as ugly. I wonder if Artigliere is still under the concussion protocol. I don't know what the deal is with Palacio getting the dual off after having an entire semester off and a seemingly easy time of it last night.

I don't begrudge Dean getting a weekend off but boy did it make our lineup weird. Everyone from 165 - 184 was fighting at a disadvantage because they had to weigh in light enough to stay eligible for their regular weight and Galasso got it the worst of all.

Artigliere probably is still in the protocol, but why not use Dawkins at 174 or 184 and let Womack go at his normal weight? I guess Malik could be banged up. It just seemed odd for the reason you mentioned.

Personally, I hope it was just that Dean had the weekend off, and that's fine. Last year Rob gave Nahshon the Brown/Harvard weekend off from making weight even though it meant the Big Red had to forfeit at 133 in both duals.

Looks like tomorrow afternoon's Lehigh meet will be available for free [campusinsiders.com]

nshapiro
Looks like tomorrow afternoon's Lehigh meet will be available for free [campusinsiders.com]

cool thanks

ugarte

nshapiro
Looks like tomorrow afternoon's Lehigh meet will be available for free [campusinsiders.com]

cool thanks

Yes, thanks. Now, I hope I enjoy the show!

mountainred

ugarte

nshapiro
Looks like tomorrow afternoon's Lehigh meet will be available for free [campusinsiders.com]

cool thanks

Yes, thanks. Now, I hope I enjoy the show!

I hope it's archived since I'll probably miss a lot of it but I don't see an archive link.

ugarte

mountainred

ugarte

nshapiro
Looks like tomorrow afternoon's Lehigh meet will be available for free [campusinsiders.com]

cool thanks

Yes, thanks. Now, I hope I enjoy the show!

I hope it's archived since I'll probably miss a lot of it but I don't see an archive link.

If it's archived, fast forward to the intermission. Trust me.

Cornell beats Lehigh 21-20 thanks to our big guys. Hawkineers' lightweights owned the first half as Lehigh took an 18-3 lead at the intermission. The only "bright" spots are Grey squeezing out a win over a Lehigh reserve and Koll losing an exciting 1-0 bout at 141.

The second half was a full 180. Palacio won at 165, though it was just a 3-2 decision. BReal worked a brilliant neutral pin over a highly ranked Lehigh guy at 174. Dean overwhelmed some poor Lehigh freshman for another pin. And Honis won at at 197, though it was a boring stall-fest. Sweany lost in OT at Heavy, 3-1, but it was one of those weird situations where Sweany's main goal was not to get pinned (or teched) or take an chances that could result in a pin.

Props to the seniors for gutting out a win. Lehigh was way too proud of their win last year, even though Cornell's two eventual national champs missed the dual.

I had trouble with the video feed -- not sure if it was me or them because I could stream the women's hockey game. When I final got a feed, Cornell was down 17-3 and Palacio was wrestling at 165. He won his match, Realbuto earned an unorthodox pin against a very competent opponent, Gabe was Gabe [although we had to wait until the second period for the pin] and suddenly Cornell had the lead 18-17 with 2 matches to go. Honis won and Sweany lost in OT to give Cornell the win 21-20.

dag14
I had trouble with the video feed -- not sure if it was me or them because I could stream the women's hockey game. When I final got a feed, Cornell was down 17-3 and Palacio was wrestling at 165. He won his match, Realbuto earned an unorthodox pin against a very competent opponent, Gabe was Gabe [although we had to wait until the second period for the pin] and suddenly Cornell had the lead 18-17 with 2 matches to go. Honis won and Sweany lost in OT to give Cornell the win 21-20.

others seemed to have the same issue, but it worked fine for me (crappy audio and way delayed graphics aside).

mountainred

ugarte
I hope it's archived since I'll probably miss a lot of it but I don't see an archive link.

If it's archived, fast forward to the intermission. Trust me.

I was following on Twitter and when Realbuto stuck Preisch (the only match I really, really want to see) I thought "we can do this as long as Sweany doesn't get pinned. I was really worried we were going to have another 2015-16 Mizzou. And lo... Sweany stays off his back and Cornell pulls it out. Amazing.

If Palacio can't make the cut, he can't make the cut and there's not a lot to get mad about but damn, Palacio/Womack is so much stronger than Simaz/Palacio. Disappointing all the same.

