2014-15 Wrestling thread

[ugarte]

Saturday was Senior Night against Lock Haven, so Koll wrestled seniors where he could, which meant a lot of backups saw the mat.

Junior #3 Nahshon Garrett is our only 125, so he wrestled and cruised to a 17-0 TF.

Seniors/backups Bricker Dixon (133) and Ryan Dunphy (141) both lost.

#8 Senior Chris Villalonga used his strength on top to ride to a 3-2 win at 149.

Soph Brian Realbuto took the night off at 157 for senior Craig Eifert, and Eifert rose to the occasion with a 13-0 MD. (Eifert has filled in from 149 to 174 in his time at Cornell, and, had he gone to a school without such a deep roster, would have had a steady weight and probably a more successful career. Thanks for working the trenches and filling in when we needed you, Craig.)

Soph Dylan Palacio also took a breather so senior Jesse Shanaman could wrestle at 165. Shanaman won 6-2.

Junior Duke Pickett went in his usual spot at 174 because there isn't a senior who could have wrestled. He won easily in a 13-2 MD.

#1 soph Gabe Dean stepped aside for senior Billy George, who lost 3-0. Billy George had a weird career. His freshman year he worked his way into the starting lineup by the conference championship tournament. At that tournament, late in the consolation rounds, he got disqualified for attempting to injure his opponent in frustration. Koll didn't kick him off the team, but he was also never quite the same. He was a backup as a soph and Gabe Dean showed up at his weight in his junior year and bumped him again.

Senior Jace Bennett wrestled at 197 and escaped with a 7-6 win.

At Heavyweight, George Famutimi, a career backup, got a chance to wrestle at Friedman in a dual meet, probably for the first time. The starter, Jacob Aiken-Phillips, is also a senior, but JAP is going to wrestle more later this season, so putting Famutimi on the mat was a nice gesture. He lost 6-0, though.

Overall, a 22-13 win for the Red.

On February 7, Cornell comes south for an afternoon meet at Hofstra followed by an evening dual at Columbia. I'm probably going to go to the Columbia meet and it is my understanding that it is free.

[ugarte]

Wow this looks great. Flo Wrestling is doing a video feature on Gabe Dean and Nahshon Garrett, our two title contenders. Here's the trailer: http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/252037-Cornell/video/759572-Cornell-Garrett-and-Dean-The-Trailer#.VNLWGd4SFEc

[ugarte]

Great day for Cornell wrestling as we won a pair of duals against Hofstra and Columbia. The Columbia win was Cornell's 68th Ivy win in a row and clinched Cornell's 13th straight Ivy League title, the most consecutive league titles for any Ivy team in any sport. You can read the match-by-match scores of the Hofstra dual here, but I got to go to Columbia, so I'll share the details here. Because they are awesome.



125: #3 Nahshon Garrett (C) won by major decision over Johnson Mai (Col), 15-2 4-0 Cornell
I came to this match in the third period, so I can't say much except that if the match were 5 seconds longer, Garrett would have had his tech fall. Alas it was not and it ended in a major decision. Garrett really is amazing. Bona fide national title contender.

133: #15 Mark Grey (C) won by decision over Angelo Amenta (Col), 12-6 7-0 Cornell
A great match for Grey. He dominated from all positions and had a great chance at a major decision but a great late shot from Amenta kept the score under 8. At the beginning of the year Grey was expecting to wrestle at 141 because the cut to 133 was rough. He struggled at 141, though, and I guess that provided the motivation to get back under 133. He looked great and if he can stay at 133 he really will have a great chance at All-American.

141: Nick Arujau (C) won by decision over Jacob Macalolooy (Col), 3-2 10-0 Cornell
Arujau had a wild match in the morning at Hofstra, leading 8-4 after 1 only to be down 15-8 after 2, losing by MD. Against Columbia, he got the first takedown in the second period and rode for over a minute. At the start of the third, he wanted to start down but the coaches told him to stay on top to lock in the riding time point. It turned out to be a very good decision. Arujau rode strong for most of the period, but Macololooy got a late reversal and might have been able to turn Arujau but he ran out of time. With the riding time point, Arujau took the 3-2 win.
 
149: Taylor Simaz (C) won by decision over Connor Sutton (Col), 8-3 13-0 Cornell
Just a solid performance. Never in doubt. I don't know why Villalonga was out today but Simaz won both matches in his place, including a pin against Hofstra.

157: #6 Brian Realbuto (C) won by technical fall over Tyler Zimmer (Col), 16-1 18-0 Cornell
Dominating. It took a minute for Realbuto to catch Zimmer, but once he did he had his way with him. Realbuto is all the way back from his injury. He looked great earning a tech fall.

165: Craig Eifert (C) won by decision over Tyrel White (Col), 4-3 21-0 Cornell
After a pin against Hofstra, Palacio got the evening off so Eifert stepped up. Solid, workmanlike, gave up no takedowns, really good defense.

174: #20 Duke Pickett (C) won by decision over Shane Hughes (Col), 7-2 24-0 Cornell
The best match of the night. Hughes got the first takedown and man did he live to regret that. Pickett absolutely wore Hughes out from the bottom. Not only could Hughes not turn him, Pickett got ahold of both of Hughes's wrists and Hughes was fighting off a reversal. Even though Hughes was up after the first period, I told my wife that the match was as good as over because Hughes was gassed. Pickett dominated the rest of the way.

184: #1 Gabe Dean (C) won by technical fall over Zach Hernandez (Col), 23-7 29-0 Cornell
Dean is amazing. Hernandez was game but outmatched. All of Hernandez's points were on escapes, and most of those escapes were Dean letting him go just so that he could take him down again. Wow.

197: #12 Jace Bennett (C) won by fall over Troy Hembury (Col), 3:20 35-0 Cornell
Bennett got a first period takedown, started the second period on bottom and almost immediately scored a reversal that he was able to convert into a pin. Just a fantastic move.

285: Jacob Aiken-Phillips (C) won by decision over Garrett Ryan (Col), 7-2 38-0 Cornell
Ryan got the first clean shot and it looked like he was going to take an early lead but JAP did a great job keeping him from converting. From there the match turned and JAP cruised to a comfortable win. He looked good. I was really happy to see it.

Great, great night on the mat.

[dag14]

The 4 pm National Duels wrestling match today is being broadcast on the Big Ten Network.