Coming off an upset loss to Harvard last weekend, the wrestling team looks to get its revenge against a lesser opponent in Buffalo tonight.
The loss to Harvard placed the Red in a three-way tie at the top of the Ivy League alongside the Crimson and Penn. With a win against Princeton in one week, the Red can still clinch a share of the Ivy championship. For now, however, the grapplers’ minds are on Buffalo (a non-league opponent).
The Red takes a dominating squad into today’s match, along with an impressive team record of 5-3-1 (3-1 Ivy League). The Red should show very well against its non-league opponent up-state, being favored in almost every weight class.
“If everyone wrestles the way they should, we have a good shot of taking most every weight class tomorrow,” commented freshman Tom Waldron on the eve of the match.
The contest is the third-to-last match for the Red and no matter how focused the team may be for tonight’s match, the national tournament is creeping ever nearer and growing ever bigger in the psyche of a team poised for national prominence.
“The [regular] season is kind of winding down and now the national tournament becomes a priority. We have a shot to place [in the national tournament] in every weight class if things go our way. But we have to make sure people aren’t looking too far ahead either,” Waldron admitted.
The loss to Harvard — an upset by all means — left the Red a bit flustered, but a good week of practice has Cornell back on track for further team and individual success.
Although tonight’s match may seem like nothing more than an opportunity for the Red to display its versatile line-up along with a chance to improve its already stellar record, it is also a test. A test of the wrestlers’ ability to bounce back from a crushing loss last week, and also a test of their ability to remained focused on the here and now rather than the huge tournaments which are now just days away.
Archived article by Scott Jones