I think the bubble may have burst on Baughman. After a great WBF against Piccininni he's been ... not good. Pinned, teched three times and majored. Woof.

I'm also very worried about 149. The fall off from Galasso is dramatic - and Galasso wasn't even having a great year.

Honis has been a very pleasant surprise at 197. I feel bad for Owen Scott that he doesn't get to wrestle out his senior year but Honis took his job fair and square. Not even a Wally Pipp situation, since Koll said he won the wrestle-off. I don't know that this is settled for good though.

And Sweany didn't get pinned!

Ugarte (and anyone else that's curious), flo has the BReal highlights in front of their paywall: [www.flowrestling.org]

Can't disagree with your summary. Palacio/Womack is the better line-up, but if Dylan can't make 157, you have to go with Plan B.

Cornell finishes the weekend with a 31-15 win over Lock Haven. 16 point wins are nice, but it was kind of a mixed bag.

The good stuff. Dean and BRreal took care of business with first period pins. Baughman got a needed win by fall at 125; Koll overwhelmed his opponent 12-0 at 151; Simaz won by DQ when his opponent was hit for 5 stalls (it was bad and deserved); and Womack won by a solid 8-2 score. That's five bonus point wins.

The not so good. Honis lost 8-6 to a talented Loch Haven wrestler largely because he was ridden out in the second period. Sweany was pinned by the #15 heavy after taking an early lead.

The just plain bad: Grey looked awful getting ridden out in the second and third periods. And Furnas filled in for Galasso at 149 and lost handily (7-2). The talent drop off at 149 after Joey G is every bit as troubling as ugarte says.

mountainred
Ugarte (and anyone else that's curious), flo has the BReal highlights in front of their paywall: [www.flowrestling.org]

Thanks!

mountainred
The not so good. Honis lost 8-6 to a talented Loch Haven wrestler largely because he was ridden out in the second period. Sweany was pinned by the #15 heavy after taking an early lead.

The just plain bad: Grey looked awful getting ridden out in the second and third periods. And Furnas filled in for Galasso at 149 and lost handily (7-2). The talent drop off at 149 after Joey G is every bit as troubling as ugarte says.

This team has a lot of trouble on bottom. I don't get it! It's plagued us all year at all weights. Except Dean, but how do we even know? He hasn't been taken down all year and he's only made it to the second period a handful of times! (He did get up quickly when he chose bottom.)

At 285, I think the answer is that Sweany just isn't strong enough for heavy. His technique is OK and he can get takedowns but as soon as he's on bottom he's on his back. It's a downer since I thought maybe we might have a heavy to compete with. Now I don't even really expect him to make the tourney. Neither does the Committee - in the first rankings we don't have anyone in the top 33 at 125 or 285.

ugarte

mountainred
The not so good. Honis lost 8-6 to a talented Loch Haven wrestler largely because he was ridden out in the second period. Sweany was pinned by the #15 heavy after taking an early lead.

The just plain bad: Grey looked awful getting ridden out in the second and third periods. And Furnas filled in for Galasso at 149 and lost handily (7-2). The talent drop off at 149 after Joey G is every bit as troubling as ugarte says.

This team has a lot of trouble on bottom. I don't get it! It's plagued us all year at all weights. Except Dean, but how do we even know? He hasn't been taken down all year and he's only made it to the second period a handful of times! (He did get up quickly when he chose bottom.)

At 285, I think the answer is that Sweany just isn't strong enough for heavy. His technique is OK and he can get takedowns but as soon as he's on bottom he's on his back. It's a downer since I thought maybe we might have a heavy to compete with. Now I don't even really expect him to make the tourney. Neither does the Committee - in the first rankings we don't have anyone in the top 33 at 125 or 285.

I don't ever remember a CU team that struggled this much, as a unit, in the bottom position. And it bites this team in unusual ways; it cost Will Koll yesterday when he chose neutral when he had choice and lost 1-0.

It feels like Sweany has regressed from last year. But, he doesn't look strong enough to get NF points or to get out if he's in the slightest problem. Well, two top 20 recruits keep the dream of an AA at this weight alive.

Cornell runs its Ivy win streak to 75 with wins over Brown (35-8) and Harvard (33-11). Baughman (125) gets a couple of easy wins, which will have to help his confidence and Furnas fills in at 149, again, and gets a pair of wins. Nice to see him win as he is wrestling up a weight, at least, to help the team. All in all, very workmanlike. The biggest news was that Palacio lost to Brown's guy at 165 by a score of 14-13; that loss will be costly for his national ranking. Our other big guns looked good and Dean pinned his cousin to avoid an embarrassing family reunion.

