Wrestling 2022-23

[ugarte]

Foca fall

goddamit i missed it while watching ramirez lose!

[ugarte]

Ugh rough for Ramirez. MSU kept trapping him with a front headlock and using it to great effect. First bad loss for CU.

Penn State's Alex Facundo upset as well, so to avoid 0-2, Ramirez is going to have to beat the 13 seed.

[ugarte]

6-1 morning with a rough upset for Ramirez (he looked wiped out at the end too) and Foca scoring the only bonus points.

Evening matches start at 7. I think the 4 interior mats have the R16 and the 4 outside mats get the consolations.

[ugarte]

Session 1 recap:

125: [15] Brett Ungar v.[18] Miller (Penn). Miller beat him at the dual meet. They didn't face each other at the conference tournament because of the seeding shenanigans that put Ungar at 1 instead of 2, so this was effectively a "true second" match among guys who lost to Pat Glory. Ungar wrestled a great match with two takedowns on sneaky counters. On the first he used Miller's aggression against him and slid behind for 2; on the second, Miller started to shoot and Ungar got lower and beat him to the punch. He added over three minutes of riding time for a W 6-1. Up next, [2] Glory (Princeton). Ungar couldn't score but defended well and kept the conference final to a close 2-0 loss.

133: [3] Vito Arujau v. [30] Rotondo (Cal Poly). Vito should have had a major but with time winding down and holding an 8 point lead, he relaxed and gave up a takedown. No contest. W 12-6. Up next, [14] Redding (Iowa State).

141: [7] Vince Cornella faced [26] Bell (Rider) in a match that had some wild moments. Cornella got the first takedown. Bell tied the match with a pair of escapes. Cornella got another takedown in a scramble, but Bell emerged on top to tie the match again. With just over a minute of riding time, Cornella chose to start the third on neutral and picked up one more takedown for the final margin. W 7-4. Up next, a revenge match against [10] McNeil (UNC), who beat Cornella 4-0 in the dual earlier this year.

149: [1] Yianni Diakomiahalis v. [33] Demas (Cal Poly). Demas was an All American back in 2019 when he was at Oklahoma but hasn't returned to the podium since. This year, he needed another wrestler to drop out to even qualify for NCAAs. Yianni scored early and held the lead. He didn't shoot aggressively and kind of coasted. W 6-1. Up next, [16] Arrington (NC State).

165: [4] Julian Ramirez v [29] Fish (Michigan St.) wasn't supposed to be close, but Fish was the aggressor from the whistle. He used a front headlock to trap Ramirez and put pressure on him from above. In the first period, he wasn't able to score off of the move, and in fact Ramirez had the only score, building up over 1:40 of riding time. Ramirez chose to start the second period on bottom but wasn't able to quickly escape. When it looked like he had the escape, he tried to convert it to a big throw but ended up underneath, fighting for his life. He only gave up 4, but it seemed to take a lot out of him. He did escape to close the gap to 4-3. Fish scored the only two takedowns of the third period - converting off of that brutal front headlock - and that was it. L 4-8. Up next, [13] Facundo (Penn St.) What was supposed to be a match for a trip to the QF is now an elimination bout after both wrestlers were upset.

174: [4] Chris Foca v. [29] Valencia (Arizona St.). Valencia is the youngest of three brothers who ... have each gotten a little worse than the brother who came before. Valencia barely qualified for the tournament, winning a true second match in a 2-bid conference but with a record barely above .500. Foca took him down and got him on his back quickly then put him in danger for what felt like 10 seconds but according to the ref it was apparently multiple short exposures with the same grip, so he only got 2 NF points. He let him up, took him down again quickly, turned him over again quickly and this time settled in for the pin. WBF 2:22. Up next, [13] DeVos (SD St.) Foca won the matchup this year; DeVos won last year.

197: [10] Jacob Cardenas v. [23] Stout (Princeton). Cardenas beat Stout twice earlier this year, fairly easily. Today, he got the first takedown of the match and went defensive from there. W 3-1. Up next, [7] Sloan (SD St.) Tough match.

After the first session, Cornell has 6 wins plus 2 bonus points for Foca's pin. 8 points has us in a tie for 10th.

