Wrestling [2016-2017]

[ugarte]

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.

[ugarte]

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.

[ugarte]

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.

[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.

[scoop85]

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

[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.

[ugarte]

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.

[ugarte]

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.

[Cop at Lynah]

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2016/November/06/NWCA-All-Star-Classic-Recap

[mountainred]

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.

[ugarte]

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.

[Trotsky]

greyshirt

Wuzzat?

[ugarte]

greyshirt

Wuzzat?

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

[ugarte]

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.