General 2013-14 Wrestling thread

[ugarte]

We can save the single purpose threads for the conference and NCAA tournaments and keep this thread for general bits of wrestling news.

The season kicked off with the Binghamton Open and the team did pretty well overall (though not quite as well as Penn State, who remain the team to beat). I wouldn't have even mentioned this but for the start of the season by Nahshon Garrett, who began the season ranked #3 in the country.

In a preseason exhibition, Garrett beat #7 Jarrod Patterson, an Oklahoma senior, 6-1 in OT. He followed that up by winning the Binghamton Open over #2 Nico Megaludis of Penn State 6-5. He'll almost certainly be #2 in the next rankings, behind only Jesse Delgado, the returning national champion. Mega beat Garrett last year, so this was nice opportunity for vengeance, as they didn't meet in the NCAAs.

Getting other good results from our frosh, so while this may be a bit of a rebuilding year (by Cornell's recent standards) it is still going to be a very good year.

[scoop85]

We can save the single purpose threads for the conference and NCAA tournaments and keep this thread for general bits of wrestling news.

The season kicked off with the Binghamton Open and the team did pretty well overall (though not quite as well as Penn State, who remain the team to beat). I wouldn't have even mentioned this but for the start of the season by Nahshon Garrett, who began the season ranked #3 in the country.

In a preseason exhibition, Garrett beat #7 Jarrod Patterson, an Oklahoma senior, 6-1 in OT. He followed that up by winning the Binghamton Open over #2 Nico Megaludis of Penn State 6-5. He'll almost certainly be #2 in the next rankings, behind only Jesse Delgado, the returning national champion. Mega beat Garrett last year, so this was nice opportunity for vengeance, as they didn't meet in the NCAAs.

Getting other good results from our frosh, so while this may be a bit of a rebuilding year (by Cornell's recent standards) it is still going to be a very good year.

It seems that while there's no Kyle Dake this year, we have more depth up-and-down the lineup than ever before.

[ugarte]

We can save the single purpose threads for the conference and NCAA tournaments and keep this thread for general bits of wrestling news.

The season kicked off with the Binghamton Open and the team did pretty well overall (though not quite as well as Penn State, who remain the team to beat). I wouldn't have even mentioned this but for the start of the season by Nahshon Garrett, who began the season ranked #3 in the country.

In a preseason exhibition, Garrett beat #7 Jarrod Patterson, an Oklahoma senior, 6-1 in OT. He followed that up by winning the Binghamton Open over #2 Nico Megaludis of Penn State 6-5. He'll almost certainly be #2 in the next rankings, behind only Jesse Delgado, the returning national champion. Mega beat Garrett last year, so this was nice opportunity for vengeance, as they didn't meet in the NCAAs.

Getting other good results from our frosh, so while this may be a bit of a rebuilding year (by Cornell's recent standards) it is still going to be a very good year.

It seems that while there's no Kyle Dake this year, we have more depth up-and-down the lineup than ever before.

Until we hit heavy... sigh.

[mountainred]

Easy win over Bingo this evening 33-6.  The only two losses were at the weights were the regular starters (Garrett and Nevinger) were taking the night off.  The freshman class continue to impress as Grey earns a tech fall while Realbuto and Dean get dominant pins.

[mountainred]

5 Big Red wrestlers won NY titles today:  Grey (133), Villalonga (149), Realbuto (157), Dean (184), and Bennett (197).  Garrett would have been a heavy favorite to win at 125 had he wrestled and Nevinger would have been favored at 141 (though Hofstra's Luke Vaith is very good).

Right now I think 7 starters are set, barring injury.  There are the two veteran national title contenders in Garrett and Nevinger who are both top 5 ranked.  Throw in the super frosh of Grey, Realbuto and Dean.  Jace Bennett is probably the starter at 197 and he is top 20 ranked.  And Styker Lane is the best heavy, though CU wrestling fans know that is faint praise as the Big Red continue to struggle at that weight.  149 is a two man fight with former super recruit Chris Villalonga trying to hold off yet another freshman in Alex Cisneros.  That leaves 165 and 174 where coach Koll will try to find the hot wrestler every weekend.

[George64]

Dave Dean, father of freshman Gabe, named head of "Olympic Development Program " at Cornell.  Haven't seen any other mentions of this.  Interesting.

