Wrestling [2017-18]

[ugarte]

Cornell takes a squeaker from Lock Haven 20-18.  Darmstadt's pin at 1:07 of first period at 197 was decisive.  Diakomihalis won by technical fall in second period before he could pin his opponent.

A wild dual the day after a 33-2 blowout over Columbia. Against Columbia we won 8 of 10 weights; against LH, 5 of 10 but we got a tech (141) and a fall (197), whereas they only got a tech (125) and a major (165).

125: Noah Baughman had a strange weekend - rolled over his opponent for an MD on Saturday before getting teched by an unranked Lock Haven wrestler on Sunday. Someone on the wrestlingreport forum suggested that back-to-back one hour weigh-ins may have been a factor, since he has only recently made his way back to 125.

133: Good weekend from Chaz Tucker. Two wins (10-4 v Columbia, 6-4 v Lock Haven) and he added multiple takedowns in each match to his typically solid defense.

141: Yianni Diakomihalis is a national title contender for a reason. First period fall v Columbia and a tech fall against a top 20 wrestler from LH.

149: Will Koll is clearly the starter now at 149 over Furnas. A MD over a decent Columbia wrestler followed by a close (deserved) loss against a ranked wrestler from LH. A decent weekend. He'll be a contender for a bid to NCAAs.

157: Tough weekend for Fredy Stroker. Dropped a close match against #16 Scheidel from Columbia then lost again to an unranked wrestler from LH. He looked OK against Scheidel but gassed against LH. May have the same weigh-in fatigue as Baughman?

165: JJ Chavez is still out sick (I assume the flu because everyone has it). Against Columbia, Chris Schoenherr stepped up from 149(!) and not only won, he won 10-5. It's the match I haven't seen yet that I'm really looking forward to. Against LH, we didn't send out a small fry to face the #4 wrestler in the country and that was probably a very good idea. Kyle Simaz avoided a tech fall but was handled easily in a 17-6 major decision loss.

174: Brandon Womack with a pair of unremarkable wins over Columbia and LH. Not a lot of faith in Womack in a tough match going forward, I have to admit.

184: Max Dean didn't have trouble either night. MD against Columbia and a win against LH. LH was probably closer than it should have been but it never felt in doubt.

197: Ben Darmstadt is insane. Two more falls, and congrats to the Columbia wrestler for making it out of the first period even though he was down like 12-0 after 1.

Hwt; Tough weekend for the Big Red as both Columbia and LH have quality heavies. Ben Honis was facing #16 Ryan and kept it close but mostly because of some dubious calls by the ref. (The Columbia bench was so mad that they received a rare team penalty point after a match their wrestler won.) On Sunday Jeramy Sweany returned to the lineup to face #13 Haines. A win would have been nice, but mostly Sweany needed to avoid losing by a tech fall or worse and costing the team the match. In that light, a 9-3 loss to an All-American contender isn't terrible.

All in all, a good weekend. Results below.

#10 Cornell 33, Columbia 5
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) won by fall over Jacob Young (Columbia), 3:23
285: #16 Garrett Ryan (Columbia) won by decision over Ben Honis (Cornell), 6-4
125: Noah Baughman (Cornell) won by major decision over Spencer Good (Columbia), 14-4
133: Chaz Tucker (Cornell) won by decision over Alec Kelly (Columbia), 10-4
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by fall over Val Miele (Columbia), 2:05
149: Will Koll (Cornell) won by major decision over Jacob Macalolooy (Columbia), 10-0
157: #13 Markus Scheidel (Columbia) won by decision over Fredy Stroker (Cornell), 4-2
165: Chris Schoenherr (Cornell) won by decision over Laurence Kosoy (Columbia), 10-5
174: Brandon Womack (Cornell) won by decision over Tyrel White (Columbia), 2-0
184: #11 Max Dean (Cornell) won by major decision over Andrew Psomas (Columbia), 10-0
* Columbia deducted a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct

#10 Cornell 20, #23 Lock Haven 18
125: Luke Werner (LH) won by technical fall over Noah Baughman (C), 17-1
133: Chaz Tucker (C) won by decision over DJ Fehlman (LH), 6-4
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) won by technical fall over Kyle Shoop (LH), 19-3
149: #16 Ronnie Perry (LH) won by decision over Will Koll (C), 5-3
157: Alex Klucker (LH) won by decision over Fredy Stroker (C), 5-2
165: #4 Chance Marstellar (LH) won by major decision over Kyle Simaz (C), 17-6
174: Brandon Womack (C) won by decision over Jared Siegrist (LH), 5-4
184: #10 Max Dean (C) won by decision over Corey Hazel (LH), 5-2
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (C) won by fall over Trey Hartsock (LH), 1:07
285: #13 Thomas Haines (LH) won by decision over Jeramy Sweany (C), 9-3

[mountainred]

184: Max Dean didn't have trouble either night. MD against Columbia and a win against LH. LH was probably closer than it should have been but it never felt in doubt.

