Wrestling 2024 Postseason

[ugarte]

Third place matches:

157: [3] Meyer Shapiro v [6] Daniel Cardenas (Stanford)

Third time is the charm, as Shapiro finally managed to wrestle Cardenas without getting bonked on the head. Shapiro did all of the scoring in this match, with two TDs in the first period and another in the second. I was kind of hoping for one final takedown in the third period for the MD and an exclamation point on the victory but he didn't push for it at the end. I knew Shapiro would win in an injury-free match. Third place finish for Shapiro, who (barring injury) is the favorite to win the title the next three years.

A second storyline to this rivalry is that Cardenas had committed to Cornell before Rob Koll left, and he followed Koll to Stanford. Probably for the best because I don't know if Shapiro or Cardenas could comfortably go 149 and Ramirez is already sitting at 165. Cardenas didn't follow Koll again when he left Stanford for North Carolina.

197: [5] Jacob Cardenas v [8] Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma).

Buchanan pulled off a modest upset to beat Sloan, who i really didn't want to see.

I'll be honest: I didn't want to see Buchanan either. I was happy that by beating Elam, Cardenas would finish ahead of one of these guys without having to wrestle them (see also, Lehigh's Michael Beard, who lost to Buchanan and fell to the 7th place match.)

Cardenas was never really in this one. Buchanan protected his legs and finished his shots and finished his career with a 9-4 win to take third place.

This also marks the end of Cardenas's career at Cornell, as he didn't take time away from school during COVID and will graduate with his class. He's going to go into the transfer portal to wrestle somewhere else as a grad student and (unless he's wrestling one of ours) I'm going to cheer for him to get a third AA for the trophy case. He finished 8th last year and improved to 4th this year. It's been great to watch him develop.

[The early matches] have pulled Cornell up into third place. We trail only Penn State - who keeps piling on points - and Michigan heading into the third place matches.

This is still true. Heading into the finals - starting tonight at 7 Eastern - Cornell is within striking distance of Michigan for second place, and (almost*) clinches third with a win from Vito.

Here are the teams vying for a spot on the podium. Literally to save money on trophies, the NCAA has changed the podium from 4 to 3.

Code Select Expand



  Finalists
1  Penn State [b]155.5 6[/b]
2  Michigan  71 2
3  Cornell  68.5 1
4  Iowa           67 1
5  Iowa State  64.5 1
6  Airzona State  60.5  2


The finals:

125: [3] Ayala (Iowa) v [8] Figueroa (ASU)
133: [1] Fix (OK St.) v [6] Arujau (Cornell)
141: [1] Mendez (OH St.) v [2] Bartlett (PSU)
149: [4] Henson (VT) v [6] Gomez (Michigan)
157: [1] Haines (PSU) v [2] Teemer (ASU)
165: [2] Mesenbrink (PSU) v [4] Carr (ISU)
174: [6] Welsh (OH St.) v [9] Starocci (PSU)
184: [1] Keckeisen (N. Iowa) v [3] Plott (OK. St.)
197: [1] Brooks (PSU) v [2] Hidlay (NC St.)
285: [1] Kirkvliet (PSU) v [10] Davison (Michigan)

My gut says Vito wins 133, Iowa loses 125, Michigan wins 149 but loses 285 and Cornell finishes in third.

* If Vito wins by regular decision and Iowa's Ayala pins Figueroa, Iowa would leapfrog Cornell, 73-72.5.

[Chris '03]

Third place matches:

157: [3] Meyer Shapiro v [6] Daniel Cardenas (Stanford)

Third time is the charm, as Shapiro finally managed to wrestle Cardenas without getting bonked on the head. Shapiro did all of the scoring in this match, with two TDs in the first period and another in the second. I was kind of hoping for one final takedown in the third period for the MD and an exclamation point on the victory but he didn't push for it at the end. I knew Shapiro would win in an injury-free match. Third place finish for Shapiro, who (barring injury) is the favorite to win the title the next three years.

A second storyline to this rivalry is that Cardenas had committed to Cornell before Rob Koll left, and he followed Koll to Stanford. Probably for the best because I don't know if Shapiro or Cardenas could comfortably go 149 and Ramirez is already sitting at 165. Cardenas didn't follow Koll again when he left Stanford for North Carolina.

