Wrestling 2024-25

[RichH]

Re: all 10 wrestlers NCAA qualifying...has that ever happened at Cornell before? Is it easier to do now that the ivies split from the EIWAs?

Also, that EIWA trophy that Lehigh won is comically large. It looks bigger than the MacNaughton Cup. Can the Ivy tournament make our trophy as big as a small car just to punctuate that?

[George64]

Chuck Bush at 115 was the 4 seed lost in the quarters to the 5 came in 5th

Geoff Stephens 157 unseeded had a good run got the quarters lost to the 2 seed and came in 6th

we had several others in it

ncaa at cornell

Thanks for providing the brackets.  In addition to Bush and Stephens, I found Neal Orr (no relation to Harry or Ian) at 123, Warren Crow 130, Tom Jones 137, Carl Capra 147, Fran Ferraro 177, Mike Whittenberg 191 and Bob Buchwald 191. So nine in all - not bad.

[upprdeck]

Weight classes have vastly changed as well

[ugarte]

Re: all 10 wrestlers NCAA qualifying...has that ever happened at Cornell before? Is it easier to do now that the ivies split from the EIWAs?

Technically, we did it last year for the first time, but with a caveat. Vince Cornella (141) got injured in the second round of the EIWA tournament and had to medically forfeit out. He was selected for an at-large bid but was unable to attend because he didn't recover in time. But for the injury, we probably would have qualified all 10 last year in the EIWA.

As for whether it will be generally easier or harder... it's too soon to tell. It would have been harder to do that this year, since at the very least heavyweight is tougher in EIWA. The top two heavies in EIWA are ranked much higher than Davis and the #3, who became the starter late in the year, has a pretty good comparative resume. Finishing in 4th may have been good enough for an at-large, though. 125 also becomes less likely; he needed one upset to get to the top-3 in a three-bid conference but 3-5 are all pretty close. He'd have needed to finish top-5 in a bigger bracket. He'd be in a similar situation but a bigger bracket is more opportunity for a dud.

[David Harding]

Chuck Bush at 115 was the 4 seed lost in the quarters to the 5 came in 5th

Geoff Stephens 157 unseeded had a good run got the quarters lost to the 2 seed and came in 6th

we had several others in it

ncaa at cornell

Thanks for providing the brackets.  In addition to Bush and Stephens, I found Neal Orr (no relation to Harry or Ian) at 123, Warren Crow 130, Tom Jones 137, Carl Capra 147, Fran Ferraro 177, Mike Whittenberg 191 and Bob Buchwald 191. So nine in all - not bad.

Yes, an entry in every weight class except Unlimited.  Cornell has has a strong wrestling program for a long time.  Unfortunately there have been no team national championships, unlike Cornell College, as the guy who used to show up at the adjacent table at college fairs pointed out to me multiple times.

[ugarte]

Seeds are out...

125: [32] Milani starts in a pigtail match vs [33], winner faces #1
133: [29] Ferrera
141: [20] Saunders
149: [18] Fernandez
157:  [2] Shapiro
165:  [5] Ramirez
174:  [5] Ruiz
184:  [6] Foca
197: [27] Dellagatta
285: [29] Davis

[ugarte]

It's late. No real time for a preview. Couple of notes. In general... I hate the draws we have. HATE. Our seedings are all fair but I hate the paths our better guys have ahead of them.

Shapiro has one of last year's finalists on tap in the second round. Teemer has been hurt most of the year and hasn't been great since his return, which accounts for his seed, but it's a terrible landmine.

Ramirez is a senior who has finished one match short of AA three years in a row. He has a tough QF match and if he loses, a lot of his likely opponents in the blood round are tricky.

Ruiz is going to face a guy who whipped his ass a few weeks ago in the second round. If he loses again, his likely opponent is someone else who beat him earlier this year. Bad draw!

Foca's draw from the 6 seed is bad all around. He's got a strong 11 seed from Iowa in the second round and one of the potential opponents in his most likely blood round is his only loss of the season.

We've had a good year but tbh the strength of schedule for our guys was pretty weak. I have a lot of faith in our hammers from 157-184 but damn... we did not get easy paths.

Seeds are out...

125: [32] Milani starts in a pigtail match vs [33], winner faces #1
133: [29] Ferrera
141: [20] Saunders
149: [18] Fernandez
157:  [2] Shapiro
165:  [5] Ramirez
174:  [5] Ruiz
184:  [6] Foca
197: [27] Dellagatta
285: [29] Davis

[ugarte]

I'll update as I go ...

