Grapplers Hold Their Own At National Tournament

By wpengine | January 22, 2003

Most observers would agree college wrestling is a hard business to be involved in, and the closer a team gets to the top, the tougher it gets. This weekend showed the Cornell grapplers just how hard the road can be, and went a long way towards preparing them for the nationally ranked competition they’ll see later in the season.

The Red traveled to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals in Columbus, Ohio. The meet, featuring some of the top wrestling programs in the country, paired the schools against each other in a series of dual meets to find its champion.

Early on Cornell took some hard knocks.

In the first round the No. 4 Red matched up against No. 21 Michigan State. The two produced five victories and five defeats each on the way to a 16-16 tie. The Red lost according to the eighth tiebreaker criteria, most near fall points.

Lee Injured

But the Red’s struggles still weren’t close to over. In the team’s next match, against Ohio State, sophomore All-American Travis Lee suffered a knee injury on his way to a 14-6 major decision.

The injury disqualified him from the remainder of the tournament and forced Cornell to forfeit the rest of its 125-pound matches, automatically putting the Red down six points for the remainder of its duals.

Undaunted by the early loss and Lee’s injury, Cornell battled its way back with three consecutive victories, defeating Ohio, No. 15 Iowa State and No. 10 Michigan.

Only the next day would a team find an answer to Cornell’s riddle, when No. 6 Ohio State beat the Red in the semifinals of the consolation bracket. Cornell wrestled for fifth place in the tournament, losing to No. 3 Minnesota 32-18 to earn sixth place.

“Our goal was to win the thing,” head coach Rob Koll said about the team’s original mindset.

Even so, The Red’s finish was the highest ever by an Ivy League school at the tournament.

Considering the Red’s injuries and the team’s grueling path, with some wrestlers going up against the best in the country for six consecutive matches, Koll was ultimately satisfied with his team’s performance.

According to Koll, the meet provided the team with some hard earned experience that would be invaluable in the upcoming duals season.

“It’s hard to get worried about kids who are just tough after you’ve wrestled against the best in the country,” he concluded.

Among the individual grapplers, Koll pointed to senior captain Clint Wattenberg and classmate Gabe Webster.

Webster matched up against four of the top six wrestlers in the country in the 157 pound weight class, including Nos. 1 and 2. He came away with a 2-4 tournament record.

Wattenberg was named the top Division I wrestler at the meet after posting a 6-0 record there.

“It’s a great honor, considering the country’s best are there,” noted Koll.

The team will spend this week preparing to open its dual meet season against Ohio State at the Friedman Wrestling Center, this Sunday at 2:00.

“This week we’ve got to get healthy,” said Koll, noting the beating his team took over the weekend.

But that’s not to say he or any of the wrestlers are worried about the team that knocked them off over the weekend.

“I’m not alone in feeling very confident that we can beat them,” Koll concluded.

Archived article by Matt James

Off-Ice Contributor Recognized

By wpengine January 23, 2003

During his four-year career at Cornell, men’s hockey player Sam Paolini has endeared himself to Red fans with his game-breaking goals and gritty play. However, the senior forward’s presence has been felt not only on the ice but also in the City of Ithaca, where he has volunteered an enormous amount of time and effort to helping those less fortunate. In honor of his work, the Hockey Humanitarian Foundation Award selected Paolini as one of the five finalists for this year’s award last week. The award is presented to an NCAA hockey player who has demonstrated a commitment to excelling in the classroom and has made significant contributions to his or her community. “I’m very honored. It’s a surprise,” Paolini said. “I knew I was being nominated, but it’s a surprise knowing that I’m one of the final five.” From the moment he stepped onto the Cornell campus, Paolini has engaged himself in community activities. Over the past several years, he has served as a volunteer referee for the Ithaca Youth Hockey Association and he has been a guest speaker at local schools. He and his teammates have also raised money for the Ithaca downtown food bank, Loaves and Fishes. However, his two greatest contributions may be the programs which he initiated — Power Play for Prevention and Special Population Skate. The Power Play for Prevention program, which Paolini helped set up, will raise funds for the Ithaca Breast Cancer Alliance throughout the 2002-03 season. For every goal that the Red scores this season with the man-advantage, the Tompkins Trust Company will donate $100 to the cause. “With the Breast Cancer Alliance, I wanted younger women and women in general to be more aware of breast cancer in Ithaca,” Paolini said. For Paolini, though, the Special Population Skate, which gives handicapped children the opportunity to skate with members of the Red hockey team, is his favorite activity. “Probably the Special Population Skate is the most special to me because it happens every weekend. It’s something where I can directly affect it and directly affect people,” he said. “It started from nothing and slowly built its way up to something. It was the first one I did here too, so I hold that close to me.” After all his hard work, what Paolini finds most gratifying is the response he receives from those he has touched in the community. “Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces on Sundays always makes me happy. And to see just random people come up me after games, or at school, on the street, and commend me or the work, and tell me how important the work I do for the community is, how they’ve been directly affected by the work I’ve done, if they have a friend or relative who’s been affected by breast cancer. Just the thanks — it helps me know that what I’m doing is worthwhile,” he said. Paolini’s work and dedication has not been lost on his coach, who views the senior as an example to everyone on the Cornell campus. “He’s a role model not only for guys on our team, but he’s a role model for other athletes on campus, he’s a role model for parents who live in town who don’t do anything in Ithaca,” head coach Mike Schafer ’86 said. “The nice part is that Sam has initiated everything that he’s done. He’s initiated the projects that he’s got going right now. It should be a part of every athlete to give back to the community. Sam’s very self-motivated, and he deserves the nomination into the top five and he deserves the award. The people that have won have been the people who have benefited from his involvement.” While Paolini is receiving attention for his contributions, he is quick to credit his parents, Sam and Diane, for instilling the values in him. “My mom and dad have always taught me that we’re lucky. There are some people who don’t have the fortunes that we do, and to be thankful for everything that we have. We have a responsibility to help people who don’t have as much as we do. It’s just something that they’ve always instilled in me since I was little,” Paolini said. “It’s going back to the Golden Rule, ‘Treat people the way you want to be treated.'” The other four finalists — John Flint (Saint Michael’s College), Chandra Gunn (Northeastern), Bryan Isola (Neumann College), Deanna McDevitt (Yale) — along with Paolini, however, will have to wait until April 11 for the winner to be announced at the NCAA Frozen Four Festivities in Buffalo, N.Y. Archived article by Alex Ip
Keep Rose Out

