Wrestling 21-22

[ugarte]

Going to be a competitive Ivy League season perhaps.  "NO. 22 PRINCETON TOPS NO. 6 ARIZONA STATE."

Arizona State is in injury/COVID crisis and didn't send their starting lineup. ASU had a backup 133 wrestle at 141 (their 141 may have gotten injured against Pitt on Friday),  they forfeited at 184 and had a backup 184 wrestle at 197. Also, their best 174 is redshirting and they don't have a good replacement.

On the other hand, Patrick Glory WORKED returning finalist Brandon Courtney. Glory vs Arujau is going to be fun.

Should also mention that we wrestled Army on Saturday. Nothing spectacular. Won 8 of 10 weights, lost at 141 by fall with Moomey (4th string?) and (more troubling) Hunter Richard lost by MD at 157 to Hartman. Hartman's a good wrestler, and Humphreys (imo) is going to be an All-American but after a very solid performance in the Scuffle he's lost badly back-to-back and it has me wondering if Yapoujian is ok since he hasn't wrestled in a while.

[mountainred]

Not to steal ugarte's thunder, but wresting hosts Brown and Harvard this weekend.  It's hard to imagine any scenario where the Brown dual has much drama, but there are two interesting potential matchups against Harvard.  At 165 #8 Julian Ramirez should face #12 Phillip Conigliaro.  And at Heavy, Lewis Fernandes (probably) could meet the Ivy's other top heavy in Yaraslau Slavikouski (that is the name of a heavyweight wrestler!).  Though I guess Slavikouski hasn't wrestled in a month, so who knows if that one happens.

[RichH]

Not to steal ugarte's thunder, but wresting hosts Brown and Harvard this weekend.  It's hard to imagine any scenario where the Brown dual has much drama, but there are two interesting potential matchups against Harvard.  At 165 #8 Julian Ramirez should face #12 Phillip Conigliaro.  And at Heavy, Lewis Fernandes (probably) could meet the Ivy's other top heavy in Yaraslau Slavikouski (that is the name of a heavyweight wrestler!).  Though I guess Slavikouski hasn't wrestled in a month, so who knows if that one happens.

He's from Belarus. What, Harvard has to resort to bringing in international ringers and can't recruit Americans for their athletic teams? How gauche.

[ugarte]

Not to steal ugarte's thunder, but wresting hosts Brown and Harvard this weekend.  It's hard to imagine any scenario where the Brown dual has much drama, but there are two interesting potential matchups against Harvard.  At 165 #8 Julian Ramirez should face #12 Phillip Conigliaro.  And at Heavy, Lewis Fernandes (probably) could meet the Ivy's other top heavy in Yaraslau Slavikouski (that is the name of a heavyweight wrestler!).  Though I guess Slavikouski hasn't wrestled in a month, so who knows if that one happens.

Never worry about stealing my thunder! I'm gonna do my thing either way and don't care about FIRST!!!1!

Two easy wins for the team today even though we rested some guys. Especially easy at Heavyweight where Fernandes won both of his matches by forfeit because Slavikouski is still hurt. Real bummer for Harvard because he's their best (maybe only) shot at AA.

[mountainred]

Not to steal ugarte's thunder, but wresting hosts Brown and Harvard this weekend.  It's hard to imagine any scenario where the Brown dual has much drama, but there are two interesting potential matchups against Harvard.  At 165 #8 Julian Ramirez should face #12 Phillip Conigliaro.  And at Heavy, Lewis Fernandes (probably) could meet the Ivy's other top heavy in Yaraslau Slavikouski (that is the name of a heavyweight wrestler!).  Though I guess Slavikouski hasn't wrestled in a month, so who knows if that one happens.

Never worry about stealing my thunder! I'm gonna do my thing either way and don't care about FIRST!!!1!

Two easy wins for the team today even though we rested some guys. Especially easy at Heavyweight where Fernandes won both of his matches by forfeit because Slavikouski is still hurt. Real bummer for Harvard because he's their best (maybe only) shot at AA.

Neither were that competitive -- let me focus on hoops -- but Lewis did win v. Brown by pin in just 1:41. You might have blinked and figured it had to be a forfeit!

[ugarte]

Not to steal ugarte's thunder, but wresting hosts Brown and Harvard this weekend.  It's hard to imagine any scenario where the Brown dual has much drama, but there are two interesting potential matchups against Harvard.  At 165 #8 Julian Ramirez should face #12 Phillip Conigliaro.  And at Heavy, Lewis Fernandes (probably) could meet the Ivy's other top heavy in Yaraslau Slavikouski (that is the name of a heavyweight wrestler!).  Though I guess Slavikouski hasn't wrestled in a month, so who knows if that one happens.