197: [5] Jacob Cardenas v [8] Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma).

Buchanan pulled off a modest upset to beat Sloan, who i really didn't want to see.

I'll be honest: I didn't want to see Buchanan either. I was happy that by beating Elam, Cardenas would finish ahead of one of these guys without having to wrestle them (see also, Lehigh's Michael Beard, who lost to Buchanan and fell to the 7th place match.)

Cardenas was never really in this one. Buchanan protected his legs and finished his shots and finished his career with a 9-4 win to take third place.

This also marks the end of Cardenas's career at Cornell, as he didn't take time away from school during COVID and will graduate with his class. He's going to go into the transfer portal to wrestle somewhere else as a grad student and (unless he's wrestling one of ours) I'm going to cheer for him to get a third AA for the trophy case. He finished 8th last year and improved to 4th this year. It's been great to watch him develop.

[The early matches] have pulled Cornell up into third place. We trail only Penn State - who keeps piling on points - and Michigan heading into the third place matches.

This is still true. Heading into the finals - starting tonight at 7 Eastern - Cornell is within striking distance of Michigan for second place, and (almost*) clinches third with a win from Vito.

Here are the teams vying for a spot on the podium. Literally to save money on trophies, the NCAA has changed the podium from 4 to 3.

Code Select Expand



  Finalists
1  Penn State [b]155.5 6[/b]
2  Michigan  71 2
3  Cornell  68.5 1
4  Iowa           67 1
5  Iowa State  64.5 1
6  Airzona State  60.5  2


The finals:

125: [3] Ayala (Iowa) v [8] Figueroa (ASU)
133: [1] Fix (OK St.) v [6] Arujau (Cornell)
141: [1] Mendez (OH St.) v [2] Bartlett (PSU)
149: [4] Henson (VT) v [6] Gomez (Michigan)
157: [1] Haines (PSU) v [2] Teemer (ASU)
165: [2] Mesenbrink (PSU) v [4] Carr (ISU)
174: [6] Welsh (OH St.) v [9] Starocci (PSU)
184: [1] Keckeisen (N. Iowa) v [3] Plott (OK. St.)
197: [1] Brooks (PSU) v [2] Hidlay (NC St.)
285: [1] Kirkvliet (PSU) v [10] Davison (Michigan)

My gut says Vito wins 133, Iowa loses 125, Michigan wins 149 but loses 285 and Cornell finishes in third.

* If Vito wins by regular decision and Iowa's Ayala pins Figueroa, Iowa would leapfrog Cornell, 73-72.5.

Thank you as always for spelling this out for the casual March wrestling fans. Do we know what weight they are starting with tonight?

[djk26]

Thank you as always for spelling this out for the casual March wrestling fans. Do we know what weight they are starting with tonight?

NCAA Wrestling on Twitter says it will be: 285, 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197.  

So Vito's the third match. Don't know how they determine the order--I guess if soemone was wrestling for a fourth straight national title or something he would be in the last match?  It can't be for team drama this year--there is none--Penn State is lapping the field and has already clinched the title.  Would be very satisfying to see Cornell finish in the top three.

Thanks as always to ugarte.

[ugarte]

Thank you as always for spelling this out for the casual March wrestling fans. Do we know what weight they are starting with tonight?

You're welcome!

I haven't seen an announcement yet. There are so many good stories. If I were setting it up, I'd start at Heavyweight and end at 197. You open with a defending PSU champ almost certainly repeating and then you close with Brooks going for his 4th straight title against Hidlay. Hidlay is a 3X AA who, has been knocked out of the championship bracket by Brooks three straight times.

EDIT:

NCAA Wrestling on Twitter says it will be: 285, 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197.  

WHAT A CALL!

