Wrestling 2025-26

[ugarte]

Cornell had one dual meet this weekend, against Army. Military salute aside, the more Cornell-specific relevance was a reunion with Cornell '10 Troy Nickerson, a 4x AA and the 2009 champ at 125. After a few years as the head coach at Northern Colorardo, he returned to his native New York to take over the program at West Point. The dual was mostly uneventful; our big guns romped and most of the balance went to the favorite. We didn't put in our starters at 125 or 285 and the backups lost. The exception was at 133, where Ferrara came in a slight underdog to Berginc but outlasted him in the tiebreaker rideout periods.

General effects: Ferrara moved up a little in some places after beating Army's Berginc but it generally hurt Berginc more than it helped him.

Hansen also didn't move a lot but his general body of work is getting some recognition. AWN, in particular, appeared to have finally noticed that he beat their #13 and moved him up to 12.

Davis is lingering around the bubble because 25-40 among heavies are basically coin flips so even when he rests or loses, losses by peers keep him in the 30s.

First Coaches Ranking comes out on 1/29. First RPI/Second CR comes out on 2/12.

Ruiz and Shapiro finally have enough matches for SHP's rankings but it's still going to be touch and go for getting 15 to qualify for RPI as at-large factors (though I'm not particularly concerned that either will not AQ at Ivies).

Code Select Expand

                Flo WIN IM TOM AWN CWR WSt SHP CR   RPI
125: Greg D. 26 NR 33 18 NR 33 18 28 --   --
133: Ferrara 19 20 17 18 14 14 14 18 --   --
141: Cornella 6 8 7 7 7 6 9 6 --   --
149: Joy 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 --   --
157: Shapiro 7 6 7 1 4 3 1 3 --   --
165: Cerchio NR NR NR NR NR NR 86 41 --   --
174: Ruiz 2 2 2 2 4 2 4 1 --   --
184: Hansen  16 18 20 20 12 22 20 20 --   --
197: Hanning NR NR NR NR NR NR 75 50 --   -- 
285: Davis 29 NR NR NR NR 33 47 32 --   --
TEAM NCAA: 9 8 9 6 -- 7 7 7 --   --
TEAM DUAL:      23 13 18 22 -- -- 7 9 --   --
Flo Ivy rankings: updated 1/8/26
125: Diakomihalis 2
133: Ferrara 2
141: Cornella 1
149: Joy 1
157: Shapiro 1
165: Cerchio 5
174: Ruiz 1
184: Hansen 2
197: Hanning 4
285: Davis 1

Flo ranks to 33.
WIN ranks to 20.
Intermat ranks to 33.
Open Mat ranks to 20.
AWN ranks to 20.
College Wrestling Report ranks to 33.
WrestleStat ELO updated.
SHP DII (explainer)

[ugarte]

Last week: We had a pair of duals against Harvard and Brown and they both went pretty much according to chalk. We were expected to blow out both and did. We mixed it up a little with our lineup, sending Greg D. to get a little more action in at a tournament at Bloomsburg, Tyler Ferrara got a weekend off to rest and they split the matches at heavyweight, with Cy Kruse stepping in for Ashton Davis in the Harvard dual. I don't think it means much, since Davis got the harder match (Brown's Semenenko) and lost a heartbreaker after OT.

In terms of "interesting" outcomes, from worst to best:
Aiden Hanning tried to escape against Brown and took a lurching dive off the mat, sliding headfirst into the bleachers. He didn't continue after the concussion protocol or face Harvard.

For the third straight time, Davis went to extra time against Brown's Semenenko. For the first time, he lost. Tough year for Davis and a step back from how he performed last year, imo. He's 11-11 without any standout win. He's had a tough schedule too, but hasn't looked as aggressive as he did last year.

Greg Diakomilalis finished in third at Bloomsburg, dropping a match to Lehigh's Mason Ziegler. This is only interesting insofar as Zielgler is a so-so 133 but a very good 125 and he'll be Lehigh's 125 next year after their returning AA Sheldon Seymour graduates. Ziegler spent last semester filling in for Ryan Crookham (another AA) at 133 while he was rehabbing an injury but almost as soon as Crookham came back, he got hurt again, so Ziegler is back to being a mediocre starting 133 instead of a very strong backup at 125.