[Al DeFlorio]

Cornell crushed Maryland 31-9 in the first meet at MSG, but third-ranked Nevinger lost 5-0 in his first match of the year.  Gabe Dean wrestled tough against Maryland's third-ranked 184 pounder, but came up short 5-3.

[mountainred]

And then beat Illinois 18-15 thanks to Stryker Lane's 2 OT victory at Hvy.  And Gabe Dean's pin with 5 seconds remaining.

[David Harding]

And then beat Illinois 18-15 thanks to Stryker Lane's 2 OT victory at Hvy.  And Gabe Dean's pin with 5 seconds remaining.

From TeamUSA

In the featured college dual meet, sixth-ranked Cornell and seventh-ranked Illinois were deadlocked 15-15 entering the final match at heavyweight.

The match went through two cycles of overtime before Cornell's Stryker Lane earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Illinois wrestler Christopher Lopez. That gave the Big Red a dramatic 18-15 win.

"Oh my goodness, that was so fun," Lane said. "I could hear the crowd cheering for me. That got me pumped up and made me forget how I tired I was. I was glad I was able to get the job done at one of the best venues in the world."

Cornell and Illinois highlighted the large field of 16 college squads that each competed in a pair of duals on Sunday.

Delgado, an Illinois junior, was named Outstanding Wrestler in the college division. The top-ranked Delgado, a returning NCAA champion, topped second-ranked Nahshon Garrett of Cornell 6-2 at 125 pounds. Garrett placed third at the 2013 NCAAs as a freshman.

"I didn't think I wrestled well at all," Delgado said. "I wasn't moving my feet too well and my shots weren't crisp. I just had to gut it out. It was a tough match, but I'm going to keep getting better and it won't be that close the next time."  

Delgado clearly hasn't taken the course in athletes' gracious platitudes.

[David Harding]

BYW, Kyle Dake did not appear as planned in Grapple at the Garden due to a broken hand.  
http://www.intermatwrestle.com/articles/12268

[Jordan 04]

BYW, Kyle Dake did not appear as planned in Grapple at the Garden due to a broken hand.  
http://www.intermatwrestle.com/articles/12268

Sounds like a 1980's WWF pay-per-view...

[mountainred]

Impressive performance for the wrestling team on their annual Las Vegas trip.  The team finished fourth behind #6 Oklahoma, #7 Nebraska and #10 Ohio State, but were a man down as Mike Nevinger (149) was a late scratch.  Mike's points certainly would have pushed the Big Red past Ohio State and maybe past Nebraska.

The youngsters continue to impress and these guys have a very bright future.  Sophomore Nahshon Garrett rolled to the 125 title in a loaded field that had a half dozen top 15 wrestlers.  I don't think he gave up an offensive point.  Our other champ was Freshman Gabe Dean who won at 184 knocking off the #5 guy in the nation in the semis. Freshman Brian Realbuto finished second at 157, losing only to #3 James Green by a point in a match that could have gone either way.  Freshman Mark Grey finished an oddly disappointing 4th at 133; it says something about your freshman class if 4th place in a top flight tournament is "oddly disappointing."  Freshman Dylan Palacio came in unseeded at 165, but finished 6th.  He beat three ranked wrestlers in the process and probably needs a year of weight training to be a serious A-A threat.  But he is fun to watch.

Chris Villalonga also deserves a shout out.  He's been dealing with high expectations as a blue chip recruit, but he looks like he has turned a corner.  He finished 3rd at 149, losing only to defending national champ Kendric Maple and twice defeating #7 Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State (CV was 0-3 against him before and the losses weren't that close).

Following up on my 11/24 post, CV and Palacio are probably now the starters for the foreseeable future.  That only leaves 174 as unsettled.

[Al DeFlorio]

Cornell freshman Gabe Dean just snapped two-time NCAA champ Ed Ruth's 84-match winning streak in the finals of the Southern Scuffle. 7-4.

http://instagram.com/p/isIDmqmzKr/#

[mountainred]

Cornell freshman Gabe Dean just snapped two-time NCAA champ Ed Ruth's 84-match winning streak in the finals of the Southern Scuffle. 7-4.

http://instagram.com/p/isIDmqmzKr/#

Phenomenal performance.  Gabe's title give the Big Red 2 champs; Nahshon Garrett defended his new #1 ranking by winning at 125.

[Al DeFlorio]

Dean-Ruth video here:  http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/251121-Southern-Scuffle-2014/video/728191-Ed-Ruth-Penn-State-vs-Gabe-Dean-Cornell