If an Ivy is going to challenge Cornell this year, it will be Princeton. The Tigers would be favored at two weights (141 and 197), four weights are close enough that they could go either way (125, 149, 157, Hvy), and the Princeton guys who face Realbuto and Dean are good enough that you can't just assume a TF or pin, though Brian and Gabe should win. If Mark Grey can't go at 133 and things broke badly, the Tigers could win.

Cornell is wrestling at Columbia, Saturday at 1, for the folks in NYC.

Cornell beats Penn 27-10, which sets up a dual for the Ivy title tomorrow at 3 versus Princeton. Cornell will be favored to win their 15th straight league title, which would extend the longest such string for any Ivy team in any sport, but it won't be easy.

And Cornell beats Princeton 21-12 to capture Ivy title 15 in a row and Ivy dual #78 in a row.

Instead of the traditional start at 125 pounds, the coaches agreed to a blind draw of weights and Princeton's coach drew 157. That let Cornell open up an virtually insurmountable 18-0 lead in the first half thanks to solid wins by Simaz and Womack, followed by bonus point wins by Realbuto and Dean, and then Ben Honis upsetting Princeton's All-American at 197. The second half was mostly Princeton, but Noah Baughman picked up a sudden victory win at 125 to seal the dual.

By winning the Ivy title, Cornell will host a Big Ten school in what is best thought of as a wrestling bowl game. Then EIWAs. Then NCAAs. That's it.

Coming in, this looked like it might be a tense one - probably the biggest challenge to Cornell in a very long time. Princeton was favored at 4 weights - with top 20 wrestlers at 141 (# Kolodzik), 149 (#17 Laster), 197 (#10 Harner) and Heavyweight (#17 O'Donnell) with a real chance of giving up bonus points at 141, Throw in tossups/modest favorites at 125, 157 and 165. The only clear favorites for Cornell were our powerhouse Realbuto/Dean pair 174/184 and Grey at 133 - but even Grey was coming off of a long injury layoff.

157: Simaz jumped out to an 8-1 lead and made it stick, winning 8-5.

165: Womack faced a guy making his season debut and had a tougher time than you'd expect, winning 5-0 but not really dominating. Too be fair, his opponent had a pretty good freshman year before getting the injury bug.

174: Realbuto, shockingly, was taken down 3 times in the first period, with only one takedown of his own. At the end of the period Schleiffer was up 7-4. After that, though, it was all Realbuto. People watching (I was listening) said that Schleiffer was gassed and Realbuto could tell. Realbuto had 8 more takedowns plus two points for stalling and one more for riding time. Schleiffer only had 6 points from escapes and some of those were because Realbuto let him up. 23-13 major decision.

184: Dean just destroyed another guy. He couldn't flatten him out for the pin - apparently he came close but was only able to get 4NF points before his opponent was able to wriggle to his belly - but he was pretty much able to take him down at will. It took over two periods but Dean won by TF 20-5.

At this point Cornell was up 15-0 but the tricky part was coming up. Of the remaining six weights, Princeton was the favorite in four.

197: Princeton's returning All-American Harner got the first takedown of the match and Honis escaped fairly quickly. Not much scoring but the exchange of escapes had the score at 3-2 Harner early in the third, before he got another takedown, putting Honis in a tough hole. He escaped quickly to make the score 5-3 before getting a takedown of his own to tie the match with (iirc) ~30 seconds to go. Unwilling to risk losing on a late escape, Honis let Harner up - surrendering the lead - to try and win with a late takedown. With around 10 seconds left, BAM. Harner didn't even really try to get up and Honis won 7-6. Huge win for the kid.

Hwt: This was a hairy one. Scott took an accidental poke in the eye; as he took a knee to cover his eye, O'Donnell shot in, catching Scott in the face and giving him a bloody nose that took a long time to stanch. Once Scott got back on the mat - with plugs in both nostrils - O'Donnell took him down. Scott then appeared to get his leg hurt in some way and struggled to the finish but kept it under a major decision.

125: Baughman had a tough one. Both wrestlers had chances to score but both defended well and the match went to OT tied at 4; with time running out in the sudden victory period, Baughman converted a TD. Great win. Like Honis, he wrestled the whole match and pulled out the W. Great performances from the freshmen.

