Wrestling 2022-23

[klehner]

I also have my eye on Berreyesa wrestling for Nickerson at Northern Colorado in the Big 12 tournament and really hope he makes it. The conference is deep but they have 6 bids and though he's not seeded, I can definitely see him getting there - he was 23 in the last coaches poll. I've had the opportunity to talk to him a little and he's a great kid and I know he's still close to his former teammates. Would love this for him.

Do you also root for another former teammate - Max Dean?

ugarte can speak for himself, obviously, but personally I am also rooting for Berreyesa to do well because he graduated from Cornell and left because of Ivy rules.  I would only root against him if he wrestles Foca. Could not care less about Max Dean.

Very few wrestlers I root against who are not wrestling Cornell guys.  Max Dean is one of them.

[ugarte]

I admit that i am sotto voce rooting for Stanford and Koll as long as it doesn't hurt Cornell. He did way too much to build and solidify the program for me to begrudge his departure. I'm sure the new gig came with a huge raise not to mention the ability to give scholarships in addition to what I assume is very generous need-based aid. With Andy Noel - his biggest ally at the school - retiring, and a perfect opportunity to build a program that already has a national champion on the roster and to move from Ithaca to Palo Alto ... I get it.

[billhoward]

Koll's in his later 50s (his personal NCAA championship year was 1988). He's got a decade to really salt away retirement money. Can't have enough. (Well, once you have $10M invested, you're probably okay.) I thought I was doing okay then I saw classmates, friends who have two houses and one of them is in Manhattan. Didn't see that one coming.

The guy who deserves a good retirement is Schafer. Just not real soon.

[ugarte]

Great first session.

125: Ungar 15-0 TF 3:02
133: Arujau 15-0 TF 4:42
141: Cornella WBF 1;52
149: Yianni WBF 2:24
157: Handlovic W 3-0
165: Ramirez WBF 2:26
174: Foca WBF 0:39
184: Hansen WBF 5:54 in the pigtail before LMD 15-4 to the top seed.
197: Cardenas WMD 12-3
285: Furman W 8-3

Tons of bonus points and Cornell is way in front in the team race. QF session at 4.

[upprdeck]

so it looks like 8 guys got a chance to still get to the ncaas after day 1.

[ugarte]

so it looks like 8 guys got a chance to still get to the ncaas after day 1.

Yup. 1 Already in. Everyone else is a win away, most of them even if they lose the semi.

QF
125: Ungar W 5-0 Roes (Binghamton). NCAA qualified! Next v. Sotelo (Harvard) - revenge match.  

133: Arujau WTF 16-1 Adrian (Brown). 1 win away. Next v. Ferretti (Navy).

141: Cornella WBF Hoyle (Hofstra) 2:07. 1 win away. Next v. Kazimir (Columbia)

149: Yianni WTF 18-1  Nichter (Drexel). 1 win away. Next v. Fongaro (Columbia).

157: Handlovic L 6-1 to Artalona (Penn).

165: Ramirez W 3-1 over Kim (Harvard). 1 win away. Next v. Cassella (Binghamton).

174: Foca W 6-2 Mulhauser (Princeton). 1 win away. Next v. Wolak (Columbia).

197: Cardenas MD 12-0 Crawford (F&M). 1 win away. Next v. Stout (Princeton).

285: Furman L 7-2 Slavikouski (Harvard)

Consi
157: Handlovic L 5-2 Whalen (Princeton). Out.

184: Hansen LMD 15-7 Abdulrazzaq (Army). Out.

285: Furman (Cornell) W 8-2 Jarrell (American). One win away. Next v. Goldin (Penn).

[mountainred]

Only Brendan starts off with a must win match, right?

Okay, I guess Yianni has to win to get a ticket, but I'm not losing sleep worrying on that one.

