Wrestling [2017-18]

[ugarte]

A lot of changes for the season and I'm not ready to write a preview yet. We lost a lot of great wrestlers - All-Americans and conference champions and long-time starters - to graduation, so the usual conference domination is likely not in the offing. That said, there is a lot to look forward to, and I'll get to it some time before the season starts in mid-November.

But, while we're waiting, some of our guys are competing to qualify for the U23 National Greco-Roman Team at next week's World Team Trials. 2x NCAA champ and recent graduate Gabe Dean '17 (85kg); Jon Jay Chavez '19 (75kg); and Will Koll '19 (71kg).

Dean has decided to shift from freestyle to Greco to take a shot at the Olympics; he won bronze at the 2017 Pan-Am Games.

Chavez has not seen much action for Cornell, choosing instead to focus on Greco for international competition. He's a past national junior greco champ.

Koll was the starter for Cornell at 141 as a frosh before getting his knee wrecked on the mat. He came back and reclaimed his starting spot for his sophomore year in 16-17. He's also a past junior greco national champ. Since he's wrestling at 156 for Greco I am curious where he fits into Cornell's plans for the season.

[mountainred]

With apologies to ugarte, I settled a case that was headed to trial next week and was in the mood to do a little writing for fun and not work.  So, here is my preview and ugarte is welcome to offer corrections as needed:

125:  Noah Baughman (So.) was pressed into service last year when returning starter Dalton Macri (who has since transferred to UNC) suffered an injury in his first bout of the season.  Noah had a roller coaster of a season.  He started 13-3, then lost 8 of his next 10, but closed on an 11-1 run where his only loss was to the eventual NCAA champ.  Noah finished 3rd in the EIWA and, IMHO, should have gone to the NCAA's last season.  I can see Noah earning a national rank and staying in the top 20 most of the season.  Sophomore Mike Russo will back Noah up.

133:  Mike Grey has graduated, so there will be a new name at this weight.  If healthy, it should be Chaz Tucker (Jr.).  Chaz was an elite recruit, two-time prep national champ, but has struggled with staying healthy.  The optimist in me says Chaz earns a national rank and makes the NCAAs.  Depth at this weight is an issue, so the Big Red really needs a healthy Tucker.

141:  Will Koll is a returning starter, but the story at his weight is the debut of Yianni Diakomihalis.  Yianni D is the bluest of blue-chips, arguably the best high-school wrestler in the country last year and a two time cadet world champion.  Coach Koll has already said he has "Kyle Dake expectations."  It's not fair to expect anyone to repeat what Kyle did, but Yianni really is that good.  I hope it isn't needed, but there is solid depth at this weight:  Koll, Trence Gillem (So.), and Max Pickett (Fr.) all could see action.

149: Last year's pre-season starter was Joey Galasso (Jr.), but he struggled with injuries and is up to 157.  Jon Furnas (Jr.) took over and put up a respectable 17-11 season with a sixth place finish at Easterns.  Furnas is a battler, but coach Koll's newsletter hints that Freshman Hunter Richard could earn the starting gig at this weight.  This weight will be evolving over the season.

157:  The unpredictable Dylan Palacio graduated, as did top sub Taylor Simaz, so 157 is wide open.  Galasso is moving up and is the presumed starter. He's capable of being very good, but last year was a lost season for him.  Minnesota transfer Fredy Stroker should join the team (I think) for the second semester.  Fredy was 25-4 as a red-shirting freshman at Minny, was a three-time Iowa state champ and a top 20 overall recruit.  

165:  Brandon "Bama" Womack was the surprise of last season and was an All-American at this weight.  But he's moving up to 174, which leaves the team's most wide-open weight.  It could be Drew Garcia (Jr.), who is 25-11 at Cornell and a three time Michigan state champ.  It could be Milik Dawkins (So.) who was 13-6 last year and is really still learning to wrestle at an elite level.  It could be JJ Chavez (Jr.) who is a nationally-ranked Greco wrestler.  It could be someone else.  Early tournaments will be fascinating.

