Wrestling 21-22

[ugarte]

now hopefully all can show up healthy

Coach Grey said that they believe Foca's injury was mild but a trainer will ultimately make the call.

[ugarte]

The bracket is out and here are the Cornell seeds:

125: Vito Arujau (2)
133: Dom LaJoie (32) in the pigtail vs #33 with #1 waiting for the winner.
149: Yianni Diakomihalis (1)
157: Hunter Richard (30)
165: Julian Ramirez (13)
174: Chris Foca (14)
184: Jonathan Loew (11)
197: Jacob Cardenas (19)
285: Lewis Fernandes (18)

I like the first round matchups for most of our guys. Obviously Richard has a very tough one out of the gate but if he can pull a big upset I like his chances in the second round. Everyone else has winnable first matches in my opinion. We got a lot of small schools - two from Appalachian State and one from Campbell among our middle seeds. That doesn't mean those are guaranteed wins but in general I'd rather see App State than NC State.

[ugarte]

NCAA tournament kicks off at noon eastern.

Nine wrestlers, one favorite, one title contender as many as five more guys who I could see sneaking on to the podium if the bracket breaks right and even the last two could get us team points.

Let's go Red.

[Al DeFlorio]

LaJoie wins his pigtail.

[ugarte]

125: Arjuau WMD 16-4. Dominant.
133: LaJoie in the pigtail W 9-5 before LMD 16-4 to the #1 seed.
149: Diakomihalis W 9-2. Bonus would have been nice here but he kind of cruised. Never threatened.
157: Richard L 3-2 to the #3 seed but was in it until the end. Came close to converting a couple of takedowns but couldn't quite.
165: Ramirez W 8-3. Nice to see him get the W. Not threatened.
174: Foca L 9-6. Was up 5-3 to start the third period and 6-5 in the waning seconds but gave up a very late TD and 2NF to lose. Should have been stalling!
184: Loew W 11-4. Just short of a bonus point that would have been nice. Tried for a turn when maybe catch-and-release the better strat for the major.
197: Cardenas L 7-0. Bullied by a strong grad student who probably should have an AA on his resume by now.
285: Fernandes W 4-0. Late takedown in the second and was on top of his opponent for the full third period.

6 wins, 5 wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket, 1 bonus point. Cornell sits in 7th after the morning session.

Evening session starts at 7pm Eastern.

[upprdeck]

Cardenas got in on the single leg like 3 times got no points and 1 turned into pts against him.

[djk26]

6 wins, 5 wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket, 1 bonus point. Cornell sits in 7th after the morning session.

Evening session starts at 7pm Eastern.

ugarte, I don't know how you feel about setting expectations in the middle of the competition, but you're definitely the one who knows the most wrestling on this forum.  Wouldn't a top 10 finish in the coach's first year be considered a strong result?

[ugarte]

6 wins, 5 wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket, 1 bonus point. Cornell sits in 7th after the morning session.

Evening session starts at 7pm Eastern.

ugarte, I don't know how you feel about setting expectations in the middle of the competition, but you're definitely the one who knows the most wrestling on this forum.  Wouldn't a top 10 finish in the coach's first year be considered a strong result?

Eh. i
It's all Koll recruits still, even though Grey was very involved in recruiting. Chalk has Cornell top 10 so while I think the team is well-served by Grey I don't really think of this as "his" first team yet in terms of NCAA finish.

[ugarte]

ROUND OF 16
125: #2 Arjuau W 9-3. never in doubt. Next vs DeAugustino (10-Northwestern) in QF.
149: #1 Diakomihalis W 11-5. Takedown at the buzzer for a major was reviewed and waved off as after time ran out. Next vs Murin  (8-Iowa) in QF.
165: #13 Ramirez L 15-11. Had a big lead early and nearly a fall but time ran out in the first period before slowly getting routed. Next vs Ogunsanya (14-Columbia) in Consy 2.
184: #11 Loew LMD 12-2. Munoz dominated from the opening whistle. Next vs Wilson (12-N. Illinois) in Consy 2.
285: #18 Fernandes LBF :52. Didn't see it but... Schultz is very good, so... Next vs Hillger (17-Wisconsin) in Consy 2.

Consolation 1
133: #32 LaJoie L 10-5 to Utah Valley. His season / career at Cornell is over. 1-2 at NCAAs.
157: #30 Richard W 3-2. Didn't see it. Huge win. Next vs Thomas (13-Oklahoma) in Consy 2.
174: #14 Foca WBF 5:17. Dominant win and a great reversal straight to a fall. Next vs Finesilver (13-Duke).
197: #19 Cardenas WMD 11-2. Revenge over Urbas (Penn) who beat him at EIWA. Next vs Brucki (4-Michigan) in Consy 2. Blech. That's bad luck.

Cornell has 2 alive in the championship bracket and 6 still fighting in the consolation bracket. Everyone on the team won at least one match.

In the team race, Cornell is tied for 9th with 14 points. 6th place has 15 points. Doing well, especially since Yianni and Vito are expected to score a lot. If we can pick up some back side wins we're in great shape. All of the consolation matches are tough but I think we'll pull some out.

