Wrestling 2024-25

[ugarte]

It's still summer, so there's no Cornell wrestling for a while but I may as well start the thread now anyway because there's news.

First, Kyle Dake is back in the Olympics and that starts soon. The Russians are out, so his chances of bringing home gold, which were already decent, are now even better than decent.

Second, we have a great incoming class of at-least-greyshirts in 2025. Some of them may be coming straight to campus next year but I have to admit that I don't know who is going to do that. Without a full preview, I can say this: the big Freestyle Nationals in Fargo just wrapped up and Cornell's recruits had a great showing.

At 138, Sergio Vega (AZ) bumped up from 132 and took first place. Alessio Perentin (NJ) won at 165 with a 10-0 tech in the final. Rocco Dellagatta (NJ) survived a flurry at the end to win by a point. Cash Henderson (UT) finished in third place at 285, giving us an incredible pair of heavyweights on the way. Elijah Diakomihalis - a name you might remember - finished in 6th place at 190 (an odd change of pace from his brothers who came in wrestling at 125 and 141). Gabriel Bouyssou (RI) had a solid tournament and a great final match to finish in 7th place. Six placewinners including three titles is a damn good tournament.

[billhoward]

... Cash Henderson (UT) finished in third place at 285, giving us an incredible pair of heavyweights on the way.

Elijah Diakomihalis - a name you might remember - finished in 6th place at 190 (an odd change of pace from his brothers who came in wrestling at 125 and 141).

A great name for the era of NIL versus, say, "Olivia Dunne"

Better maternal nutrition.

[ugarte]

bad memory for me. cash finished 4th.

[Al DeFlorio]

Nice Intermat article on Cornell wrestling: https://rokfin.com/article/17793

[marty]

Nice Intermat article on Cornell wrestling: https://rokfin.com/article/17793

the article[/url]

Keep in mind they cannot use the transfer portal to replace such talent like much of their competition – due to Ivy League rules.

Huh??::twitch::  Is this a sport specific Ivy rule?

[upprdeck]

this is not true? you can transfer..  you cant grad transfer

[ugarte]

this is not true? you can transfer..  you cant grad transfer

true, though you do tend to see ivy guys using up eligibility and going elsewhere and not much transfer in, so it feels like a one-way ticket.

In other news, the World Team Trials for non-Olympic weights is this weekend. Vito Arujau, 2024 61kg World Champ, is ready to go and will be defending his title. He gets a bye to the best-of-three final as a 2024 medalist. Nahshon Garrett, who lost to Arujau at Final X last year, is also competing at 61kg.

Philip Moomey, a Team USA age group representative in Greco, will be trying to make his first Senior world team, at 63kg, and is seeded 4th.

Additionally, Isaiah Cortez '30 (i think) took silver at 55kg in U20 Greco. He'll be joined by his twin brother and (unlike Moomey) they are not just greco specialists and may get substantial mat time.

[ugarte]

In other news, the World Team Trials for non-Olympic weights is this weekend. Vito Arujau, 2024 61kg World Champ, is ready to go and will be defending his title. He gets a bye to the best-of-three final as a 2024 medalist. Nahshon Garrett, who lost to Arujau at Final X last year, is also competing at 61kg.

Philip Moomey, a Team USA age group representative in Greco, will be trying to make his first Senior world team, at 63kg, and is seeded 4th.

Vito won in a pair of boring matches because rising high school senior Marcus Blaze spent 12 minutes of action backing up. The first match was a trade of passivity points before Vito got a step-out point to win 2-1. In the second match, Vito received two passivity points in addition to winning a step-out point before conceding a step-out point with 8 seconds remaining to win 3-1 and defend his USA championship and win the place in the world championships in Albania.

Moomey won his first match but lost the next two and finished tied for 5th.

[ugarte]

Flo hosted the annual "Who's #1" HS all-star showcase today. Cornell had two commits going: Anthony Knox (126) and Sergio Vega (138), both HS seniors. Both won their matches.

Vega, who came in ranked #1 beat #2 Gorman 12-5 and looked incredible. Fast, flexible, an array of moves like Shapiro.