FYI, the LH wrestler, Cory Hazel, is now ranked #19 by Flo.  A 5-2, but never in doubt, decision isn't bad.

[ugarte]

184: Max Dean didn't have trouble either night. MD against Columbia and a win against LH. LH was probably closer than it should have been but it never felt in doubt.

FYI, the LH wrestler, Cory Hazel, is now ranked #19 by Flo.  A 5-2, but never in doubt, decision isn't bad.

Sure. Hazel looked good. No complaints about any of the Baby Bears.

[ugarte]

Three dual weekend, with Cornell taking on Drexel (yesterday), Penn (just finished) and Princeton (this evening).

Drexel wrestled tough, but the toss-up matches went our way. Womack was able to escape and ride for a 2-0 win at 174; Koll dominated the similarly ranked Elfvin (around #30) for a MD. Darmstadt was a little sloppy on his feet and got taken down twice but got almost immediate reversals both times and Loiseau couldn't get up once Darmastadt was on top. All he could do was flatten out and keep himself from getting flipped onto his back.

At 133, Tucker spent the entire match on defense, which kept the score low against the high-scoring #4 DeSanto, but eventually the ref got tired of it and hit him with a pair of stalling calls in the third. That was the difference and he lost 2-1.

Yianni's pin at 141 was the real difference-maker, and Cornell won comfortably.

----

Penn's program has fallen on hard times, I guess, and also probably the flu.

Darmstadt got his revenge on #9 Mattiace, who gave him his only the L of the year. He couldn't turn Mattiace for NF points, much less a pin, but he rode him for nearly 6 minutes and picked up stalling points in the process on the way to an 8-1 win.

Penn forfeited 125 and 141. Cornell forfeited 285. Chavez and Womack took the dual off.

Regular decisions for Koll at 141 (9-3), Stroker at 157 (6-0) and Dean at 184 (8-2). MD for Tucker at 133 (12-4), so I guess he tried to score. And an MD for Dawkins at 174 (17-5), filling in for Womack.

Only loss on the mat was Santoro, wrestling up at 165.

Cornell rolls and clinches a share of the Ivy title, the school's 16th straight.

#10 Cornell 22, Drexel 13
165: Ebed Jarrell (D) won by major decision over Adam Santoro (C), 13-5 [DU 4-0]
174: Brandon Womack (C) won by decision over Austin Rose (D), 2-0 [DU 4-3]
184: #11 Max Dean (C) won by decision over Alex DeCiantis (D), 8-3 [CU 6-4]
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (C) won by decision over #20 Stephen Loiseau (D), 6-4 [CU 9-4]
285: Jeramy Sweany (C) won by decision over Josh Murphy (D), 6-1 [CU 12-4]
125: Zack Fuentes (D) won by decision over Noah Baughman (C), 6-0 [CU 12-7]
133: #4 Austin DeSanto (D) won by decision over Chaz Tucker (C), 2-1 [CU 12-10]
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) won by fall over Julian Flores (D), 1:21 [CU 18-10]
149: Will Koll (C) won by major decision over Trevor Elfvin (D), 10-0 [CU 22-10]
157: Garrett Hammond (D) won by decision over Kyle Simaz (C), 7-4 [CU 22-13]

#10 Cornell 32, Penn 9
125: Noah Baughman (C) won by forfeit [CU 6-0]
133: Chaz Tucker (C) won by major decision over Tristin DeVincenzo (P), 12-4 [CU 10-0]
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) won by forfeit [CU 16-0]
149: Will Koll (C) won by decision over Patrick Munn (P), 9-3 [CU 19-0]
157: Fredy Stroker (C) won by decision over Jon Errico (P), 6-0 [CU 22-0]
165: May Bethea (P) won by decision over Adam Santoro (C), 8-3 [CU 22-3]
174: Milik Dawkins (C) won by major decision over Quinton Hiles (P), 17-5 [CU 26-3]
184: #11 Max Dean (C) won by decision over Joe Heyob (P), 8-2 [CU 29-3]
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (C) won by decision over #9 Frank Mattiace (P), 8-1 [CU 32-3]
285: Tyler Hall (P) won by forfeit [CU 32-9]

[ugarte]

Dismantled Princeton.

Pins from Baughman and Diakomihalis, a tech from Dean and majors from Chavez (who is finally eligible for RPI) and Sweany.

Disappointing loss by Stroker but a good, close loss from Koll against (IIRC) a returning All-American.