133: With the lead at 21-3, Grey made his return after a few weeks of his overmatched backup. It... did not go well. D'Arcy took him down twice and Grey had his typical problems on bottom and didn't escape after either. Lost 6-0. This close loss still locked up the meet for us, since Princeton needed pins or forfeits in
the last three matches to tie.

141: In a match that looked like Princeton's best chance at bonus points, Koll kept it close, losing 5-3 against a guy who has been tearing through the weight class as a freshman and even forcing him into taking a stalling point.

149: Like Grey, Galasso's missed a lot of the year with injury and had a tough one today, facing a top-20 wrestler. It looked like it was going to end in a major decision loss but he got a takedown of his own late to narrow the gap and lost 9-5.

21-12 win, including solid performances from the future of the team.

I appreciate these reviews. I know less about wrestling than ollamaliztli and hitherto had no interest in it, but your reviews are so piquant I want to watch matches.

Trotsky
I appreciate these reviews. I know less about wrestling than ollamaliztli and hitherto had no interest in it, but your reviews are so piquant I want to watch matches.

Agreed -- Ugarte, you do a tremendous job on your analysis. I watched the Princeton match yesterday, and the Honis and Baughman matches were sublime.

Adding to the good news, Cornell just picked up a stud transfer from Minnesota, Fredy Stroker. He was a top-15 recruit out of HS 2 years ago, and is a redshirt freshman. He'll be immediately eligible as a sophomore next fall. Apparently he's been plugged in to the Minnesota lineup at 149 and has been struggling with the weight cut, but is slated to be at 157 at Cornell. Based on what Ive read on the Cornell thread on Wrestlingreport, Stroker is likely to step-in as the starter at 157 next year.

scoop85

Trotsky
I appreciate these reviews. I know less about wrestling than ollamaliztli and hitherto had no interest in it, but your reviews are so piquant I want to watch matches.

Agreed -- Ugarte, you do a tremendous job on your analysis. I watched the Princeton match yesterday, and the Honis and Baughman matches were sublime.

Adding to the good news, Cornell just picked up a stud transfer from Minnesota, Fredy Stroker. He was a top-15 recruit out of HS 2 years ago, and is a redshirt freshman. He'll be immediately eligible as a sophomore next fall. Apparently he's been plugged in to the Minnesota lineup at 149 and has been struggling with the weight cut, but is slated to be at 157 at Cornell. Based on what Ive read on the Cornell thread on Wrestlingreport, Stroker is likely to step-in as the starter at 157 next year.

Thanks Greg and MR. I watch when I can but I have to admit that a lot of it is old-timey radio baseball where the announcer had to make up the action from the play-by-play coming over the wire.

MR: I love Stroker coming in at 157 and still don't have a handle on where Yianni Diomakhilis and Vito Arujau are expected to go. Figure 133 or 141 for Vito and 141 or 149 for Yianni?

By beating Princeton and clinching the Ivy title (15 in a row, baby!) Cornell gets a spot in the National Duals where we're going to face #4 Ohio State. Tough matchup that we are likely to lose (especially with the injuries big and small) but one that I'm sorry I won't be able to see.

I'm scraping this from a post over at the wrestlingreport.com forums but the expected matchups are:

125: Noah Baughman (C) vs. #18 Jose Rodriguez
133: #20 Mark Grey (C) vs. #1 Nathan Tomasello
141: Will Koll (C), 5-3 vs. #15 Luke Pletcher
149: Jon Furnas (C) vs. #5 Micah Jordan
157: Taylor Simaz (C) vs. Anthony DeCarlo
165: Brandon Womack (C) vs. Cody Burcher
174: #3 Brian Realbuto (C) vs. #1 Bo Jordan
184: #1 Gabe Dean (C) vs. #10 Myles Martin
197: Ben Honis (C) vs. #4 Kollin Moore
285: Craig Scott (C) vs. ???

We are big underdogs at 133, 149 and 197; moderate dogs at 125, 141 and 174 (sorry Brian); toss up at 165. Favorites at 157 and 184.

At Heavyweight we are either going to get pinned by returning national champion / Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder or are a moderate favorite against his backup. Snyder has the World Championships in Iran that same weekend (assuming the status of the Muslim ban litigation on tournament day doesn't mean the entire US team gets turned away at the airport) so I'm guessing he's going to sit this one out.