Never worry about stealing my thunder! I'm gonna do my thing either way and don't care about FIRST!!!1!

Two easy wins for the team today even though we rested some guys. Especially easy at Heavyweight where Fernandes won both of his matches by forfeit because Slavikouski is still hurt. Real bummer for Harvard because he's their best (maybe only) shot at AA.

Neither were that competitive -- let me focus on hoops -- but Lewis did win v. Brown by pin in just 1:41. You might have blinked and figured it had to be a forfeit!

whoops that's right - Brown forfeited at 174 and 197.

One of the funnier moments was during the Harvard lineup introductions, Harvard had already committed to forfeiting Heavyweight so after the 197s met at the center of the mat and shook hands, the announcer called Fernandes and Furman, said that Harvard wasn't sending anyone and the two Cornell guys smiled and shook hands and walked off.

Other thoughts. Vito (125) and Loew (184) both took the day off since neither team result was in doubt (especially in light of Harvard's best two guys missing the dual).

125: Greg D. had a great day subbing in for Arujau. A near-major against Harvard when he got a takedown and a 4 point tilt in the closing seconds and followed it up with a flash pin against Brown.

133: Two major decisions for #30 LaJoie. Good day. He made the top-33 in the first release of the Coaches Rankings* and it would be great if he could use the rest of the season to improve his record and give himself a chance at an at-large bid.

141 is a bit of a mess right now. Moomey is not only wrestling up from 133, but he's a  greco specialist. He's a world junior medalist, so, elite in his discipline but he hasn't been competitive in folkstyle up a weight. Hoping we can get Handlovic or Saunders back soon but this is probably still our weakest weight in any scenario other than Yianni cutting again.

149: #1 Yianni got his first two pins of the season. It must have been the focus of some ribbing in the locker room because after the Brown match he clearly looked to someone on the Cornell bench and said "Two." He still has fewer than his little brother, though.

157: Really good day for Hunter Richard. He was having a surprisingly tough time finishing his shots against Harvard but in OT he was able to convert a clean blast double for the W. Against Brown it was never in doubt and he rolled to a major decision. The weight is now firmly his, as Colton Yapoujian announced that he tore his ACL (probably against Virginia Tech) and he's done for the season. Richard didn't make the initial Coaches Ranking but by the time the next one is released, I'd be shocked if he wasn't in the top 33.

165: #9 Ramirez didn't get his expected test. Harvard's #12 Conigliaro hasn't wrestled since December so I assume he's hurt. He teched Conigliaro's backup and majored Brown's representative. Pretty much what you'd expect from a top-10 guy.

174: #12 Foca had a real opponent in #29 Kim against Harvard and handled him fairly easily. Brown didn't send anyone out, so a good day that solidified his ranking.

184: With Loew taking the day off, Ethan Hatcher got his first real competition. Sort of a surprise to see him after Berreyesa placed at the Southern Scuffle. A tough loss to Harvard in the morning followed by a dominant 17-0 tech against Brown.

197: #18 Cardenas rolled through his Harvard opponent 17-0 and Brown didn't send anyone out. Easy day.

285: #18 Fernandes took the W by forfeit against Harvard and then, as mountainred pointed out, got a quick pin against Brown.

Another doubleheader next weekend against an up-and-coming Columbia team and Navy. Going to be some competitive matches in both duals but the team result shouldn't be in doubt in either.

* Coaches Rankings are part of the way that the NCAA assigns automatic bids at the various weights to the different conferences.

[ugarte]

Another doubleheader next weekend against an up-and-coming Columbia team and Navy. Going to be some competitive matches in both duals but the team result shouldn't be in doubt in either.

lol columbia just lost 32-3 to penn; absolutely nothing went right for the lions.

[scoop85]

Another doubleheader next weekend against an up-and-coming Columbia team and Navy. Going to be some competitive matches in both duals but the team result shouldn't be in doubt in either.

lol columbia just lost 32-3 to penn; absolutely nothing went right for the lions.

So how big a threat will Penn be in our dual with them? IIRC they gave PSU a tough battle too.

[ugarte]

Another doubleheader next weekend against an up-and-coming Columbia team and Navy. Going to be some competitive matches in both duals but the team result shouldn't be in doubt in either.

lol columbia just lost 32-3 to penn; absolutely nothing went right for the lions.

So how big a threat will Penn be in our dual with them? IIRC they gave PSU a tough battle too.

shouldn't be that close but Penn is favored at 133 for sure, 141 (by a lot) and probably 157. We're obviously heavily favored at 125 and 149; across the upper weights we're favored but it's closer.

[upprdeck]

Oklahoma State wrestler AJ Ferrari is lucky to be alive after the driving accident he caused this weekend.. lucky he got pulled out of the care before it caught in fire..