Darmstadt won but got taken down three times. Sure, he had two reversals and an escape but he can't give up his legs like that to better competition. Womack had to come from behind to win, which is not good, but he did it, so it's not too bad.

#10 Cornell 34, Princeton 6
125: Noah Baughman (C) won by fall over Matteo DeVincenzo (P), 4:34 [CU 6-0]
133: Chaz Tucker (C) won by decision over Jonathan Gomez (P), 5-2 [CU 9-0]
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) won by fall over Jordan Reich (P), 4:44 [CU 15-0]
149: #12 Matthew Kolodzik (P) won by decision over Will Koll (C), 8-4 [CU 15-3]
157: Mike D'Angelo (P) won by decision over Fredy Stroker (C), 4-0 [CU 15-6]
165: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (C) won by major decision over Leonard Merkin (P), 12-1 [CU 19-6]
174: Brandon Womack (C) won by decision over Jonathan Schleifer (P), 5-4 [CU 22-6]
184: #11 Max Dean (C) won by technical fall over Kevin Parker (P), 16-0 [CU 27-6]
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (C) won by decision over Patrick Brucki (P), 10-6 [CU 30-6]
285: Jeramy Sweany (C) won by major decision over Christian Araneo (P), 9-0 [CU 34-6]

[billhoward]

Princeton was supposed to be challenging Cornell this year?

[ugarte]

Princeton was supposed to be challenging Cornell this year?

things didn't work out that way

[ugarte]

Cornell rolls over UNC. The win was expected but the score was pretty great.

125: Kind of a disappointment that we didn't get to see Baughman wrestle Macri, who transferred from Cornell over the summer but Macri wasn't having a great year to begin with and may have gotten injured.

133: Fun match for Tucker. Got the first TD and wrestled strong throughout. Gave up a TD which is rare, but escaped quickly.

141: A surprisingly tough one for Yianni, who actually gave up a TD and had a hard time with Headlee's length. Also, he couldn't turn him. Seemed a little frustrated.

149: Koll was game but Heilmann was just too much. Koll got the first points of the match on a good TD off of a great scramble when it looked like Heilmann had him dead to rights.

157: Stroker with a big upset. Monday looked like the better wrestler but he was never quite able to get a tilt and a late TD followed by a strong ride gave Stroker a surprising win that I still can't believe he pulled off.

165: Chavez is great. Aggressive, scores points from unconventional angles. A lot of his opponents are not used to the Greco moves and get caught in very awkward positions. Guys used to protecting their legs find themselves in bear hugs and wondering where life went wrong..

174: Womack hung in there but Ramos was too much for him.

184: Dean did some solid work to fight off reversals at the ends of the first and second periods. Otherwise a comfortable win. Looked great on his feet.

197: Darmstadt is a bad, bad man. Basically got the cradle in a standing position and brought it down to the mat. He's 6'3" and strong as hell and he's another guy that is unconventional in ways that his opponents usually can't counter.

285: Sweany with some solid late moves to get the NF points to end the dual with another MD for the Big Red. He's rounding into form.

The team looks great heading into the EIWA tournament, which is the first weekend in March at Hofstra.

#11 Cornell 32, #24 North Carolina 6
125: Noah Baughman (C) won by forfeit
133: Chaz Tucker (C) won by decision over Zach Sherman (UNC), 4-3
141: #4 Yianni Diakomihalis (C) won by decision over #19 A.C. Headlee (UNC), 7-6
149: #8 Troy Heilmann (UNC) won by decision over Will Koll (C), 10-7
157: Fredy Stroker (C) won by decision over #15 Kennedy Monday (UNC), 4-3
165: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (C) won by major decision over Clay Lautt (UNC), 10-1
174: #16 Ethan Ramos (UNC) won by decision over Brandon Womack (C), 6-3
184: #11 Max Dean (C) won by decision over #17 Chip Ness (UNC), 8-2
197: #3 Ben Darmstadt (C) won by fall over #15 Danny Chaid (UNC), 2:31
285: Jeramy Sweany (C) won by major decision over Andrew Gunning (UNC), 14-4

[mountainred]

Cornell rolls over UNC. The win was expected but the score was pretty great.

When your biggest disappointment is "I thought Yianni would win by more," it was a pretty good night.

[ugarte]

Cornell rolls over UNC. The win was expected but the score was pretty great.

When your biggest disappointment is "I thought Yianni would win by more," it was a pretty good night.

Womack at 174 is still the disappointment. I'm worried he's going to go from frosh AA to not going to NCAA's at all. He doesn't seem able to score at this weight.

[mountainred]

Cornell rolls over UNC. The win was expected but the score was pretty great.

When your biggest disappointment is "I thought Yianni would win by more," it was a pretty good night.