[abmarks]

Koll's in his later 50s (his personal NCAA championship year was 1988). He's got a decade to really salt away retirement money. Can't have enough. (Well, once you have $10M invested, you're probably okay.) I thought I was doing okay then I saw classmates, friends who have two houses and one of them is in Manhattan. Didn't see that one coming.

The guy who deserves a good retirement is Schafer. Just not real soon.

That's a good argument for keeping Schafer's is comp as is: below free-market value, but just high enough to keep him from seriously exploring other options.

[ugarte]

Only Brendan starts off with a must win match, right?

Okay, I guess Yianni has to win to get a ticket, but I'm not losing sleep worrying on that one.

yeah. Heartbreaker to see Brendan lose in extra time. He won his 7th place match but at 9-8 with no signature wins I don't know if he's even eligible for consideration. I'll look at it more closely later.

Will also review the whole tournament closely later but, in summary, HOLY SHIT. Out of 10 weights: 6 champs, 1 second, 1 seventh. Nobody went 0-2. The team won the title by a comical amount. Cardenas won the 197 crown with a furious comeback against the #2 wrestler in the country. I can't even talk from screaming.

Incredible weekend. I also had two chicken sandwiches from Federal Donuts which I can't recommend enough.

[ugarte]

I've been poking around to see what Furman's chances are and I'm cautiously optimistic but there are a lot of contingencies.

You have to have 2 of the eligibility criteria to be considered for at at-large bid, and those are:

- .700 overall winning percentage
- .700 Division I winning percentage at the weight class
- Top 33 RPI (taken after the qualifying tournaments)
- Top 33 Coaches Ranking (Taken after the qualifying tournament)
- One win against a wrestler who qualified for the National Tournament
- Qualifying event placement one below AQ

He is 9-8, so he doesn't meet the win% criteria, and he went 0-8 against NCAA qualifiers. On the other hand, he went 9-0 against non-qualifiers so he has no bad losses (a subjective consideration if he can make it over the first hurdle). According to a website that tries to approximate RPI, he sits in 34th, which is killing me. The calculation may be incorrect because it could count certain matches that the NCAA doesn't (non D-I, ECM, medical forfeits in tournaments, that sort of thing) and if he moves up a slot that would be huge. He also could make it into the final CR because some of the guys at the bottom of the pre-tournament CR didn't perform well at their conference tournaments.

There are 4 at-large bids available and while one is probably accounted for, I don't know how many guys are even eligible for consideration. If Furman can get on the consideration list his chances aren't bad.

[upprdeck]

do we know if any of the other top guys are hurt either?

[ugarte]

do we know if any of the other top guys are hurt either?

i don't think so. only one person who earned a bid for his conference at heavyweight didn't hold it, and that's the guy from maryland. it's possible that there could be an injury in the intervening two weeks but i assume if you look at brackets and see guys who earned the necessary placement and then forfeited out, it's precautionary / protective not a real injury.

[mountainred]

I've been poking around to see what Furman's chances are and I'm cautiously optimistic but there are a lot of contingencies.

You have to have 2 of the eligibility criteria to be considered for at at-large bid, and those are:

- .700 overall winning percentage
- .700 Division I winning percentage at the weight class
- Top 33 RPI (taken after the qualifying tournaments)
- Top 33 Coaches Ranking (Taken after the qualifying tournament)
- One win against a wrestler who qualified for the National Tournament
- Qualifying event placement one below AQ

He is 9-8, so he doesn't meet the win% criteria, and he went 0-8 against NCAA qualifiers. On the other hand, he went 9-0 against non-qualifiers so he has no bad losses (a subjective consideration if he can make it over the first hurdle). According to a website that tries to approximate RPI, he sits in 34th, which is killing me. The calculation may be incorrect because it could count certain matches that the NCAA doesn't (non D-I, ECM, medical forfeits in tournaments, that sort of thing) and if he moves up a slot that would be huge. He also could make it into the final CR because some of the guys at the bottom of the pre-tournament CR didn't perform well at their conference tournaments.