Our lineup could see some changes. It would be better - but probably not enough - to have Galasso at 149. It would also be nice to have Palacio back and healthy at 157; I'm not at all sure that he'd be better than Womack at 165 given his rust. 197 is a deep weight. though either Honis or Owen Scott would be a serious underdog to Moore at 197. If Craig Scott's dings from the Princeton match persist, Sweany may not even be favored at Heavyweight. And if Grey can't go at 133, we probably see a pin in under 30 seconds.

From: [www.ncaa.com]

Sunday’s action will begin in Ithaca, New York, as No. 8 Cornell (12-2) comes out of the EIWA and the Ivy League to host No. 4 Ohio State (11-2) at 1 p.m. Eastern at the Friedman Center. The Buckeyes have been ranked in the top four all season long and finished third in the Big Ten during the regular season with a 7-2 conference record. Cornell dealt with a number lineup combinations this season and managed to carve out an 8-0 record in the EIWA. The Big Red also won their 15th straight Ivy League championship and have won 78 straight duals against Ivy opponents. After 13 prior meetings, the series is tied at 6-6-1. The dual will be streamed live by Trackwrestling.com

KenP
From: [www.ncaa.com]

Sunday’s action will begin in Ithaca, New York, as No. 8 Cornell (12-2) comes out of the EIWA and the Ivy League to host No. 4 Ohio State (11-2) at 1 p.m. Eastern at the Friedman Center.

Cornell write-up says meet is in Newman.

ugarte
Our lineup could see some changes. It would be better - but probably not enough - to have Galasso at 149. It would also be nice to have Palacio back and healthy at 157; I'm not at all sure that he'd be better than Womack at 165 given his rust. 197 is a deep weight. though either Honis or Owen Scott would be a serious underdog to Moore at 197. If Craig Scott's dings from the Princeton match persist, Sweany may not even be favored at Heavyweight. And if Grey can't go at 133, we probably see a pin in under 30 seconds.

The match notes now say either Simaz or Palacio at 157, which would be pretty great. Also says Scott or Sweany at Heavy, which is less great.

ugarte

ugarte
Our lineup could see some changes. It would be better - but probably not enough - to have Galasso at 149. It would also be nice to have Palacio back and healthy at 157; I'm not at all sure that he'd be better than Womack at 165 given his rust. 197 is a deep weight. though either Honis or Owen Scott would be a serious underdog to Moore at 197. If Craig Scott's dings from the Princeton match persist, Sweany may not even be favored at Heavyweight. And if Grey can't go at 133, we probably see a pin in under 30 seconds.

The match notes now say either Simaz or Palacio at 157, which would be pretty great. Also says Scott or Sweany at Heavy, which is less great.

I bet we see Sweany. Winning this dual is unlikely and Scott is needed for Easterns.

I'm torn on Palacio. As a fan, a healthy, ready Dylan is the best choice at 157. But Simaz has answered the bell all season.

mountainred

I bet we see Sweany. Winning this dual is unlikely and Scott is needed for Easterns.

I was half right. We saw Sweany, but Cornell beats #4 OSU 19-18.

I will let ugarte do his usual amazing summary, but huge wins by Baughman at 125 and Realbuto over no longer undefeated Bo Jordan at 174.

mountainred
Cornell beats #4 OSU 19-18. ... huge wins by Baughman at 125 and Realbuto over no longer undefeated Bo Jordan at 174.

Nice!

mountainred

mountainred

I bet we see Sweany. Winning this dual is unlikely and Scott is needed for Easterns.

I was half right. We saw Sweany, but Cornell beats #4 OSU 19-18.

I will let ugarte do his usual amazing summary, but huge wins by Baughman at 125 and Realbuto over no longer undefeated Bo Jordan at 174.

No long write-up - I'm in Guadeloupe and don't have my laptop and only read the result myself - but I am really psyched about this win.

At 125 Baughman beat the #16 wrestler in the country.

At 141 Koll had his second straight close loss against a top 15 wrestler.

Dylan Palacio made weight at 157 and in his first match at the weight, won by major decision. The competition was weak, so we didn't learn a lot, but it does mean that we are closer to our best lineup for the conference tournament.

Brandon Womack beat Cody Burcher for the second time this season at 165. He's going to go into the conference tournament on the fringes of the top 20.