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                Rem. Score      
 1 Penn State 9 16.0
 2 NC State 9 12.5
 3 Iowa        10 12.0
 4 N. Iowa 7 10.0
   Ohio State 9 10.0
 6 Minnesota 9 9.0
   Missouri 10 9.0
   Wisconsin 8 9.0
 9 Nebraska 7 8.5
10 Cornell 7 8.0
   Illinois 5 8.0
   Iowa St. 8 8.0
   Michigan 8 8.0

[ugarte]

Second session is in the books. A mixed bag but nothing terrible.

Championship bracket:
125: [15] Brett Ungar v [2] Glory (Princeton). This was never going to go well and it didn't. L 0-10.

All things considered, his path to the podium (top isn't awful. The next two rounds are vs [33] Owens (Air Force), followed by the winner of [24] Babin (Columbia) v [26] Wagner (UNC), both of whom he beat earlier this year. After that, of course, is R12 - the blood round* - which is always hard and it would be against either [4] Ramos (Purdue) or the deceptively low-seeded [28] Cardinale (WV), who is a returning All-American who missed most of the year with an injury.
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133: [3] Vito Arujau v [14] Redding (Iowa State) Vito wasn't going to let a major slip away again and he held the big lead he needed. MD 12-4.

His path is still what it always has been. His QF opponent is [6] Latona (Va. Tech), who he split matches with this year. A win and he can't finish worse than 6th.
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141: [7] Vince Cornella v [10] McNeil (UNC). McNeil won the first match with a tough ride and the story was the same today. Cornella got in on a couple of single leg shots but couldn't convert. McNeil got the quick escape, Cornella did not and that was the difference. L 1-2.

Like Ungar, the path to the podium isn't bad. [24] Swiderski (Iowa State) followed by the winner of [18] Tal Shahar (NW) v [32] (MD). Blood round will be either [12] Filius (Purdue) or [4] Hardy (Nebraska). Again, blood round is never easy: Filius beat him earlier this year and Hardy didn't get the 4 seed by accident.
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149: [1] Yianni Diakomihalis v [16] Arrington (NC State). Yianni ran away with this one. Took him down, Arrington escaped. Took him down again, cradled him, stuck him. WBF 2:11.

Waiting in the QF is [8] Murin (Iowa), who he beat in the QF last year. If he gets past Murin, the semifinal is a surprise: the 4 and 5 seeds both lost in the second round. Instead of a 4 v 5 QF, it's 12 v 20.
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174: [4] Chris Foca v [13] DeVos (SD State). Foca started scoring early and just kept scoring. W 8-2.

His QF opponent, as expected is [5] Plott (OK State). Win and he's on the podium.
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197: [10] Jacob Cardenas v [7] Sloan (SD State). Cardenas had the first two good shots. The first was a nice blast double that drove both of them out of bounds; the second was a nice single leg that Sloan was able to counter and turn into his own takedown. That takedown was basically the only scoring, since Cardenas couldn't stand up and Sloan couldn't turn Cardenas over. L 0-4.

Cardenas, like his teammates before him, has a good path to the blood round. Beating [24] Hopkins (Campbell) would lead to either [15] Surber (OK State) or [32] Shaw (UNC). He then would have the loser of [4] Laird (Rider) or [12] Braunagel (Illinois) for hardware. Not impossible!
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Consolation bracket:
165: [4] Julian Ramirez v [13] Facundo (Penn State). Facundo never really came close to scoring and with ~30 seconds left, he caught Facundo and took him right to his back for a six-point move and a major decision. MD 12-2.

His next match is [19] Braunagel** (Illinois) and then probably [6] Kennedy (Iowa) to get to the blood round. The blood round is ... rough. [1] Carr (Iowa State) and [8] Griffith have both won national championships. He did beat Griffin last year, though, so also a reasonable path. He lost in the blood round last year on a takedown with ~4 seconds left so I really want him to clear the hurdle.
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After Day 1, Cornell is in a tie for 6th. 3 in the championship bracket, 4 still alive in the consolations.

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               Rem. Score      
 1 Penn State 9 26.0
 2 Iowa        10 21.5
 3 Missouri 10 17.5
 4 NC State 9 16.5
   Minnesota 9 16.5
 6 Cornell 7 15.5
   Nebraska 7 15.5
 8 Michigan 8 14.5
   Ohio State 9 14.5


* Winners finish top 8 and All American, losers are done, so they leave it all out there.
** Yes, they're brothers.

[semsox]

Brutal squander by Cornella at 141 followed by a bit of a nail-biter for Yianni.

