Wrestling 2015-16

[mountainred]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ugarte]

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

[mountainred]

No problem. We ILR grads have to stick together.

[ugarte]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall a very good first week.

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

[mountainred]

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

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

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

[ugarte]

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

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

[ugarte]

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

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

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

[mountainred]

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

[ugarte]

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

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

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

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

[ugarte]

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

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

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

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

[mountainred]

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

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

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

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

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

[ugarte]

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

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

[dag14]

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

[semsox]

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

[mountainred]

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

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