Womack at 174 is still the disappointment. I'm worried he's going to go from frosh AA to not going to NCAA's at all. He doesn't seem able to score at this weight.

For the season, I agree (the struggle at 157 is second).  But last night, I never really thought Bama would beat Ramos.  Which backs up your point.

[mountainred]

As ugarte mentioned, the team is off until the EIWA Tournament.  Next week is big because the NCAA will tell us how many AQs each conference gets for the NCAA Tournament.  The process (way over-simplified) is that the NCAA will select the top 29-ish wrestlers at each weight based on record, RPI and a published coaches' panel ranking; each wrestler in the top 29(-ish) earns a bid for his conference.  The "-ish" is because each conference must get one AQ per weight, and sometimes there aren't enough wrestlers who meet the NCAA's minimum standards to earn an AQ.  The actual NCAA invites are won at the qualifying tournament, such as the EIWA.  The NCAA holds back at least four spots for wild card selections to the NCAAs to hand out to highly-regarded wrestlers who are injured or upset in their conference tournament, then to fill out the 33 person bracket.  I have no idea why they use 33 instead of 32.  Here is where I think the Big Red stands:

Locks for an AQ:  Yianni D. (141), Max Dean (184) and Ben Darmstadt (197).  Yianni and Ben are consensus top 3-4 guys and Max is solidly in the top 10.  All 3 will earn bids and all 3 are locks to get a wild card if something awful happens at the EIWAs.  Let's not speak of that again.

Very, very likely to get an AQ:  JJ Chavez (165).  JJ is solidly top 20, but didn't have enough matches to qualify for an RPI the last time it was published.  He has enough matches now and should be fine.  The EIWA looks to get 5-6 bids at 165, which should be plenty for JJ to qualify "on the mat" (I wouldn't be surprised if he won the EIWA title).

Could earn an AQ:  Chaz Tucker (133), Brandon Womack (174) and Jeramy Sweany (285).  Tucker's RPI was #16 and he's 8-1 this calendar year.  That may get him a coaches ranking next time, which is important because he could really use 4 bids in the conference.  If there are only 3 bids (or 2 if Lehigh's Parker doesn't have enough matches to earn one) he'll need a medium-sized upset to qualify for nationals.  Bama has had a really tough season, but his RPI is very good and he has enough residual respect based on last year's AA to still be ranked by the coaches. The EIWA will probably get 5 or so bids regardless.  Brandon ought to be able to finish that high, but it has been really tough year.  Sweany was #25 in the last coaches ranking and #12 in the last RPI.  Again, that may enough to get an AQ.  Sweany is one of 3 EIWA heavies who are on the cusp of earning an AQ; I think he'll be fine as long as 1 or 2 of them do so.

Will need to steal a bid:  Noah Baughman (125), Will Koll (149) and Fredy Stroker (157).  Noah was wrestling at 133 for the first semester and is only 4-3 while wrestling at 125.  His biggest problem is that the EIWA could well only get 1 AQ at this weight and, barring injury, that will almost certainly be won by Lehigh's returning national champion.  Noah needs someone else in the EIWA to earn an AQ to give him a realistic shot.  Koll didn't start wrestling this season until the South Beach Duals in late December.  He's 8-4, has only lost to top-20 guys, and was ranked #32 by the coaches last time around.  That won't be enough to earn an AQ (not enough matches to qualify for an RPI) but he could well steal a bid from the 3-4 the league should get.  Stroker's transfer wasn't completed until the Spring Semester began, so again not enough matches to earn an AQ.  The EIWA has 2 bids for certain with a chance for up to 4 more.  As many as possible would be good for Fredy, but his upset last night gives me hope.

Edits:  I forgot that sometimes not enough wrestlers meet the NCAA's standards to earn an AQ.  Also, one website (Flo Wrestling) has projected numbers of AQ's.  The two interesting numbers are that they project 3 bids at 125 (good for Noah) and 3 bids at 133 (which will force Chaz to upset someone in the top 10). We'll see if those projections hold.

[mountainred]

The Flo Projections didn't hold.  The EIWA only gets one bid at 125, so Noah isn't making NCAAs barring something really crazy.  The EIWA gets 3 bids at 133, which means Tucker needs an upset to earn an AQ.  His final coaches' ranking was #31, to go along with an RPI of 19.  He might get a wild card if he doesn't qualify, but he'll need there to be few upsets in qualifying tournaments.

There are 4 bids at 149; I'm cautiously optimistic that Will Koll can earn one of those.  Fredy has room with 6 bids at 157; Bama needs to finish in the top 5.

[CU2007]

The Flo Projections didn't hold.  

Something something prediction models grumble grumble

[mountainred]

The Flo Projections didn't hold.  

Something something prediction models grumble grumble

Please don't move that discussion over here! **]