125: Milani pigtail (play-in): I thought Milani was gassed, especially when he was saved by the clock at the end of the third period. In SV, he staved off an attack and a lot of top pressure, but after Milani got back to his feet, he countered an attack with an ankle pick and was able to convert the takedown for a clutch win. His reward is #1 Lilledahl, but getting a win at all is sweet. He'll get some recovery time before he has to wrestle his "first round" match. Milani W 4-1 (SV).

133: Romney gets the first takedown; Ferrara escapes after :40. Ferrara gets in on a single leg but Romney's long arms grab a leg and nearly turns around the position before they return to neutral. Ferrara out off of the whistle in R2. Ferrara throw-by and gets behind - no TD given, Cornell challenge... lost. Damn. At least a stall was called on Romney for rolling OOB. Romney E quickly in R3. ESPN not showing the clock anymore. Another Romney stall... still down 4-3... keep up the pressure... with time running out Ferrara tries a big throw but doesn't have position and Romney slips his head out and ends up on top. Ferrara L 7-3. Solid match against a very good opponent.

141: Saunders facing the 13 seed from Gardener-Webb; technically the lower seed but I considered this our best draw of anyone. Saunders gets the first takedown. Good ride; hard to tell how long because the on-screen clocks aren't working. Saunders E. Saunders TD on a counter ... rideout for major? Clocks are back, so he needs another minute... Inexplicable locked hands call with 18 seconds left. Saunders lets him up to try for the major... no. Saunders W 8-2.

149: Fernandez forced into a rematch with Princeton's Whalen, who he upset in the Ivy semis. Fernandez never got going. Whalen scored first and it was the only TD of the match. Fernandez L 4-3.

157: Shapiro scores a TD off the whistle. Castillo E. Shapiro cartwheels over for another TD. 2NF. 8-1 after 1. Shapiro E. Another TD. Another TD... to his back... NF4. Shapiro WTF 20-2.

165: Ramirez with the first TD on a go-behind. Church E. Ramirez with another TD on the edge. Ramirez out quick to start R2. Church out quick to start R3. Ramirez counter to go behind for another TD. Ramirez WMD 11-2.

174: Ruiz attacks with a high-crotch single and doubles off for the TD. Ruiz out quickly to start the second. Whiting attacks but Ruiz counters for TD. Kept attacking, kept taking down. Ruiz 17-2 WTF.

184: Foca escapes a second consecutive first round disaster. Gives up the first TD but gets a reversal. Starts on bottom, gets another reversal to go up 4-3 plus RT. In the third, after starting at neutral he gives up a leg and has to hold off the takedown for what felt like forever before the final whistle sounded. Foca W 5-3.

197: Dellagatta was taken apart but kept it to a MD instead of a tech. Dellagatta LMD 21-0.

285: Davis was stuck facing Lehigh's Trephan again. Trephan is too fast and too strong. Davis LTF 17-2.

125: I didn't notice it as it was happening, but Milani had his first round match with Lilledahl and, as expected, was run through. Milani LTF 19-4.

That wraps up the first round. With 6 wrestlers moving on to R16 and some heavyweights still on the mat, Cornell is sitting in 8th place overall. Next round starts at 7E.

[ugarte]

Evening session:

R16:

141: [20] Saunders v [4] Koderhandt (Navy) Oof. Shortly after an escape to take the lead, Saunders gets whipped over to hs back and pinned early in the second period. Saunders LBF 3:32.

157:  [2] Shapiro v [18] Lovett (CMU) Shapiro with the first TD then gives one back on a slick underhook from Lovett. Shapiro with the escape and TD in the second before riding hard the whole third period. Shapiro W 9-4.

165:  [5] Ramirez v [12] Minto (Nebraska) Ramirez escaped danger twice in the first period and I'm still not sure how. Started the second on bottom and escaped quickly. Big scramble off of Ramirez's shot and Ramirez ends up in horrible position gives up the TD and 4NF at the end of the period. Goes down 7-1 at the end of 2. Starts on top goes for a big turn can't get it; cuts with a minute left. Tries to duck and gets taken down. Upset in the second round again. Ramirez LMD 11-1.

174:  [5] Ruiz v [12] Ogunsanya (UNC) (used to go to Columbia; he wrestled Ramirez a bunch) Ruiz pressuring forward forces a stall call on Ogunsanya. No score in the first. Ruiz starts on bottom and is out quickly. Ogunsanya gets an ankle but Ruiz stuffs his head and gets the stalemate. 1-0 after 2. Ogunsanya out but Ruiz attacks and gets a takedown on the edge to go up 4-1. Ogunsanya out. Ruiz doing a great job tying up Ogunsanya's arms and holds on. Ruiz 4-2 W. 4 seed gets upset, so he's got the 13 seed instead but that's no walk in the park; DeVos is a returning AA.