Knox, who also came in #1, was trailing 2-0 in the closing seconds but with 12 seconds left, got the score he needed to beat #2 Seidel 3-2. It is his record 4th Who's Number 1 title. Especially great to see because I'm pretty sure Knox got injured during junior World Team Trials but I can't seem to find any info about it.

Unclear if either/both will take a grayshirt year to train up while taking classes at TC3 or if they will come in as frosh like Yianni and Meyer Shapiro did.

[ugarte]

Jacob Cardenas '24 is wrestling for gold tomorrow at the U23 World Championships in Albania at 92kg. He won silver in '22 and bronze in '23. Due to the Ivy rules regarding grad students, Cardenas is wrestling for Michigan this year.

Also, Joshua Saunders '25 starts his tournament at 65kg tomorrow at 4:30am. Saunders came in as a highly touted recruit, having made Team USA at both the U17 and U20 levels as well as a pair of Fargo tournament championships but between injuries and other issues he hasn't made an impact in college. This season he's slotted as a backup at 141 but I could see him challenging for the starting role there or at 149 if he puts it all together.

[ugarte]

Saunders loses his first match 9-2 and is eliminated when his opponent loses his next match.


In the gold medal match, Cardenas briefly held a 4-3 lead, but the rest of the match was dominated by his Iranian opponent and he falls 11-4. His third medal at U23, Silver, Bronze and Silver again.

[ugarte]

The Senior Worlds are in progress in progress, with two Cornellians in the mix.

61kg: Vito Arujau, defending world champ, started his tournament today. After a pair of wins, he lost in the semi 12-0, to Japan's Masanasuke Ono. Ono also won the U20 this year, and will be a force to be reckoned with for a while. Arujau was thoroughly thrashed in all phases. He is alive for the bronze and due to the structure of the tournament, Arjau has a bye to the bronze medal match but his top competitors (RUS/CHN) will have to win two matches while he stays fresh.

92kg: I didn't remember that Ben Honis qualified for Worlds on behalf of Italy at 92kg. He got a great draw and won his first three matches (China, Mongolia, Hungary) before  falling 9-2 in the semi to Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia. No offense to any of the people he beat, but three wrestlers in the other half of the bracket would probably have treated him similarly to Maisuradze. Honis drops straight into the bronze medal match where he'll face the winner of IND/SVK.


As is standard, we did very poorly in Greco, going 1-5 and not placing anyone as high as 5th. Our women finished in third as a team, with two bronzes and a 5th.

The rest of our men's team fared poorly, especially in light of our reputations, but age is finally catching up to our legends.

70kg: James Green (2017 world silver; 2015 world bronze) went 1-1 and wasn't pulled back into repechage.
79kg: Jordan Burroughs (2012 Olympic gold; 6x world gold; 3x world bronze) went 1-1 and wasn't pulled back into repechage.
92kg: David Taylor (2020 Olympic gold; 3x world gold; 1x world silver - but all at 86kg) got a horrible draw, facing a legend in his own right, Abdulrashid Sadulaev, and lost in the first round, 7-0. Fortunately, Sadulaev beat another world champion in the semis, so Taylor was pulled back into repechage. Unfortunately, Taylor will have to win two matches before the bronze medal match, where that 2x 92kg world champ will be waiting.

[ugarte]

The Senior Worlds are in progress in progress, with two Cornellians in the mix.

61kg:... Arjau has a bye to the bronze medal match but his top competitors (RUS/CHN) will have to win two matches while he stays fresh.

Vito won comfortably over a 2x world champion (at 57kg), despite aggravating a dislocated finger in the middle of the match. Follows up his 2023 gold with bronze.

92kg: ... Honis drops straight into the bronze medal match where he'll face the winner of IND/SVK.

Honis was outmuscled for most of the match. An 8-6 final belies how dominant the Slovakian was, as it includes a meaningless takedown as time expired.