In the match of the night, #3 Brian Realbuto beat #1 (and undefeated and a finalist from 2016) Bo Jordan. According to the write up on the Cornell website The OSU coaches were mad about a couple of no-calls but all the same, this will move BReal up to #2, past Jordan.

At 184, for the second time this season, #1 Gabe Dean beat #7 Myles Martin, the 2016 champ at 174. This time the score was 10-5 and Cornell reported that he was close to a pin when time ran out. This may have been the first takedown Dean gave up all season, though, since that's the only way the shire makes sense. (I don't know for sure and maybe the ref was awarding a lot of stalling points, though that doesn't sound like Dean.)

The big win came at the end, though. With Olympic champ Kyle Snyder off at the World Championships in Iran*, two backups faced off at Heavyweight. With the team down 18-16 and needing a win, Jeramy Sweany won 4-0, under pressure, and that's awesome.

The matches we lost big, we were going to lose big. Mark Grey, Jonathan Furnas and Ben Honis were all facing top 5 guys and... are not on that level.

A great result heading into the conference tournament and I guess I did write more than I intended.


* Snyder lost one match in the semis, which was a surprise, but the team advanced to the final. In the final, Snyder did win his match, but unfortunately Iran beat the US for the title.

OKi watched the Dean and Realbuto matches.

In the Dean match the refs absolutely missed Dean getting a pin not once but twice. I have no idea how they missed it. You are allowed to call for a review on a takedown and I can't imagine that video review wouldn't have given Dean the pin. Then, up 9-3 with the clock winding down Dean tried for one last TD to get the major decision and ended up losing a scramble on the edge of the mat with two seconds left. First points he's given up all year that weren't an escape. Bummer. The good news is that he's light years better than Martin.

The Realbuto match was amazing. Jordan is huge. BReal got the only takedown 15 seconds into the match. He also got in on single leg shots multiple times but waft able to convert because Jordan did a great job getting to a stalemate position. There was one scramble at the end of the songs that definitely looked like 2 for Realbuto but Jordan had his foot. At the end of the third they got in a scramble and if there was literally one more second Jordan would have fourteen the points he needed to win but the buzzer came and the refs made the right call after review.

Both matches are at trackwrestling.com if you want to watch. Apparently the free video feed was frustrating and awful but the archived video is great.

ugarte
OKi watched the Dean and Realbuto matches.

In the Dean match the refs absolutely missed Dean getting a pin not once but twice. I have no idea how they missed it. You are allowed to call for a review on a takedown and I can't imagine that video review wouldn't have given Dean the pin. Then, up 9-3 with the clock winding down Dean tried for one last TD to get the major decision and ended up losing a scramble on the edge of the mat with two seconds left. First points he's given up all year that weren't an escape. Bummer. The good news is that he's light years better than Martin.

The Realbuto match was amazing. Jordan is huge. BReal got the only takedown 15 seconds into the match. He also got in on single leg shots multiple times but waft able to convert because Jordan did a great job getting to a stalemate position. There was one scramble at the end of the songs that definitely looked like 2 for Realbuto but Jordan had his foot. At the end of the third they got in a scramble and if there was literally one more second Jordan would have fourteen the points he needed to win but the buzzer came and the refs made the right call after review.

Both matches are at trackwrestling.com if you want to watch. Apparently the free video feed was frustrating and awful but the archived video is great.

Here is a link to the Dean match: [s200.trackwrestling.com] (just click continue on the ad). The Realbuto match is available in "related content."

Turn down the volume as the sound mixing is almost as bad as the video stream was.

I thought Realbuto forced the action pretty much throughout his match, but a rematch at the NCAAs is no more than a toss-up. Still, it cements Brian's position as a true contender for the title at 174 (along with 4-5 others).

As for Dean, Cornell had used a video review earlier, I think in Womack's match, so maybe they didn't have a challenge left? Martin was doing everything he could to avoid Gabe and probably deserved a couple more stall warnings. Good strategy for Ohio State, but lousy wrestling.

Noah's win was huge, not just for the team but for him. The video crapped out, so I missed his takedown, but he looked every bit on the level of a guy who majored him earlier this year. The win may get Noah to crack the coach's top 33, which could earn the EIWA another ticket for nationals at 125. I've seen estimates that give the EIWA just 2 bids, which would require Noah to make the finals to qualify. He could do that, but one more bid would be nice flexibility.