184:  [6] Foca v [11] Arnold (Iowa) Right off the start, Arnold goes for a big move. Foca stuffs him and puts him on his back for a 7-0 lead and came within inches of a fall before Arnold bellied out. Arnold E, but Foca has over 2:00 RT. Foca goes down but Arnold concedes the escape. Foca with a double and go-behind for another 3. Arnold starts neutral. Foca backs out for a stall warning. With RT, Foca WMD 12-1.

Consolation:

125: [32] Milani v [17] Gallagher (Penn) - Milani couldn't do anythinig offensively. Milani L 5-1. He's out but won't go home empty handed, since he won his prelim.

133: [29] Ferrara v [20] Boarman (UTC) Ferrara with a quick escape and a takedown, but he's bleeding from the top of his head. Boarman with a reversal on the restart but Ferrara escaped quickly... and is bleeding again. I see a headwrap in his future. Ferrara gives up a quick escape. Ferrara gives up a late stall but had a stall to give. Ferrara W 5-3.

149: [18] Fernandez v [31] Cartella (NW) Fernandez got an early takedown and rode those points to victory despite getting ridden the entire third period. Fernandez W 3-1.

197: [27] Dellagatta v [22] O'Malley (Drexel) O'Malley seemed to be pushing Dellagatta around, but with 30 seconds left in the first round, Delly took a shot then fought through a funky scramble position for a TD and rode out the period. In the second, he started on bottom and hit a switch for a quick reversal. Riding hard and O'Malley looks worn out. Around 2:30 of RT heading to the third. O'Malley chooses neutral. Another shot and another TD for Dellagatta to go up 8-0 with RT locked. O'Malley gets called for stalling on bottom a couple of times and with RT, Dellagata WMD 10-0.

285: [29] Davis v [20] Greer (Ohio U.) Davis draws first blood with a TD late in the first and rides out the period. Greer did not want to go underneath again and chose neutral. Davis takes down and is out fast. Davis with another TD and Greer finally gets off bottom. Davis takes another shot for the major... no. Stalemate. Davis W 7-1.

With that win by Davis, everyone on Cornell contributed to the team score. I love that. Nine wrestlers still alive heading into Friday. Incredible work from the Big Red.

After day 1, Cornell is in 8th place with 17 points, but 4th has 18 and there's a tie for 9th with 16.5. I don't think 4th gets a team trophy anymore because - and I am pretty sure this is true - the NCAA didn't want to pay for 4th place trophies across sports.

[ugarte]

Day 2

QF - win and you're an AA:

157: [2] Shapiro v [7] Vinny Zerban (N.Colo.)
174: [5] Ruiz v [11] Cade DeVos (SD St.)
184: [6] Foca v [3] Max McEnelly (Minn.)

Cons. Round 2 - lose and you're done. Three wins to AA.

133: [29] Ferrara v [3] Nasir Bailey (UALR)
141: [20] Saunders v [19] Mosha Schwartz (Okla.)
149: [18] Fernandez v [17] Jaden Abas (Stanford)
165: [ 5] Ramirez v [27] Tyler Lillard (Indiana)
197: [25] Dellagatta v [11] Stephen Little (UALR)
285: [29] Davis v [14] Gavin Hoffman (LHU)

[ugarte]

133 Consolation: Ferrara v Bailey - Bailey has looked awful so far in the tournament. Ferrara hurt his thumb early, which allowed Bailey to take bottom and steal an escape. 1-0 after R1. Bailey starts on bottom. E quickly again. Ferrara starts neutral because he needs a TD. Ferrara shoots but Bailey gets a leg on a counter. Can't convert but burns 20 seconds. Can't tell if stalling is being called but Bailey is running away. Finally called with :15 and :06. Tries to leap over at the whistle but can't get there. Ferrara L 2-1. This is what Bailey has done all tournament. Should not have been allowed to back up for so long. Blech.

141 Consolation: Saunders v Schwartz - Saunders shoots but Schwartz escapes; Schwartz fires back and Saunders turns it into a scramble and comes out on top for the TD. Quick E. Again Schwartz gets in on a leg, again Saunders turns it into a scramble and wins it. Another quick E. Another big scramble at the end of the period. Saunders 6-2. Schwartz gets an escape, seems like he has Saunders in neutral danger at least but no call. Schwartz learning to his dismay that coaches don't use challenges in early consolation rounds. Again Schwartz ges a leg, again Saunders stalemates it. Concedes the escape to start the third. Schwartz now getting through. He wins a scramble, releases, takes Saunders down again. Schwartz leads 9-8 and Saunders has :46 to get up. Ends up on his back and Schwartz gets 4NF as the period ends before he can get the pin. Saunders L 13-8.