[ugarte]

With the first dual meet of the season tomorrow at Buffalo, I may as well write the season preview. First, where the individual wrestlers stand in the latest rankings:

Code Select Expand


Flo WIN Intermat OpenMat AWN WSt
125: Greg D. 10 20 9 13 12  5
133: Ungar 18 18 20 20 12 16
141: Cornella 15 15 17 19 15 20
149: Fernandez 32 NR 14 NR 19 18
157: Shapiro 2 2 2    2  2  1
165: Ramirez 7 4 4 NR*  7  4
174: Ruiz 11 12 14 19 17 52
184: Foca   15 9 8 NR*  5  7
197: Mike D. 26 NR 25 NR NR 24
285: Davis NR NR 31 NR NR 40
TEAM NCAA: 15 12 8 20 xx  6
TEAM DUAL:      xx xx 11 13 xx  8


WIN, The Open Mat and AWN only rank to 20; Flo and Intermat rank to 33. WrestleStat ranks by ELO.

The first thing to know is that there are two seniors taking off the fall semester to preserve eligibility for spring: Julian Ramirez (165) and Chris Foca (184). They are two of our stronger All-American contenders, so their absence will affect the results for a couple of months. Second, we are already dealing with some injuries. Vince Cornella (141), Meyer Shapiro (157) and Ashton Davis (285) are all missing this weekend's action. With that out of the way, here we go.

125: Greg Diakomihalis is back for what is apparently his junior year, since eligibility in wrestling is very confusing given how extra years seem to be freely granted for injury, and especially with the long tail of COVID. This is Greg D's first season as a starter after backing up Arujau in '22, sitting with injury in '23 and backing up Ungar in '24. He has some solid wins in his history already. He is a likely National Qualifier who can hopefully get himself into AA consideration as he builds his resume. Marcello Milani has a gaudy record as a backup but without quality opponents my gut tells me that we're very thin beyond Greg D.

133: Junior Brett Ungar moves up from 125 after back-to-back NQ, but finishing short of All-American his first two years. He doesn't quite have the pollsters' respect after making the jump and it will be interesting to see if he is strong enough to hang with the top of the weight class. He was a defense-centric wrestler at 125 with a solid top game but sometimes struggled to escape from bottom. Another wrestler who will be solid all season but needs to prove he is ready to hang with the top of the weight class. A highly regarded freshman in Tyler Ferrara joins the team this year and Ethan Qureshi was a capable fill-in last year when Arujau was out.

141: Junior Vince Cornella is the presumptive starter but he is still recovering from a 2024 season that ended prematurely with an inury at EIWAs, since a very tough schedule meant he didn't have a solid resume for an at-large selection. Given that he is still out, a bid may have gone to waste regardless. Until he returns, I have no idea what his season will be like. Stepping in for him is Josh Saunders, a five-star recruit whose shine has faded significantly. Whether due to injury, losing his spot in the lineup or rumors of academic frustration (not to cast aspersions - i don't know the basis of the rumors), he has not had or held a position in the starting lineup since arriving on campus in 2021, the lost COVID year. His freestyle (olympic-style) record is impressive, making Team USA U17, U20 and U23 teams but it has not yet transferred to folkstyle (NCAA) which has different scoring moves. He can be too defense-oriented and has a tendency to gas out but, thrust into the early-season starting role I am hopeful that he can convert his raw skills into wins. Further depth here seems unlikely but I've been surprised before. For example ...

149: Junior Ethan Fernandez was a solid backup in 2023 as a fill-in splitting time between 133 and 141 but when competition for the spot at 149 opened up last year, he grabbed the reins from Saunders and didn't let go. Fernandez eventually climbed into the rankings, won the conference title and notched a win at NCAAs. He is going to have to prove himself again but I think he's game. If Cornella reclaims his spot at 141, Saunders will either challenge Fernandez or serve as the top backup. Nate Wade is the third man up, though right now he is stepping up to 157.

157: True Sophomore Meyer Shapiro is an almost-flawless wrestler. His only problem is that he is willing to get into very funky positions for advantage and he keeps slamming his head into the mat and making himself dizzy. His only losses last season were in matches where he conked his head or the match immediately after even though he never actually defaulted. Coming off of a 3d place finish at NCAAs - where he got revenge on a guy who beat him twice when he was in a conked state, he lost his first match of this year by injury default after yet another concussion while leading comfortably at the time of the conking. He should be fine going forward but he's taking a little time. As I said, Nate Wade is stepping in which indicates that the coaches don't have a lot of faith in the other backups at 157.