174:  Bama replaces Brian Realbuto.  Womack was 35-11 last season with 11 pins and an 8th place finish at the NCAAs.  He's fun to watch, but it will be interesting to see if he has the power necessary to AA at 174.  Koll called him a natural 174 pounder last year, so that's a good sign.  He's technically a junior, but he probably could gain a year of eligibility due to missing his freshman year with an injury.  

184:  From (Gabe) Dean to (Max) Dean, as the Coach has basically said Max takes over for his big brother.  Max looked good wrestling for the Finger Lakes Prep, but Gabe is a tough act to follow.  Of course, four years ago no one knew the Bear would be four time national semi-finalist and two time champ.  Jake Taylor (Jr.) will be back in the second semester, he was 11-8 as a part-time starter at 197 two seasons ago.

197:  This is returning starter Ben Honis (Jr.) versus Freshman Ben Darmstadt.  Ben won 30 matches last year and finished 3rd at the EIWAs.  He probably doesn't have the brute strength to beat the very best at this weight, but he's capable of holding his own with anyone from around #10 on down. He starts out ranked #20 by Intermat.  Ben was a top 50 recruit and won the National Collegiate Open (the wresting NIT) last year. Ben is long and lean and got punished some last year as moves that worked in high school did not work against collegiate wrestlers.  I expect this to go on all season.

Hvy:  Jeramy Sweany (Jr.) spent last season transitioning from an undersized, but very quick, heavy to a more traditional sized heavy.  Unfortunately, that transition meant he was still not big enough to out-strength folks, but had lost some of his quickness.  The result was a disappointing 12-11 campaign and Craig Scott taking over at Easterns.  I hope the transition is completed, because the senior back-ups were 0-4 last year and never wrestled after November.  In other words, it pretty much has to be Jeramy.

There is a plausible, and frankly likely, scenario that has Cornell sending 8 new wrestlers to the EIWA's compared to last year, and with only Baughman repeating at the same weight.  Which is to say, it's a transition year for the program.  The gap between Cornell and Princeton is narrow and the Big Red's Ivy win streak will be tested by the Tigers.  The EIWA title string of 11 is in real jeopardy; Lehigh really should win the conference this year.

If the Hawkineers don't win this year, the drought may never end.  Not only does Cornell not have a senior starter, most of the juniors have a case to make for an extra year of eligibility.  And, the rest of the #1 recruiting class will enroll after a year at Finger Lakes, which will include unanimous top 5 recruit Vito Arujua.

[ugarte]

With apologies to ugarte, I settled a case that was headed to trial next week and was in the mood to do a little writing for fun and not work.  So, here is my preview and ugarte is welcome to offer corrections as needed:

To be honest, I don't mind not doing this. I'd have done it eventually but it's better that it got done. I have some notes.

125:  Noah Baughman (So.) was pressed into service last year when returning starter Dalton Macri (who has since transferred to UNC) suffered an injury in his first bout of the season.  Noah had a roller coaster of a season.  He started 13-3, then lost 8 of his next 10, but closed on an 11-1 run where his only loss was to the eventual NCAA champ.  Noah finished 3rd in the EIWA and, IMHO, should have gone to the NCAA's last season.  I can see Noah earning a national rank and staying in the top 20 most of the season.  Sophomore Mike Russo will back Noah up.

The Macri transfer was interesting - he's ranked to start the year and Baughman is not. There are rumors that Baughman may have won this in the room but I don't think the public really knows why he decided to leave. Baughman had one really good win - a pin of Oklahoma's Piccinini, who was a top 10 guy - but was dominated by Lehigh's Cruz in their two matches (a 17-1 TF and a fairly quick pin). There's obviously no shame in losing to the national champ but if he is going to get himself in the conversation he has to be more competitive than that. I think he will be.

133:  Mike Grey has graduated, so there will be a new name at this weight.  If healthy, it should be Chaz Tucker (Jr.).  Chaz was an elite recruit, two-time prep national champ, but has struggled with staying healthy.  The optimist in me says Chaz earns a national rank and makes the NCAAs.  Depth at this weight is an issue, so the Big Red really needs a healthy Tucker.