157 QF: Shapiro v Zerban - Shapiro with a flash ankle pick and fights through a whizzer for a TD on the edge. Shapiro tries for a tilt and Zerban slides behind for a reversal. Review to see if it was inbounds... changed to an escape. 3-1 End of R1. Shapiro starts on bottom; Zerban tries for a mat return and Shapiro reverses for 2. Zerban reverses back... Shapiro was about to reverse back and it's stopped for danger? Shapiro reverses at the whistle but this will be reviewed ... too late. Zerban out. Shapiro TD. Rides out the period. Shapiro W 9-4. Shapiro is an All-American and the bracket at 157 EXPLODED. He still has to face the 4 seed but the other semi is 8 v 20!

149 Consolation: Fernandas v Abas - Ethan Fernandez counters, gets a TD from neutral danger, back points, and gets a first period FALL! (while the Shapiro match was going on!) Fernandez WBF 1:21.

174 QF: Ruiz v DeVos - DeVos in first, gets in on a low single and converts for TD. Ruiz out quickly. DeVos backs out; stall warning. DeVos doing a good job controlling hands, drops to a single but Ruiz stuffs it this time. 3-1 after R1. DeVos down. Ruiz flattens him out; good start to the ride. They go OOB as DeVos turns around; E not awarded, SDSU challenges... long review... no escape. Out 10 seconds later. Ruiz starts on bottom. Out fast. DeVos in deep; Ruiz fighting it off to a stalemate. 1:06 left. Match keeps getting stopped for DeVos nosebleed. Stall point with :08... they don't call another stall and Ruiz L 4-3.

149 Consolation: Ramirez v Lillard - Ramirez goes for a big lift and ends up underneath. Under review but looks like TD3 for Lillard. No score. Ramirez starts R2 on bottom; quick E. Ramirez doesn't try to ride. 1-1. Ramirez again gets in and goes for a lift; Lillard tries to roll out again but this time Ramirez catches him on his back. TD3+NF2. Ramirez W 6-1.

184 QF: Foca v McEnelly - McEnelly fires off a powerful single and doubles off quick for the TD. Foca out fast. Foca with a strong body lock TD right before the end of the period. Foca 4-3. Foca starts down; E. McEnelly gets right back in for TD3 to retake the lead. Foca up and out. 6-6. McEnelly in again... no. Foca stalemates it. McEnelly chooses down; Foca needs to ride/turn... Riding strong :20 OOB... McEnelly out. No RT. Need to score. Foca shoots and McEnelly goes behind. Foca out. McEnelly just too fast. Foca L 10-7.

Not a lot to say about the Dellagatta and Davis consolation matches. Both were taken apart pretty thoroughly and are out.

[upprdeck]

not Cornell related

PSU looking for title again

125 #1 PSU loses in quarters
133 Byrd and Ayala looked great, Ayala 23-10 in high energy match, PSU #8 loses
141 Hardy, Frost, bartlett, mendez.  Hardys pin was insane

[ugarte]

not Cornell related

PSU looking for title again

125 #1 PSU loses in quarters
133 Byrd and Ayala looked great, Ayala 23-10 in high energy match, PSU #8 loses
141 Hardy, Frost, bartlett, mendez.  Hardys pin was insane

To Lehigh. I have no idea how Seymour fought off the TD in SV. PSU is so far ahead. They put all 10 in the QF!

Meyer Shapiro is about to go on Mat 6 for anyone who is reading RIGHT NOW and has ESPN streaming.

[upprdeck]

#1 psu goes down in at 157

not the best day for PSU so far

[ugarte]

Consolation R3 - in progress:
149 Consolation: Fernandez gets another shot at Penn's Cross Wasilewski. Winner gets returning All-American Lachlan McNeil (UNC). Very tough road.

165 Consolation: Ramirez maybe catches a break with his draw. [30] Riggins (ISU), who came into the tournament with a losing record, followed by [7] Garvin (Stanford). Doable. He has to make this happen.

SF and Blood Round - Evening session:

174 Consolation: Ruiz will face the winner of [8] Pinto (Neb) and [17] Desiante (UTC). Pinto has not had a good tournament. Decent draw for Ruiz here.

184 Consolation: I hated Foca's draw before the tournament but feeling better about it now (knock wood). He will face the winner of [16] Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) v [23] Brenot (NDSU).

157 SF: Shapiro v [3] Antrell Taylor (Nebraska). He dominated Taylor in freestyle but i don't think they've faced eachother in folk.