The Red wrestlers dug themselves into an early hole in their dual meet against Buffalo last night. Despite a valiant rally over the last half of the meet, the hole ultimately proved to be too deep.
An injury loss from senior tri-captain Corey Anderson at 197 pounds opened the action. The Red not only started off on the wrong foot, it hopped halfway through the evening on the wrong foot. The squad dropped all of the first five matches to Buffalo and trailed 21-0 at that juncture.
In Trouble
Anderson’s loss set Cornell back six points, despite his leading 8-4 before the injury. Sophomore Buck McLamb then was pinned at the heavyweight division, giving Buffalo another six points.
Freshman Alejandro Alvarez nearly turned the tide for the Red at 125 pounds, but he couldn’t escape his opponent in overtime. Sophomore Byron Warner (133 pounds) and classmate Tom Waldron (141 pounds) also couldn’t pull out wins for Cornell, capping the Buffalo run at 21 points.
Turning Point
Junior Gabe Webster turned the tide at 149 pounds, holding his opponent scoreless and picking up a minor decision. Senior tri-captain Leo Urbinelli notched a 14-4 major decision at 157 pounds, followed by junior tri-captain Clint Wattenberg’s victory at 165 pounds.
Trailing 21-10, the Red needed pins in the last two matches to pull out a remarkable comeback win. Sophomore Randy Stout did pick up a pin in the night’s concluding match. But the six points couldn’t cover the gap as senior Jim Stanec won his match at 174 pounds, but only mustered three points. Buffalo emerged with a 21-19 victory.
Cornell has now dropped three of its last four matches, but still can aim at a share of the Ivy League title on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Princeton. A defeat of the Tigers would land the Red in a three-way tie for first in the Ancient Eight with Penn and Harvard.
Archived article by Alex Fineman