There is no depth at this weight unless someone comes up or down. I'm sure Jacob Lehr is a nice, smart, hardworking kid but I saw him sub at Columbia and he was just not strong enough to be competitive in Division I. He was 0-8 at 133, with 4 losses by first period fall, two by TF and two by MD. As far as I can tell, he didn't get a takedown and he lost to two guys from D-III Brockport and someone from Niagara CC. I don't mean this as a diss but I think he got into Cornell *primarily as a student* and wanted to stay involved in wrestling past high school.

141:  Will Koll is a returning starter, but the story at his weight is the debut of Yianni Diakomihalis.  Yianni D is the bluest of blue-chips, arguably the best high-school wrestler in the country last year and a two time cadet world champion.  Coach Koll has already said he has "Kyle Dake expectations."  It's not fair to expect anyone to repeat what Kyle did, but Yianni really is that good.  I hope it isn't needed, but there is solid depth at this weight:  Koll, Trence Gillem (So.), and Max Pickett (Fr.) all could see action.

I can't wait to see Yianni wrestle for us. This is so exciting.

149: Last year's pre-season starter was Joey Galasso (Jr.), but he struggled with injuries and is up to 157.  Jon Furnas (Jr.) took over and put up a respectable 17-11 season with a sixth place finish at Easterns.  Furnas is a battler, but coach Koll's newsletter hints that Freshman Hunter Richard could earn the starting gig at this weight.  This weight will be evolving over the season.

Richard was one of the top NY recruits last year. I'd be surprised if he doesn't win the starting job.

157:  The unpredictable Dylan Palacio graduated, as did top sub Taylor Simaz, so 157 is wide open.  Galasso is moving up and is the presumed starter. He's capable of being very good, but last year was a lost season for him.  Minnesota transfer Fredy Stroker should join the team (I think) for the second semester.  Fredy was 25-4 as a red-shirting freshman at Minny, was a three-time Iowa state champ and a top 20 overall recruit.

Stroker does join the team in January. Galasso was a major recruit too but I'd be surprised if Stroker left Minnesota expecting to be a backup and I don't think we brought him in for depth. Galasso had problems getting outmuscled at 149 and I'm not sure it was because of weakness from sucking down.

165:  Brandon "Bama" Womack was the surprise of last season and was an All-American at this weight.  But he's moving up to 174, which leaves the team's most wide-open weight.  It could be Drew Garcia (Jr.), who is 25-11 at Cornell and a three time Michigan state champ.  It could be Milik Dawkins (So.) who was 13-6 last year and is really still learning to wrestle at an elite level.  It could be JJ Chavez (Jr.) who is a nationally-ranked Greco wrestler.  It could be someone else.  Early tournaments will be fascinating.

Chavez is on the team but I don't think he really "does" freestyle anymore. He's training to make the national team for Worlds and eventually the Olympics in Greco. The big disappointment here is that Dillon Artigliere - one of the school's biggest recruits - will hardly see the mat in Red. Last year Womack beat him out for the starting spot and he's since sustained what is apparently a career-ending injury.

174:  Bama replaces Brian Realbuto.  Womack was 35-11 last season with 11 pins and an 8th place finish at the NCAAs.  He's fun to watch, but it will be interesting to see if he has the power necessary to AA at 174.  Koll called him a natural 174 pounder last year, so that's a good sign.  He's technically a junior, but he probably could gain a year of eligibility due to missing his freshman year with a injury.

I'm hoping his strength and aggressiveness plays up; he had a tough time at 174 last year but I don't ascribe any meaning to it because he was subbing in and keeping himself certified at 165, so he was wrestling small. He lost 7 times at 165 last year: to 3 All-Americans, a top 10 guy who dropped down to 157 then borked the tournament and two guys that he kept off the podium himself by avenging his losses at NCAAs. I think he's going to be in the mix for AA again.

184:  From (Gabe) Dean to (Max) Dean, as the Coach has basically said Max takes over for his big brother.  Max looked good wrestling for the Finger Lakes Prep, but Gabe is a tough act to follow.  Of course, four years ago no one knew the Bear would be four time national semi-finalist and two time champ.  Jake Taylor (Jr.) will be back in the second semester, he was 11-8 as a part-time starter at 197 two seasons ago.