[nshapiro]

Yes.  Too may times the Cornellians have lost the last 30 seconds of the final round, often costing them the win

[ugarte]

Brutal squander by Cornella at 141 followed by a bit of a nail-biter for Yianni.

Overall great round so far.

125: Ungar, WBF.
133: Vito, W. All American.
141: let's not talk about it right now
149: Yianni turns a dominant match into a nailbiter but survives 8-7. All American
165: Ramirez turns a dominant match into a nailbiter but I think he butted heads a couple of times early and started fading late. He charges in head first and has gotten a bunch of concussions from it in the past... survives 17-15 (yeah, 17-15)
174: Foca takes Plott feet-to-back and sticks him in the first round to move into the semis. All American.
197: Cardenas coming soon

[upprdeck]

cornella could have just run away and won that match

[ugarte]

cornella could have just run away and won that match

yeah but we're in the team race and i'm sure he was being encouraged to get the major. nothing in the first 6:30 indicated he couldn't. can't monday morning qb it.

[upprdeck]

I think winning is more important than a bonus pts when you are trying to wrestle back to the podium.

[ugarte]

I think winning is more important than a bonus pts when you are trying to wrestle back to the podium.

sure but it happens - Gable Steveson won a gold medal in the Olympics because the Georgian didn't run away on the restart with 2 seconds left.

[ugarte]

Brutal squander by Cornella at 141 followed by a bit of a nail-biter for Yianni.

Overall great round so far.

125: Ungar, WBF.
133: Vito, W. All American.
141: let's not talk about it right now
149: Yianni turns a dominant match into a nailbiter but survives 8-7. All American
165: Ramirez turns a dominant match into a nailbiter but I think he butted heads a couple of times early and started fading late. He charges in head first and has gotten a bunch of concussions from it in the past... survives 17-15 (yeah, 17-15)
174: Foca takes Plott feet-to-back and sticks him in the first round to move into the semis. All American.
197: Cardenas coming soon

Update: Ungar wins again, Ramirez wins again and Cardenas wins two in a row. We've got 3 on the podium and wrestling in the semis tonight and 3 more in the R12, 1 match away from hardware. Full recap before the late session.

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Session III Recap

Championship bracket:
133: Vito Arujau got the anticipated rubber match against [6] Latona (Va. Tech). Wild start, as Latona got the first takedown, Arujau reversed him, and then Latona reversed back. Vito escaped then got a takedown with short time in the period and didn't allow the escape for a 5-4 lead. He escaped quickly to start the second, 6-4. In the third, he rode for over a minute but gave up the escape with what a potentially fateful :59 on the RT clock and only a 6-5 lead. Latona pressed for a takedown but Vito was able to counter a desperation shot and go behind for a TD with time winding down. Unclear why he didn't get the final second of RT for the extra point but... it doesn't matter. W 8-5.

His semifinal match will be against [2] Daton Fix (OK State), a three-time finalist looking for his first title.
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149: Yianni Diakomihalis was facing [8] Max Murin in the QF for the second straight year. Yianni generated all the offense for almost the entirety of the match. He scored two takedowns in the first, another in the second and started the third period with a reversal for 8 points. In between all of those points were 5 escapes by Murin and not as much riding time as you'd expect, so with time winding down, Yianni only had an 8-5 lead. With 32 seconds left, Murin took a shot, grabbed an ankle and converted for 2. He immediately started to turn, and for the scariest 10 seconds in Cornell wrestling history it looked like he might get it. Yianni stabilized, looked like he might have been in position for a reversal and then bellied out to run out the clock and take the victory. W 8-7. Whew.

His semifinal opponent is a surprise: [12] Van Ness (Penn State) upset the 5 seed and then fell behind 7-1 in the QF before storming back for a 10-7 win.
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174: Chris Foca v [5] Plott (OK State). I barely got to catch my breath after the insane Ramirez match (see below) before the Foca - Plott match started. And as soon as it started, it was over. Just over a minute into the match, Foca caught Plott as he shot, hooked an arm and planted him flat on his back. Plott squirmed around for a bit but it was over. WBF 1:54.

In the semis Foca will face [1] Starocci (Penn State), a 2x defending champ. They met last year and Foca held it to a 3-2 loss, and after a year of bonus point wins Starocci has had a couple of close ones at the tournament. It can happen.