165: Senior Julian Ramirez has been an All-American contender for three straight years and for three straight years he has lost one match shy of All-American. When he returns in the spring he will once again be a solid pick to finish on the podium and it's his last chance to do it. We have capable backups in Evan Canoyer (the starter for now) and Gage McClenahan, but this weight rises or falls on Ramirez's success.

174: Simon Ruiz, a very highly regarded freshman steps right into the starting lineup. As a greyshirt, he took last year's national runner-up to SV (his only loss of the season) and notched a win against an All-American so the potential here is very high. He lost an early season match to a conference rival, but Incontrera is a 3x NQ looking for his first trip to the podium as well. Ruiz is already climbing up the rankings. His primary backup is Christian Hansen who filled in admirably at 184 in the 2023 EIWAs.

184: Senior Chris Foca is the big gun here. In his first three years, Foca finished just off the podium at 174, 4th at 174 and just off the podium at 184. When he returns in the spring I think he will be fit and ready to go at 184 and will finish as an All-American again. Filling in until he does is Colt Barley but it's a pretty significant fall-off. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hansen back up here if Foca gets injured. Matt Furman, younger brother of the recently graduated heavyweight Brendan, joins the long list of brothers on the squad. (In addition to Greg D., Vito's brother George Arujau is on the roster at 141 but not expected to see much time on the mat. Plus, another Diakomihalis is on the way in the coming years.)

197: 2x All-American Jacob Cardenas didn't take advantage of the COVID year and actually finished college in 4 years, so he's off to Michigan to wrestle in his grad school year. Stepping in is freshman Mikey Dellagatta, who started his official career 3-0 including a W over the NC State starter. Pretty big fall-off after the starter here as well.

285: Ashton Davis will start for the first time in his sophomore year. He put up good numbers against a backup's schedule last year so I'm not sure what to expect out of this. He's 3-0 but against weak competition; that was still enough to get him into some rankings. He is sitting this weekend, though I don't know why. His backup, Aidan Compton didn't wrestle at all as a greyshirt so I have no idea what to expect.

The biggest change from last year to this is that the Ivy League is a standalone in wrestling now, ending a 100+ year association with EIWA. The ILT will be a one day tournament in the spring. Based on last year, there probably won't be much of a change in how the conference is rewarded by the NCAAs. Cornell and Lehigh - the best remaining team in EIWA - hogged a lot of what was available anyway and Ivy and non-Ivy teams were similarly responsible for earning allocated spots. I'll miss the rivalry with Lehigh; fortunately the coaches appear to be willing to continue to schedule each other despite the Ivy betrayal.

A final note, though there appears to be a big gap between starters and backups, that's a result of the embarrassment of riches we've had in recent years. We are losing two huge seniors this year to boot. That said, the HS pipeline looks incredible even with the loss of one of the crown jewels from the class of '25. I don't know what's going to arrive on campus next fall but fall '26 should be incredible.

Even with the depleted roster, we're the favorites at home against Buffalo tomorrow. On Sunday, the Big Red hosts a meet with a format too complicated to explain, which allows most of the roster to compete in small round-robin pools so everyone gets at least 3 matches. Binghamton, Brown, Buffalo, Clarion and Sacred Heart are making the trip so it's not the best competition with the exception of a pair of guys from the Bearcats.

[abmarks]

157: True Sophomore Meyer Shapiro is an almost-flawless wrestler. His only problem is that he is willing to get into very funky positions for advantage and he keeps slamming his head into the mat and making himself dizzy. His only losses last season were in matches where he conked his head or the match immediately after even though he never actually defaulted. Coming off of a 3d place finish at NCAAs - where he got revenge on a guy who beat him twice when he was in a conked state, he lost his first match of this year by injury default after yet another concussion while leading comfortably at the time of the conking. He should be fine going forward but he's taking a little time. As I said, Nate Wade is stepping in which indicates that the coaches don't have a lot of faith in the other backups at 157.

I'd not assume he's going to be fine.  Each time you get concussed you end up at higher risk for having the next one, and having it be more severe.