Max may not be Gabe but there was no way to expect Gabe's results from his greyshirt year at Finger Lakes. Hoping for a great season.

197:  This is returning starter Ben Honis (Jr.) versus Freshman Ben Darmstadt.  Ben won 30 matches last year and finished 3rd at the EIWAs.  He probably doesn't have the brute strength to beat the very best at this weight, but he's capable of holding his own with anyone from around #10 on down. He starts out ranked #20 by Intermat.  Ben was a top 50 recruit and won the National Collegiate Open (the wresting NIT) last year. Ben is long and lean and got punished some last year as moves that worked in high school did not work against collegiate wrestlers.  I expect this to go on all season.

Honis got the better of Darmstadt when they faced each other last year, and the rumor is that was true in practice too. It's hard to tell if he's just a bad matchup for Darmstadt because on paper Darmstadt is the guy to beat. Honis turned himself into a fringe All-American candidate so this is probably our deepest competitive weight.

Hvy:  Jeramy Sweany (Jr.) spent last season transitioning from an undersized, but very quick, heavy to a more traditional sized heavy.  Unfortunately, that transition meant he was still not big enough to out-strength folks, but had lost some of his quickness.  The result was a disappointing 12-11 campaign and Craig Scott taking over at Easterns.  I hope the transition is completed, because the senior back-ups were 0-4 last year and never wrestled after November.  In other words, it pretty much has to be Jeramy.

Heavyweight has long been a struggle for our program and I'm really hoping Sweany can break through this year. We have a big recruit coming in next year so this is his chance to make his mark and show the world that he's going to fight for his place in the lineup next fall too.

There is a plausible, and frankly likely, scenario that has Cornell sending 8 new wrestlers to the EIWA's compared to last year, and with only Baughman repeating at the same weight.  Which is to say, it's a transition year for the program.  The gap between Cornell and Princeton is narrow and the Big Red's Ivy win streak will be tested by the Tigers.  The EIWA title string of 11 is in real jeopardy; Lehigh really should win the conference this year.

All true. I have nothing to add other than confidence that Koll will have us ready for Princeton. Lehigh is probably out of reach  but I'm not ready to see the Ivy streak broken, especially not with ...

If the Hawkineers don't win this year, the drought may never end.  Not only does Cornell not have a senior starter, most of the juniors have a case to make for an extra year of eligibility.  And, the rest of the #1 recruiting class will enroll after a year at Finger Lakes, which will include unanimous top 5 recruit Vito Arujua.

... the amazing class we have coming in next year in addition to the experience this years' starters will carry forward. 2017-18 is going to be an interesting year but 2018-19 already has the potential to be a great one.

[mountainred]

Thanks for the color commentary ugarte!

Don't forget that Noah also avenged two ugly early season losses to nationally-ranked Jose Rodriguez (OSU) and a very good Tanner Shoap (Drexel) in his late season run.  As one of the rare freshman who didn't take a year at Finger Lakes, we got to see a fair amount of maturation on the mat.  I have a really good feeling about him this year.

At 157, does Fredy have to wait until January, or can he wrestle after first semester exams end?  First dual after Christmas this year is Minnesota at the South Beach Duals.

I'm not really expecting anything from JJ Chavez for the reason you mentioned, but Rob called him the "the wild card at this weight [165]."  So, who knows?

[scoop85]

Thanks to you both for your insights and expectations for the new season. Certainly more uncertainty than we're used to, but lots of intrigue for sure.

[ugarte]

Don't forget that Noah also avenged two ugly early season losses to nationally-ranked Jose Rodriguez (OSU) and a very good Tanner Shoap (Drexel) in his late season run.  As one of the rare freshman who didn't take a year at Finger Lakes, we got to see a fair amount of maturation on the mat.  I have a really good feeling about him this year.

At 157, does Fredy have to wait until January, or can he wrestle after first semester exams end?  First dual after Christmas this year is Minnesota at the South Beach Duals.

Agreed on Baughman - I just consider Baughman/Macri/Rodriguez/Shoap at roughly the same level. An impressive win to be sure but Piccinini was the real shocker. To be honest I think Piccinini still thinks that pin call was bullshit.