Louie Cerchio *finally* broke his losing streak. He was leading deep into his match against a solid Brown wrestler until he got caught in a very slick move with ~30 seconds left and pinned. Later, against Harvard, he scored a pair of takedowns and won against a wrestler with a very similar college resume to his. He's had a very tough schedule and has lost a lot of close matches to tough competition. The upshot is that he's better than his 8-11 record would suggest. Good to see him getting breaking the streak against a credible opponent. He's going to have a hard time keeping the starting spot when next year's class comes in, so it'd be nice to see him make a run at the ILT and get to NCAAs.

General effects: Not much movement from Harvard and Brown. This Saturday, Cornell hosts Arizona State and Columbia.

The latter is a useful test for Davis. Having lost to Semenenko, if Davis wants a bye at the ILT he'll need to beat Columbia's Mueller. Big weekend for Shapiro too, as he faces a good opponent in Kai Owen in the Columbia dual but that's just a warmup for an afternoon match against Arizona State's Kaleb Larkin, who is undefeated since moving up to 157 (after getting ragdolled by Jaxon Joy at CKLV) including wins over Zerban and Watters.

First Coaches Ranking comes out on Thursday. First RPI/Second CR comes out on 2/12.

Code Select Expand

                Flo WIN IM TOM AWN* CWR WSt SHP CR   RPI
125: Greg D. 26 NR 33 NR NR NR 26 33 --   --
133: Ferrara 19 19 17 16 14 15 14 22 --   --
141: Cornella 6 8 7 7 7 6 9 9 --   --
149: Joy 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 --   --
157: Shapiro 7 6 7 1 4 3 1 4 --   --
165: Cerchio NR NR NR NR NR NR 88 41 --   --
174: Ruiz 2 2 2 2 4 2 4 4 --   --
184: Hansen  15 16 19 18 12 22 18 23 --   --
197: Hanning NR NR NR NR NR NR 78 49 --   -- 
285: Davis 30 NR NR NR NR 32 50 33 --   --
TEAM NCAA: 8 8 9 7 -- 7 7 8 --   --
TEAM DUAL:      23 13 18 22 -- -- 9 10 --   --

* not updated yet

Flo Ivy rankings: updated 1/21/26
125: Diakomihalis 2
133: Ferrara 2
141: Cornella 1
149: Joy 1
157: Shapiro 1
165: Cerchio 6
174: Ruiz 1
184: Hansen 2
197: Hanning 4
285: Davis 1

Flo ranks to 33.
WIN ranks to 20.
Intermat ranks to 33.
Open Mat ranks to 20 individual; 25 team.
AWN ranks to 20.
College Wrestling Report ranks to 33.
WrestleStat ELO updated.
SHP DII Three wrestlers currently considered #1 by the machine, though two don't yet have enough matches for it to really count. (explainer)

[billhoward]

Per NJ.com, 200,000 reasons for Anthony Knox to wrestle at Rutgers not Cornell:

Rutgers star recruit Anthony Knox, father sentenced for roles in district wrestling brawl [Joe Zedalis | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 1/28/26]

Nearly a year after four-time New Jersey state wrestling champion and Rutgers University recruit Anthony Knox Jr. followed his father into the stands, triggering a brawl at a high school district tournament, both received penalties in a Collingswood municipal court Wednesday.

In a plea bargain deal with the prosecution, the charges against Knox Jr. were reduced to disorderly conduct.

Judge Brian Herman imposed one year probation on Knox Jr., who did not address the court beyond yes or no answers.

If Knox Jr. abides by all conditions of the the probationary period, charges will be dismissed. If he does not, he will face the original charges, Herman said.

On Jan. 8, Knox Jr. signed a lucrative NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) agreement with Rutgers believed to be in the range of $200,000 annually. The brawl and charges did not deter Rutgers from signing Knox, who was the No. 1-ranked 126-pound wrestler in the country last season. Knox originally committed to Cornell University but reopened his recruitment on Jan. 18.