There are 4 at-large bids available and while one is probably accounted for, I don't know how many guys are even eligible for consideration. If Furman can get on the consideration list his chances aren't bad.

Pulling for Brendan, but it seems unlikely to me.  He's going to need a lot of things to break right for him.  

Still, what a tournament!

[ugarte]

Pulling for Brendan, but it seems unlikely to me.  He's going to need a lot of things to break right for him.  

Still, what a tournament!

The biggest thing that he has going for him is that the non-AQ heavyweights simply aren't all that impressive. (Brendan aside, who is great. Also, I met his dad in Philly and we talked for a bit. (For those who don't know), Furman's brother is a Cornell commit, though probably going to be at the RTC for a gap year.) If he can make it over the "eligible for consideration" hurdle I have a good feeling.

[ugarte]

Tournament recap:
[seeds in brackets]

125: [1]* Brett Ungar hit the ground running with a 15-0 Tech fall and followed it up with a 5-0 win to reach the SF. In the semis he faced Harvard's Sotelo, who beat him 1-0 in the dual meet by refusing to let him stand up for two minutes. This time, when Ungar took bottom, he got a quick reversal. The match went to SV tied at 2 but Ungar pulled out the win with a clean takedown. In the finals he met Princeton's Glory - the real top seed - and hung tough for a 2-0 loss. A huge improvement on the 10-2 loss at the dual meet. His second place finish was more than enough to qualify him for NCAAs in his first season wrestling for the Big Red. He's a long shot for AA but he'll score some points for the team.

133: [1] Vito Arujau was a heavy favorite to take the title. He did not disappoint. He breezed through the bracket 15-0 TF, 16-1 TF, 13-5 MD, 8-0 MD for his second straight EIWA title. It's his third trip to the NCAA tournament and he's finished 4th and 3rd in his two previous trips. Barring injury he's a lock for AA (knock wood) but he's ranked third because the top two - defending champ Ramon Bravo-Young of Penn State and two-time runner up Daton Fix of Okie State are also in the bracket. Incredible depth. Any of them can win; anyone else would be a shock.

141: [1] Vince Cornella finished off his first year really breezing through his bracket. He sat out for a couple of weeks to end the regular season but any concern of lingering effects was quickly put to rest. His first three rounds went pin, pin, pin - the third over the defending conference champ. In the final, he rolled to a 13-3 major decision. He will head to the tournament with a seed in the 10-13 range and a credible shot at AA this year and a high likelihood of getting on the podium before his career is done. On the other hand, WIN Magazine jumped him to #7 so maybe all the pins is getting him some more respect from people than the computers give him.

149: [2]* Yianni Diakomihalis was never threatened. He had a pin, an 18-1 tech, an 18-3 tech and closed with a 15-3 MD. He's going to win his 4th national championship. His only loss this year may not even need to be avenged. Austin Gomez returned from his injury for the B1G tournament and lost his first round match and was DQ'd from his first consolation match for an illegal throw (an accidental piledriver is how i'd describe it). Gomez will be at NCAA's but he's clearly off his game.

157: [8] Cole Handlovic started with a 3-0 win before losing 6-1 to the top seed. He was upset in his first consolation bout, 5-2 by Princeton's Ty Whalen, who he'd handled easily at the dual meet. Disappointing tournament but he didn't go 0-2 and he had a long road to NCAAs in a three-bid weight. Great job stepping up for the team when Yapoujian was off and/or injured.

165: [1] Julian Ramirez earned the top seed by beating a finalist from last year's NCAA's, Princeton's Quincy Monday, in the dual meet. Ramirez' path wasn't exactly a cakewalk but he wasn't ever really threatened until the final. After starting the tournament with a pin, he won a couple of close matches: 3-1 over Harvard's Kim (who gives him fits defensively but also can't score on him) followed by a very annoying 3-1 SV win over Binghamton's Cassella. Cassella spent the entire match backing away and the fact that he wasn't constantly called for stalling was infuriating. The final - a rematch against Monday, as expected, was a thriller. After multiple lead changes, Ramirez took a 1 point lead when Monday conceded an escape to start the third period then held off two minutes of offensive pressure, including a scramble for the final 10 seconds, to claim the title. Monday (4) and Ramirez (7) were both considered AA candidates before the tournament and probably will both be seeding as AA chalk, but they are probably going to flip positions now.