As for Stroker, you may be right that he is eligible as soon as finals are over for the Fall semester. Someone (you, because I don't want to lol) should look into when other Spring-only guys made their debuts.

[dag14]

I am guessing, but don't you have to be a "matriculated student" to be eligible?  And wouldn't a transfer not "matriculate" until spring term -- at least the start of orientation, move-in day or whatever?  I am pretty sure that athletes who return from a leave are eligible immediately after exams in the term they were on leave but I don't think that is true of new transfers.

[ugarte]

I am guessing, but don't you have to be a "matriculated student" to be eligible?  And wouldn't a transfer not "matriculate" until spring term -- at least the start of orientation, move-in day or whatever?  I am pretty sure that athletes who return from a leave are eligible immediately after exams in the term they were on leave but I don't think that is true of new transfers.

I think he's already on campus as a student for the fall semester. I'm not sure why he isn't wrestling in the fall.

[mountainred]

Someone (you, because I don't want to lol) should look into when other Spring-only guys made their debuts.

Thanks for the assignment! ;-)  The only similar wrestler I could remember (transferring in and expecting to see immediate action) was Nick Arujua.  He apparently didn't wrestle for the Big Red until late January of his first year with the team.  Not sure if the ultimate small sample size tells us anything concrete.  Of course, I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.

[mountainred]

The season unofficially began Saturday in Brockport.  Cornell sent six reserve wrestlers, and most of the Finger Lakes Prep team, to an open tournament against mostly D3 competition.  You'd hope the Big Red would do well, and they did.  Four of the six won their weight (Gillem - 149, Santoro - 157, Dawkins - 165, and Richards - Hvy).  Gillem, Dawkins and Richards won all of their matches by fall or tech fall.

As for the Finger Lakes guys, Arujua dominated on the way to the 133 title (a first period fall and two TFs).  Andrew Berreyesa took the 174 title with a pair of tech falls.  Jaron Chavez (who doesn't seem to be a Cornell recruit officially, but is likely headed to Cornell) had a couple of first period pins before losing to Dawkins in the finals.  And the two heavies (Janney and Furman) had a bunch of first period pins, but McZiggy Richards schooled Furman in the Heavy final.

More unofficial wrestling next week as pretty much the entire team will go to Binghamton for another open tournament.

[ugarte]

Another Brockport-like tournament this weekend, as the Big Red are sending 33 wrestlers ("unattached", so it doesn't count as the start of the season) to Binghamton for the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open. Finger Lakes Wrestling Club is sending another 14 wrestlers - many (all?) of them Cornell recruits taking a greyshirt year.

[billhoward]

http://www.cornellbigred.com/schedule.aspx?path=wrest Is this correct, Cornell wrestles Saturday 2/10/18 at Penn at noon and then same day at Princeton 6 p.m.? After wrestling at Drexel the day before.

[Al DeFlorio]

http://www.cornellbigred.com/schedule.aspx?path=wrest Is this correct, Cornell wrestles Saturday 2/10/18 at Penn at noon and then same day at Princeton 6 p.m.? After wrestling at Drexel the day before.

Sure.  NCAA rules say a wrestler can only wrestle six matches in a day.  Three over two days is a piece of cake.  Cornell wrestles at Harvard and Brown on the same day in even years.

[ugarte]

http://www.cornellbigred.com/schedule.aspx?path=wrest Is this correct, Cornell wrestles Saturday 2/10/18 at Penn at noon and then same day at Princeton 6 p.m.? After wrestling at Drexel the day before.

Sure.  NCAA rules say a wrestler can only wrestle six matches in a day.  Three over two days is a piece of cake.  Cornell wrestles at Harvard and Brown on the same day in even years.

The NYS Championships is a one day tournament where some guys could wrestle 6 times, for example And not everyone will wrestle all the dual meets in those two days. We have credible-to-solid backups at many weights and Koll may give some guys a breather unless the dual is in doubt. That's probably only an issue against Princeton, who has a real chance to be the first Ivy team to beat us since the 2001-02 season.

[nshapiro]

Wow, If I can get there, it would be three straight Saturday nights in Princeton - Football, Hockey, Wrestling!