[billhoward]

Oklahoma State wrestler AJ Ferrari is lucky to be alive after the driving accident he caused this weekend.. lucky he got pulled out of the care before it caught in fire..

Attempted to pass 3 cars in a no-passing zone, police say.
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/33145027/oklahoma-state-wrestling-star-aj-ferrari-cross-country-runner-isai-rodriguez-seriously-injured-car-crash

[nshapiro]

pre-game for Hahvahd with wrestling duals - 3pm vs Columbia, 5pm vs Navy

[ugarte]

A pair of comfortable dual wins over Columbia and Navy today.

125: #3* Vito Arujau with a pair of dominant wins. He majored Columbia's #28 Manchio 12-4 then teched Navy 20-5.

133: #29 Dom LaJoie had a good start to the day with a comfortable 4-0 win against Columbia. Navy's #21 Koderhandt, though, was able to catch LaJoie at an awkward angle while he was trying to escape into a very pretty looking throw for a pin.

141: JJ Wilson got the call against Columbia against #16 Matt Kazmir. He hung tough but a late takedown for Kazmir was the difference in a 5-3 win. Against Navy, Cole Handlovic got back on the mat for the first time since Lehigh on January 8th. A very solid return, as he broke a 6 match losing streak and won 9-3. To be fair, those were 6 straight solid opponents.

149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis is #1 for a reason. After getting a pair of pins last week against Brown and Harvard he got two more today.

157: Hunter Richard started the day with a comfortable 10-4 win over Columbia. Against Navy, he came from behind with a pair of late takedowns to beat #20 Cerniglia 5-4. A great win and with Yapoujian done for the season I expect Richard to replace him in the rankings.

165: Rough start as #9 Julian Ramirez had a lead over Columbia's #21 Ogunsanya when they bonked heads. He actually continued and stretched his lead, but I think he got his bell rung a second time or felt a little dizzy and asked off, losing by injury default. For Navy he was replaced by Adam Santoro who lost 8-3

174: #13 Chris Foca gave up a late takedown against Columbia when he was going for a major decision but still won 8-3. Against Navy, he rolled to a 13-3 major decision.

184: #15 Jonathan Loew rolled to a pair of major decisions, 10-1 over Columbia and 12-4 over Navy.

197: #19 Jacob Cardenas won comfortably 5-2 over Columbia; he had a chance at a major against Navy's #27 Koser but couldn't get off bottom in the last period and won 9-4 without ever being threatened.

285: #17 Lewis Fernandes had a hell of a day. After an 18-0 tech fall over Columbia he was about to get another tech fall against Navy when he converted the nearfall into a pin.

Final Scores:
Cornell 31-9 over Columbia
Cornell 34-9 over Navy

* 125 has a big 3 at the top of the weight class. Nick Suriano, 2019's national champ at 133 has dropped down to 125 after an Olympic redshirt. Princeton's Patrick Glory split a pair with Vito when they wrestled back in 2019 before Vito took a year off for his own Olympic redshirt in 2020 and Glory was undefeated before pandemic killed the 2020 tournament and the entire 2021 season for the Ivy League.

[ugarte]

Big weekend. Cornell faces Princeton (Saturday @1pm) and Penn (Sunday @1pm) on the road with the goal of taking back the Ivy League trophy we *barely* lost to Princeton in 2020 when half our team was taking a year off. We also have a dual at 5pm on Sunday. The Ivy matches will stream on ESPN; Drexel will stream on Flo.

Interesting from the match notes is the first appearance by Ben Darmstadt at 197. He's been out all year with a back injury, which has plagued him since late in his freshman year. In his place, Jacob Cardenas has wrestled very well and is in the top 20 but Darmstadt is a 2x All-American and sui generis. If he's in form, that would be incredible. Is he in form? Probably not. Cardenas remains the likely starter for the rest of the year.

[blackwidow]

Big weekend. Cornell faces Princeton (Saturday @1pm) and Penn (Sunday @1pm) on the road with the goal of taking back the Ivy League trophy we *barely* lost to Princeton in 2020 when half our team was taking a year off. We also have a dual at 5pm on Sunday. The Ivy matches will stream on ESPN; Drexel will stream on Flo.

Interesting from the match notes is the first appearance by Ben Darmstadt at 197. He's been out all year with a back injury, which has plagued him since late in his freshman year. In his place, Jacob Cardenas has wrestled very well and is in the top 20 but Darmstadt is a 2x All-American and sui generis. If he's in form, that would be incredible. Is he in form? Probably not. Cardenas remains the likely starter for the rest of the year.

So is Ben going to wrestle at Pton this Sat? I hope Cornell wins this time