174: [1] Chris Foca opened with a 38 second pin and followed it up with a 6-2 win, a 19-4 tech and a comfortable 10-5 win in the finals. He's had an incredible year - only one loss, by a single point to a former national champ and is looking incredible heading into his second trip to NCAAs.

184: [16] Christian Hansen was an unlikely representative, since this tournament was his first action at this weight all year. Accordingly, he was given the 16th seed out of 17 ahead of only a wrestler from Sacred Heart with a full schedule and no normal wins over a D-I opponent all year. The seeding committee was right to assume Hansen was the favorite because he opened up a 15-3 lead before finishing off the match with a pin. He even got the first takedown of the match in his next match, against the eventual EIWA champ,** before losing back to back matches to end the tournament. There probably isn't a spot in the starting lineup for him for a while if Jon Loew's shoulder heals up but he's a very solid wrestler.

197: [2] Jacob Cardenas was a real highlight. 12-3 MD, 12-0 MD, 8-1 win in the semis over Princeton's Luke Stout, who beat him at the tournament last year, to set up a match against top seed, #2 Michael Beard of Lehigh. Beard was an All-American at Penn State before they brought in former Cornellian Max Dean to take his spot in the starting lineup, prompting his transfer. Beard jumped out to a 5-1 lead but Cardenas got aggressive and Beard couldn't defend against it. With two takedowns in the second period and two more in the third, plus a point for stalling, Cardenas won 10-9 and Beard looked totally gassed and demoralized. Cardenas is making his second trip to NCAAs and this win should see him leap up the seedings.

285: [9] Brendan Furman has been the subject of a lot of posts by me here already, so I won't belabor it. He won his first match comfortably before losing 7-2 to the top seed. In the wrestlebacks, he won his first match 8-2 before facing Penn's Ben Goldin for the second time this season. Just like last time, it was 1-1 heading to SV and Goldin was able to get the winning takedown. Furman wrestled more aggressively this time, and came very close to scoring more than once, but he wasn't able to convert his shots. He shook off the disappointment and won the 7th place bout, which was huge, since finishing one spot short of a bid is one of the criteria for choosing at-large candidates. I'm still bummed that he missed his trip to NCAAs in 2020 when the tournament was canceled for Covid and I'm really rooting for him to get an at-large bid.

Overall, the team won in a walk. 7 finalists, 6 champs and a 7th place for good measure. Everyone on the team had at least one win and even the pigtail win from Hansen was a pin. Great work and I'm really looking forward to NCAAs in two weeks. Only time I've ever wished I lived closer to Tulsa.

* The top seeds at 125 and 149 were a bit of a joke. Glory is a defending national finalist and currently ranked #2 in the country. Yianni is a 3x champion and currently ranked #1 in the country. They both got the 2 seed at the conference tournament because EIWA decided to do the seeding by a strict mathematical formula that (a) included RPI and (b) included the NCAA 15-match minimum requirement for RPI. Glory and Yianni both had fewer than 15 matches at the relevant weight, so both were given a 0 in the formula for that criteria. The rules allow for a supermajority of coaches to vote to "fix" anomalies like these, but not enough coaches who would get hurt by moving the obvious future champ to their side of the bracket were willing to vote ethically. It's honestly no different than leaving someone off your Coaches Ranking ballot but that's life.

** Jon Loew would have been a heavy favorite for the title if his season wasn't ended with a shoulder injury. He was at the tournament in a sling that suggests surgery and he reportedly intends to return next year.