[ugarte]

To see the crazy Shapiro pin, go to ~25:30 here https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/6ddc3e1a-9ebc-41b8-b232-9b8e4ff3366c

[upprdeck]

that whole match was pretty wild

[ugarte]

The finals:

285: [1] Kerkvliet (PSU) v [10] Davison (Michigan)
125: [3] Ayala (Iowa) v [8] Figueroa (ASU)
133: [1] Fix (OK St.) v [6] Arujau (Cornell)
141: [1] Mendez (OH St.) v [2] Bartlett (PSU)
149: [4] Henson (VT) v [6] Gomez (Michigan)
157: [1] Haines (PSU) v [2] Teemer (ASU)
165: [2] Mesenbrink (PSU) v [4] Carr (ISU)
174: [6] Welsh (OH St.) v [9] Starocci (PSU)
184: [1] Keckeisen (N. Iowa) v [3] Plott (OK. St.)
197: [1] Brooks (PSU) v [2] Hidlay (NC St.)

My gut says Vito wins 133, Iowa loses 125, Michigan wins 149 but loses 285 and Cornell finishes in third.

So far, so good. Kerk and Figueroa both win.

[Cop at Lynah]

Vito National Champion !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[upprdeck]

that was one frustrating match to watch

[ugarte]

The finals:

285: [1] Kerkvliet (PSU) v [10] Davison (Michigan)
125: [3] Ayala (Iowa) v [8] Figueroa (ASU)
133: [1] Fix (OK St.) v [6] Arujau (Cornell)
141: [1] Mendez (OH St.) v [2] Bartlett (PSU)
149: [4] Henson (VT) v [6] Gomez (Michigan)
157: [1] Haines (PSU) v [2] Teemer (ASU)
165: [2] Mesenbrink (PSU) v [4] Carr (ISU)
174: [6] Welsh (OH St.) v [9] Starocci (PSU)
184: [1] Keckeisen (N. Iowa) v [3] Plott (OK. St.)
197: [1] Brooks (PSU) v [2] Hidlay (NC St.)

My gut says Vito wins 133, Iowa loses 125, Michigan wins 149 but loses 285 and Cornell finishes in third.

So far, so good. Kerk and Figueroa both win.

Everything coming up Cornell today! Not only does Vito beat Fix and the NCAA officiating crew, but Henson takes out Gomez at 149, so Cornell finishes in 2nd place!

[Scersk '97]

Everything coming up Cornell today! Not only does Vito beat Fix and the NCAA officiating crew, but Henson takes out Gomez at 149, so Cornell finishes in 2nd place!

Fantastic!

I must admit that I don't follow very closely. Are we a deep team or a young team?

Any chinks in the armor of the Penn State juggernaut? Quite a kick in the head that the mantle passed from Iowa to Penn State right at our previous peak.

[Bahnstorm]

Great end result for the team. I follow the season, but appreciate having the summaries and insight here, thanks ugarte!

[ugarte]

Everything coming up Cornell today! Not only does Vito beat Fix and the NCAA officiating crew, but Henson takes out Gomez at 149, so Cornell finishes in 2nd place!

Fantastic!

I must admit that I don't follow very closely. Are we a deep team or a young team?

Any chinks in the armor of the Penn State juggernaut? Quite a kick in the head that the mantle passed from Iowa to Penn State right at our previous peak.

Not deep - only Penn State is - and we are losing some significant people.

We are losing Vito (133), Baker (174), Cardenas (197) and Fernandes (285) to graduation. Making it worse, Cornella (141) and Ungar (125) got hurt at the end of the year, and I hope they're ok long term.

We do have Fernandez (Top 15-20 at 149), Shapiro (3d place at 157), Ramirez (3x one match short of AA at 165) and Foca (3d place in 2023 at 174, just short at 184) returning. We have some talented freshmen coming in, particularly Simon Ruiz at 174, but the real reinforcements come for the 25-26 season.

[Scersk '97]

We do have Fernandez (Top 15-20 at 149), Shapiro (3d place at 157), Ramirez (3x one match short of AA at 165) and Foca (3d place in 2023 at 174, just short at 184) returning. We have some talented freshmen coming in, particularly Simon Ruiz at 174, but the real reinforcements come for the 25-26 season.

Neat. My lasting dislike for Andy Noel notwithstanding, I do hope that wrestling can eventually break through that silver ceiling as a team, i.e., that Grey can continue and surpass what Koll (and, to a lesser extent, Noel) wrought.

Anything that breaks through a Big 10 hegemony is a good thing.

[marty]

Is there a link to an online source that has the final results.  Last I searched I couldn't find one.