[ugarte]

Quarterfinals - Win and you get on the podium

125: #2 Arujau v #10 DeAugustino (Northwestern)
149: #1 Diakomihalis v #8 Murin (Iowa)

Consolation - Need 3 wins to get on the podium
157: #30 Richard v #13 Thomas (Oklahoma)
165: #13 Ramirez v #14 Ogunsanya (Columbia) - Ramirez got his concussion while beating Ogunsanya then lost to him straight up in the EIWA semifinals.
174: #11 Loew v #12 Wilson (N. Illinois) - Wilson is a returning AA (6th)
184: #14 Foca v #13 Finesilver (Duke)
197: #19 Cardenas v #4 Brucki (Michigan) - 2019 AA (4th) when he was at Princeton. Tough break to have him fall in Cardenas' path.
285: #18 Fernandes v #17 Hillger (Wisconsin) - Hillger won 6-2 at the Wisconsin dual last month. Revenge time.

Action starts at 11 Eastern.

[ugarte]

Quarterfinals

125: #2 Arujau W 6-0. Moves to the semifinal. 2x All-American. Another match against #3 Glory (Princeton) coming. Currently 2-2. Vito pinned Glory at the dual in 2019 then lost a high scoring EIWA final. This year, Glory won a high-scoring dual match before Arujau dominated him in the EIWA final. Chalk all the way at 125. The other semifinal is #1 Suriano (Michigan - 2x finalist, 2019 champ at 133 when he was at Rutgers) and #4 Courtney (Arizona State - 2021 finalist).

149: #1 Diakomihalis W 6-3. Moves to the semifinal. 3x All-American. Will face #4 Sasso (Ohio State) next. Sasso is a returning finalist; earlier this season Yianni won 6-2. The other side of the bracket exploded. #10 Lovett (Nebraska) pinned #2 Wilson (NC State) and #11 Andonian (VT) pinned #3 Gomez (Wisconsin).

2 into the semis moves Cornell into 5th place but there are still 6 weights to go in the top bracket and even more on the bottom.

[upprdeck]

nice job by both controlling the matches..

[ugarte]

Consolation 2:
157: #30 Richard W 6-5. Stayin' alive. Two clean takedowns in the first. Didn't stay on top very long so he gave up 3 escapes but he also got up quickly at the start of the third and after getting taken down. Stayed active as the clock wound down. Will face defending 149 pound champion #11 O'Connor (N. Carolina). O'Connor isn't the same at 157 but in a way neither is Richard. O'Connor won in 2020 when they faced each other. The winner gets #7 Humphrey (Lehigh) for a spot on the podium. It's never easy.

165: #13 Ramirez WMD 14-3. After an injury default and a loss against Ogunsanya while he looked like he was still recovering, Ramirez blows out Ogunsanya after the cobwebs are gone. He gets another shot at revenge against #12 Hartman (Bucknell) who dominated him at EIWA. Even if he wins that it just gets harder: the winner faces #7 Kharchla, who beat him twice - pre-concussion - in Las Vegas. It's never easy!

174: #14 Foca L 7-2. Season over but a good future. Had some real close calls for back points but Finesilver fought him off and had deeper lungs for the stretch and pulled away for a convincing W.

184: #11 Loew W 11-4. Great win. Got to Wilson's legs over and over. Wilson was slippery but Loew did a great job. Up next is #20 Poznanski (Rutgers), who is having a tougher 2022 but finished 4th last year. Winner gets #9 Braunagel (Illinois). It's still never easy but #20-#9 is as good a path as you could ask for if you're Loew.

197: #19 Cardenas L 8-6 SV. Incredible near comeback with two third period TDs by Cardenas to take a 6-5 lead. Unsure why he cut Brucki with 25 seconds left instead of trying to ride out for the win but it cost him as he gave up a TD early in SV. Good foundation for his first year on the mat.

285: Fernandes W 2-1. Pretty reversal in the second period and a dominant ride for the rest of the period to wipe out Hillger's riding time advantage. In the third period he kept the pressure on and he didn't break through but Hillger couldn't do anything either. Fernandes gets his revenge - and has another shot at revenge against #10 Traxler (VT). Winner gets #12 Lance (Nebraska). Another not easy path to the podium but as clean as you can expect in this spot.

[ugarte]

Round of 16:

157: #30 Richard L 8-1. Down 3-1 late, Richard got robbed of a TD (he would still have been losing with RT). A desperation attempt at a takedown before the whistle ended up with him on his back for 2+2NF. Great match, though. Pressured hard. Real tough opponent. I'll miss him.

165: #13 Ramirez WBF 2:48! After giving up the first takedown he got one of his own, locked up a cradle and got the pin. Awesome. One win away.

184: #11 Loew W 9-4! Poz never came close to scoring. One win away.

285: #18 Fernandes W 10-4! Starting on top in the 3rd Fernandes worked his power half to turn Traxler over for 4NF. I think Traxler maybe got a penalty point for claiming he was getting choked to get out of the hold? Another revenge win for the Big Red. One win away.

[ugarte]

Tonight's session:

Semis
125: #2 Arujau v #3 Glory (Princeton)

149: #1 Diakomihalis v #4 Sasso (Ohio State)

Blood round (Winner gets All-American)

165: #13 Ramirez v #7 Kharchla (Ohio State)

184: #11 Loew v #9 Braunagel (Illinois)

285: #18 Fernandes v #12 Lance (Nebraska)

Cornell is still in 6th heading into the semis/blood round.