By wpengine January 23, 2003

For fans that dread the six-month winter hiatus, this baseball off-season has certainly filled the void. The break-up of Tom and Greg, the Puerto Rico Expos, the elimination of diapers in the clubhouse, shorter games — the list goes on. Perhaps the most interesting development since Game Seven has been the potential admission of guilt by Pete Rose. Rose’s fame does not lie in the fact that he is the league’s all-time hits leader, but rather due to his notoriously shady dealings while managing the Cincinnati Reds that led to his lifetime ban from baseball. No doubt, ask someone on the street and he is more likely to link Pete with gambling than with hitting. Despite the fact that officials currently hold in their gloves betting slips with Rose’s handwriting and thumbprint on them, Rose has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. There are numerous phone calls made between Rose, his gambling friend, and gambling contacts just prior to game time, but he says they were harmless. There are also bank records, an allegation that Rose ran up a tab of half a million dollars in unpaid dues to a pair of New York City bookies, 412 baseball wagers over a span of three months, and a signed document between A. Bartlett Giamatti, the baseball commissioner in 1989, and Rose detailing Giamatti’s factual basis for Rose’s lifetime ban. Despite that John Hancock, he maintains his innocence. Apparently, however, that 13-year refutation may be put to rest in the next few months, according to a report in yesterday’s Newsday. A close friend of Rose, who has met several times with commissioner Bud Selig over the past two months to discuss reinstatement, told the newspaper that he is willing to admit he bet on baseball. His admission would be the first of three steps Selig has outlined in negotiations that would lead to his reinstatement. Following admission, Rose must apologize and serve probation for “six to eight months,” according to a high-ranking baseball official. Supposedly, his admission could come as early as spring training, which would allow enough time for him to be placed on the 2004 Hall of Fame ballot. The executives responsible for selecting the Cooperstown candidates ultimately decide who appears on the ballot, but purportedly are merely waiting for reinstatement to include his name. I’m willing to bet that Pete wants back in baseball to get his grubby paws in more gambling. Jim Kaat, Rose’s pitching coach in 1985, said that he and his manager shared a love for betting and would do so together at the racetrack. For Kaat, however, it was a hobby. For Rose, according to Kaat, “there was probably a bit of an addiction there, a compulsion that I didn’t have that he did.” Old habits are hard to break. Rose is also hoping that with reinstatement will come a career in the sport. Honestly, though, what team would actually hire a man that for 13 years denied that he gambled in the face of evidence that would have committed even “money-bags” Simpson? And what about the 14 other guys who were banned from baseball for gambling? Are they still out or are they just not in because they do not have as impressive stats as Rose? For all those who believe that Rose should be reinstated if he admits he did it, do you think that if murderers on trial admitted they did it and said they were sorry that they should be allowed back into the very domain where they committed the crime in the first place? A stretch, perhaps, but no one would agree to setting murderers free, so how is that different from Rose’s situation? I will end with this comment Rose gave in response to being questioned if he got a thrill from gambling: “To be honest with you, I couldn’t watch it if I didn’t bet on it.” Whenever Rose was in the dugout or in the stadium, he was watching, so his own statement indicates he was betting too. If Rose does admit fault, he will be reinstated. Selig had a rough 2002 and needs a popularity boost. So, instead of upholding the rules and maintaining the holiness of baseball, the front office will bow to the public and give it an official Hall of Famer. Attendance is declining, isn’t it? Archived article by Katherine Granish