Consolation Bracket:
125: Brett Ungar started the day needing three wins to get to the podium. Now he needs one. His first match, against [33] Owens (Air Force) started slow - in part because Owens wasn't engaging. The first period was scoreless. Ungar started the second period on bottom, escaped quickly... and that period was otherwise scoreless. Owens did get a stall warning. They started the third neutral and after more backing away, Owens was called for stalling again to make it 2-0. Deciding he had to try to score, he took a shot, Ungar caught him under his arm, flipped him straight to his back and got the pin. WBF 5:52.

Ungar's next match was against a familiar opponent, [24] Babin (Columbia) and it was no contest. He got a takedown and two 4NF in the first period. Ungar chose top to start the second and turned him for another 4NF to go up 14-0. Unfortunately, he gave up an escape and couldn't get another takedown for the tech. In the third period, Babin also chose top and after a couple of attempts to escape or reverse for the tech Ungar settled in on his stomach, endured three stalling calls and moved on. MD 14-3.

Waiting in the blood round is [28] Killian Cardinale (WVU) but ignore the seed. This is his third straight year in the blood round, with a 7th place finish in 2021. But for his injuries this year, he'd be in the top 10 and he hasn't looked hurt this weekend.
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141: Vince Cornella. siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Cornella dominated this match. He did all of the scoring in the first 6:30 against Swiderski (Iowa State) and had a 7-1 lead with time running out. Whether it was his call or the coaches', he pressed forward for a major decision. A bad shot resulted in a TD for Swiderski. Swiderski then faked a release; Cornella didn't take sufficient care as he was standing up and Swiderski grabbed him in a front headlock and flipped him over for a pin with 12 seconds left in the match. Brutal. Swiderski won his next match and the blood round is tough but winnable. LBF 6:48.

This one is going to haunt Cornella but he's got three years to make up for it - and Swiderski's a freshman too.
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165: Ramirez first match today was against Braunagel (Illinois) and it's kind of impossible to do it justice. I'm just going to point to the scoresheet, which shows how big his lead was and how close he came to losing it. And even that doesn't show how close it was because Braunagel had an ankle and was trying to tie it up as time expired (I think? A lot of this is a blur.) Ramirez spent a lot of time bleeding - above the eye from a head butt, maybe from a bloody nose, from cutting his hand on broken headgear - and that could have affected him too. But he held on. W 17-15.

Up next for Ramirez was [6] Kennedy (Iowa), a big match both for his own progress and for the team. Very little action early, and the first period ended scoreless. Ramirez started the second period on top and took a foolish stalling call for an extra two seconds of riding time, and the period ended with Kennedy up 1-0. Ramirez tied the match by escaping quickly and scored the first takedown of the match shortly after to go up 3-1. Kennedy escaped quickly and the stall warning loomed large. With 1:18 to go, the score was 3-2 and Ramirez couldn't just back away because another stall would tie the match. He did enough work to keep from getting called and with time running out and Kennedy desperate, Ramirez was able to take advantage of a bad shot to score. W 5-2. After a shocking first round loss, Ramirez fought back through the consolation bracket and is one win away from All American.

To get there he'll have to beat [9] Griffith (Stanford), a 2x All American who won it all in 2021 and finished in second last year. Ramirez stunned everyone by beating Griffith in Ithaca last year. This year, Griffith has a great record this year but he has been grinding out wins without much scoring and lost a couple of matches late in the season to Olguin (Oregon State), who Ramirez beat earlier this year.
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197: Jacob Cardenas started with a match against [24] Hopkins (Campbell) and had no trouble. 6 points on an early feet-to-back takedown and then in the third period, a bit of catch and release to get the major decision. MD 13-4. It's not just Cornella who tries for team points!

His next match, against [15] Surber (OK State) was more of the same. He ran out of time for the major but moves on. W 12-5.

To make the podium he needs to get through [12] Braunagel (Illinois), who is in the blood round against a Cornellian for the second straight year. Last year, Loew knocked him out.

After three sessions, Cornell is in third place with 3 in the championship bracket and 3 in the blood round.

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               Rem. Score      
 1 Penn State 8 78.0
 2 Iowa         6 48.0
 3 Cornell 6 45.5
 4 Nebraska 5 44.0
 5 Michigan 5 39.0
 6 Missouri 6 34.0
 7 Ohio State x 31.0
 8 NC State x 29.0
 9 Iowa State x 28.0
Going to be honest I got tired of looking up how many guys were left after Mizzou.

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Let's go - Ungar on Mat 1