ELynah Forum

It is not stuffing the ballot, Dake is the clear winner for this award. Any other outcome would be lunacy.

Dake is the consensus #2 NCAA wrestler of ALL TIME behind Cael Sanderson who went 4 years undefeated in the 1990s. I don't think anyone is making the case for any of these other clowns to be the greatest ever at their sports. Case closed. Dake is the best.

They are just trying to increase the excitement associated with the event, and if there is one thing wrestling needs, its more attention/fans/excitement. In this way, I am OK with it. And if there is anything we have learned about Dake in the past 3 years, it's that he generally rises to the occasion. The bigger the occasion, the better he will be.

The recruiting rankings are highly variable, inevitably some guys are late bloomers and others live up to the hype or exceed it. I remember when we placed 2nd at NCAAs in 2010, and then we signed the class with the #3 and #5 recruits (see below), I thought we would become unstoppable and win the title in '11 or '12. However, there is not too much to be made with recruiting rankings, a top 5 guy can be Kyle Dake or Marshall Peppleman, and a #66 recruit can be Nashon Garrett or someone that never cracks the lineup. If anything, I try not to hold it against a guy for being highly touted, that is out of their control.

Top Recruits in recent years(ranking is overall, not weight specific)
2009, Dake #4
2010, Villalonga, #3
2010, Peppelman, #5
2010, Shanaman, #63
2011, Dixon, #49
2011, Garrett, #66

Cornell is well on its way to another EIWA title. As for NCAAs, here is the breakdown.

Qualified for NCAAs: Garrett (125), Nevinger (141), Dake (165) and Bozak (184)
Failed to qualify for NCAAs: Dixon (133) and Peppelman (174)
Need to win next match to earn top 4 and qualify: Villalonga (149) and Lane (HWT)
Need to win one of the next two matches to earn top 5 and qualify: Bennett (197) and Shanaman (157)

I'm not sure how the at-large spots work, but I'm hoping that between those and some good wrestling this morning, Cornell can get 7 or 8 to the big tournament.

I was also impressed by the performance against Iowa. Iowa was ranked #2 and always has a stable of studs on hand. I was impressed with Garrett giving McDonough a run, and Bennett and Nevinger both beating higher seeded wrestlers. This bodes well.

Potential All-Americans: Garrett (125), Nevinger (141), Dake (165) and Bozak (184)
Win some matches at NCAAs: Villalonga (149)
Make NCAAs(?): Bennett (197)
Not looking great: 133,157,174,HWT

Is Bosak injured? Missing him from the lineup certainly hurts the team. We don't look like a podium team for NCAAs thus far, though clearly Dake winning #4 will be the huge story for Cornell and across wrestling this year. If he wrestles Taylor in the NCAA final, this may be the most anticipated NCAA final in history (though I'm not a wrestling history buff).

Other encouraging story so far for the Big Red is the emergence of Nashon Garrett. He looks like an all-American to me, and only a freshman. Intermat has him up to #10 ranking at 125.

Only two wrestlers in history have ever won 4 NCAA titles, Pat Smith and Cael Sanderson. Dake going for #4 next year will be a big story nationally. My guess is that he stays at the same weight (157) instead of moving up again. 4 times at 4 weights would be impressive but it might be better for him to avoid David Taylor at 165, and who is to say that 165 would be a natural fit anyways.

Even the Michigan fans are feeling bad karma with this one, haha.



"I love the puck previews, but this is way premature!  There is absolutely no reason to post this, the last thing we want is a jinx!  This is single-elimination playoff college hockey for crying out loud!  TAKE THIS GODDAMN POST DOWN NOW!  And hopefully put it back up Saturday."

Michigan's premier sports blog (over 1.5M visitors per month) already has a preview up for assumed Michigan vs. Denver match-up.

http://mgoblog.com/content/puck-preview-denver

In case people are curious, here is their preview for Cornell-Michigan.

http://mgoblog.com/content/puck-preview-cornell

Whats the point reward for winning in the championship match?

We're down by 14. Any chance that Cornell 1-0, and PSU 0-3 could result in us winning?

All over for Cornell. No maybe next year, Penn State and Iowa will be much better next year. We will be much worse without Lewnes, Grey, Kerber, Meagher, and Mason.

Bosak with a huge opportunity for revenge...


Lehigh-Cornell Dual meet in January

"At 184 pounds, No. 3 Steve Bosak took down No. 9 Robert Hamlin a minute into the match. After 45 seconds, Hamlin escaped. Bosak started the second period down on the mat and escaped. Hamlin countered a shot by Bosak and took down the Big Red wrestler with 13 seconds left in the period. Hamlin chose neutral to start the third period. Hamlin took down Bosak to take a 5-3 lead. Bosak would escape but could not score against an evading Hamlin and lost a 5-4 decision."

EIWA Finals

"Sophomore Steve Bosak squared off against No. 4 Robert Hamlin at 184 pounds in the finals. Hamlin took down Bosak 18 seconds into the bout, but the Big Red wrestler immediately escaped. The two wrestlers continued high energy action throughout the period. In the second, Bosak escaped from his opening down position to tie the match 2-2. Bosak earned his first offensive points of the bout with a takedown, but Hamlin escaped. Hamlin quickly escaped from his opening down position to start the third period to tie the score once again at 4-4. The two wrestlers entertained the crowd once again trading shots back and force each countering their opponents shots. With time winding down, Hamlin took down Bosak. Bosak would immediately escape, but time ran out and Hamlin won a 6-5 decision."

Quote from: ugarteDamn. Kerber is out. Cornell is done for the morning session. I think Iowa and Penn State are also.

So much for 6 All-Americans, as we only have five alive at this point. I was counting on Kerber.

Grey will wrestle tonight in the 4th round of the wrestlebacks. He needs one win to get to the All-American round. The other 4 will go in the semifinals on ESPNU tonight at 7pm, and have secured top 6 already.

Team title chances starting to split away, as Perelli, Kerber, and Meagher all disappointed in the wrestlebacks. Meagher was leading after 2 periods, and lost, and the other two lost to lower seeds.

We still have a chance, but we would need multiple champions from our top 4.

125 - I think Perelli can win 2-3 more matches. He has no seeded wrestlers down in his area of the wrestlebacks. This will help the team a lot if he can go on a run.
133 - Grey could pull a big upset and stay up top, but likely will fall down. Only needs one more win to get to All-American.
141 - Manson is likely eliminated in his first match tomorrow.
149 - Big match for Dake to beat #5 and make the semifinals. If he wins, he'd face unranked or #8 in the semis. Great shot at finals.
157 - Meagher needs to avenge a prior loss to Harvard's Peppelman to stay alive. This is a winnable match for him.  
165 - Tough, tough loss for Kerber, now he needs to win 3 matches for all-American. Do-able, but he needs to be sharp.
174 - Lewnes looking good, should handle Bennett to make semifinals for a potential HUGE showdown with #2 Ruth from Penn State.
184 - Bozak faces unranked, should make semis.
197 - Simaz looking at #8, and then 4/5, to make the final.

Overall Friday prognosis - We really need to win in the quarterfinals at 149,174,184, and 197, and get runs in the wrestlebacks from 165 and 125 tomorrow. Also we should hope that Penn State only gets 4 or fewer into the semifinals.

Still think we have a great chance of winning. What will it take? Not sure, but my guess is 3 in finals with 1-2 winning, plus 6 all Americans total would do it, or at least put us close.

Things going well so far this evening. Parelli lost his 11/6 match, but Grey and Dake are into the quarterfinals, and Manson won his match in the consis.