Knox Sr., a former MMA fighter, spoke to the court and said "It was a truly, truly unfortunate incident."

Court records indicate Knox Sr. and Jr. went into the stands and a melee ensued. "Some of the stuff that was said just enraged me in a way I haven't been enraged before ... I need to do a better job of controlling my emotions, no matter what. No matter what was said - didn't make it right. I do apologize," Knox Sr. told the judge.

[ugarte]

Really bad weekend! Cornell lost the duals to Columbia (22-21) and Arizona State (18-17) because of a total breakdown at the upper weights.

GOOD: Ferrara, Cornella, Joy, Shapiro and Ruiz all went 2-0 with a lot of bonus points and a great win from Shapiro over #2 Kaleb Larkin of ASU.

BAD: Greg Diakomihalis, Louie Cerchio and our entrants at 197 and heavyweight went 0-2 including Greg D. getting pinned after taking a significant early lead and Ashton Davis losing again to an Ivy opponent.

UGLY: Christian Hansen, after ascending to the top 20 in his senior year - his only year as a starter - injured his knee against Columbia and it looked pretty bad. If any further information about the extent of the injury has come out, I haven't seen it. I don't think they've said he's done for the year but they aren't saying he'll be back either. As bad as it is for Hansen himself, it was terrible for the team. Losing by injury default (a) gave Columbia six team points and (b) gave Columbia the tiebreaker advantage when the dual finished at 21-21, with both teams winning five bouts, giving an additional team point to Columbia. The first time we've lost to them in 40 years. On top of that, Hansen would have been the favorite in the ASU dual as well. His backup, Matt Furman, got pinned when simply going the distance probably wins the dual for Cornell.

Penn and Princeton this weekend. Hard to imagine anyone but Columbia winning the regular season Ivy title, their first since 1982.

General effects: Greg D. isn't ranked by anyone anymore after his 0-2 weekend against unranked wrestlers. Davis still hung on to his two rankings, but he's almost certainly going to get seeded third at the ILT after the loss to Mueller, so say goodbye to the bye. Shapiro, unsurprisingly jumped into the top 3 everywhere but WIN after beating Larkin. Rankings haven't counted Hansen out yet, and I hope he is ok by the ILT.

Second CR/First RPI comes out on 2/12.

Code Select Expand

                Flo WIN IM TOM AWN CWR WSt SHP CR   RPI
125: Greg D. NR NR NR NR NR NR 48 46 NR   --
133: Ferrara 18 18 16 15 14 14 14 22 15   --
141: Cornella 6 8 7 7 7 6 7 6 6   --
149: Joy 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2   --
157: Shapiro 3 4 2 1 2 3 1 1 --   --
165: Cerchio NR NR NR NR NR NR 91 41 NR   --
174: Ruiz 2 2 2 2 5 2 4 5 --   --
184: Hansen  16 17 18 20 12 21 19 24 16   --
197: Hanning NR NR NR NR NR NR 78 49 NR   -- 
285: Davis 29 NR NR NR NR 32 53 33 32   --
TEAM NCAA: 7 8 9 7 -- 7 7 7 --   --
TEAM DUAL:      NR NR 21 NR -- -- 10 12 --   --

Flo Ivy rankings: updated 1/21/26
125: Diakomihalis 2
133: Ferrara 2
141: Cornella 1
149: Joy 1
157: Shapiro 1
165: Cerchio 6
174: Ruiz 1
184: Hansen 2
197: Hanning 4
285: Davis 1

Flo ranks to 33.
WIN ranks to 20.
Intermat ranks to 33.
Open Mat ranks to 20 individual; 25 team.
AWN ranks to 20.
College Wrestling Report ranks to 33.
WrestleStat ELO updated.
SHP DII SHP is treating Kruse as the starter, which would be news to me. Kruse would be 32 in the rankings. (explainer)
Coaches Ranking doesn't include Shapiro or Ruiz because they didn't have enough matches before the rankings came out on Thursday. They do now.