Equestrian Ends Second in League

By wpengine | March 25, 2002

The equestrian team was engaged in a seesaw match with rival Skidmore on Saturday at the Hartwick Show, the final show of the regular season.

Unfortunately for Cornell, the Thoroughbreds managed to edge out the Red by a point — 39-38 — to claim the high point team for the show. Hartwick was third with 33, then Morrisville with 31, Cobleskill 29, Ithaca and Colgate with 26, Binghamton 14, Siena 6, and RPI 4. The victory gave the League Championship to Skidmore over Cornell by a slim margin of 16 points for the only spot that advances to Regionals.

“The match went back and forth all day,” said head coach Chris Mitchell.

The Red rallied from a three-point deficit at the break to go up by one, only to fall behind again when the last Skidmore rider won her class.

The day started off with senior tri-captain Zoe Oreki finishing fifth in the open fences. Fellow captain Julie Canter and junior Kate Cornell both finished sixth. Senior Helen O’Brien had a strong showing as well, finishing first in her class.

The squad also had a successful performance in the open flat. Canter led the team with a first place finish. Fellow captains O’Brien and Oreki finished third and fourth respectively. They were joined by Cornell who finished fourth, and sophomores Jeannette Pettit and Noelle Battle who finished sixth and reserve.

In the intermediate division, junior Nicole Bowen, led the squad in the fences, winning her class in her first time competing. Freshman Erica Rosen finished third in both the flat and fences, while fellow frosh Kate Reynolds also received a third place finish in the fences. Sophomore Alaina Hoffman also earned a third place finish in the flat.

Hoffman continued to have success with a first place finish in the novice fences. That placement allowed her to qualify for regionals. Freshman Gillian Pech added to Hoffman’s efforts with a third place finish in the novice fences. Junior Arianna Tunsky-Brashich and sophomore Eva Conant came out strong later, both collecting a first place finish in the novice flat.

Junior Becky Hermann and sophomore Emi Knafo both finished second in the advanced walk-trot-canter while in the beginner walk-trot-canter sophomore Erin Goodrich won her class. The walk-trot class rounded out a strong team effort on the day with freshman Linda Nguyen placing first and junior Kim Huppe placing fourth.

Though the Red was unable to catch Skidmore, its efforts are the best in recent memory. The deficit last year to Skidmore was over 80 points.

“We are very proud of the girls. We set a goal and we closed the gap. Finishing 16 points behind a school that has won several national championships is quite an accomplishment. It is two points a horse show. We never gave up on the whole year,” indicated Mitchell.

Cornell had three riders in the top ten: Canter was third, Oreki was sixth and O’Brien was seventh. The Red will be well represented at Regionals next weekend as they have 10 riders competing individually. Canter will compete in the open flat & fences while Oreki will ride in the open flat. Pettit and Battle will both look to advance in the intermediate flat & fences. Bowen will ride in novice fences and Hoffman will represent the Red in the novice flat & fences. Conant and Waterman will ride in the walk-trot-canter, while Kahwaty and Goodrich will ride in the walk-trot.

Archived article by Chris Callanan

Cornell Claims Two Wrestling All-Americans

By wpengine March 26, 2002

The odor of a wrestling gym is usually as thick and pungent as that of the foulest locker room. However, at the NCAA wrestling championships in Albany on Saturday, the smell of history hung over the two wrestlers representing Cornell. With performances worthy of the highest praise, junior Clint Wattenberg and freshman Travis Lee wrestled their way into the Red’s record books, earning All-American honors in the process. Competing in the 184 lbs. weight class, Wattenberg was nearly flawless on his way to a sixth-place finish. Wattenberg might have finished even higher had he not fallen victim to one of the most talked about miscalls of the tournament. In his quarterfinal match against Damion Hahn of Minnesota, the Red captain was twice penalized for locking hands on a single shot. The call cost Wattenberg two points and eventually the match after a third period which saw Hahn stalling by running from his opponent. “It was the weirdest call I have ever seen,” said head coach Rob Koll of the controversy. “It’s a shame to see a guy lose on such a strange call like that, especially when his opponent wouldn’t wrestle in the final period.” Wattenberg could’ve thrown in the towel after the fiasco, but instead went out seeking revenge against his remaining opponents. Winning by a combined score of 15-4 in his next two contests, Wattenberg fell one point short of a shot at third place to Iowa’s Jessman Smith, 2-1. Wattenberg was not taken down at any point in the tournament, while losing his three matches by a total of two points. “I could’ve won every match and that makes me real optimistic about next year,” Wattenberg said, “just a couple of adjustments should make the difference next year.” That difference could very well mean a national championship for Wattenberg his senior year. After all, Wattenberg defeated the 185-lbs. national champion — Lehigh’s Rob Rohn — just a few weeks ago at the EIWA championships. When asked what his goal would be for his final season on East Hill Wattenberg quickly answered, “A national championship … no doubt.” Lee was scrambling his way to history on the mats at Albany on Saturday in the 125 lbs. weight class. By outlasting his opponents match after match, Lee became the first Cornell freshman, as well as the first Hawaiian in collegiate wrestling history, to be named an All-American according to Koll. About his precedent setting performance Lee said, “Wrestling is not as popular in Hawaii so hopefully any recognition I get helps to change that and open the sport to other kids [from Hawaii].” Lee made All-American the hard way, battling from six points down in the second period to defeat Edinboro’s Shawn Bunch on an overtime takedown on the tournament’s second day. “He is the best wrestler I have ever seen in controlling the tempo of a match in the second and third periods.” said Wattenberg of his younger teammate’s ability to tire out his opponent, “He just picks guys apart.” The scrappy first year wrestler continued his heroics against UNC’s Chris Rodriguez in the match for seventh place. Lee had lost to Rodriguez earlier in the season but dominated throughout Saturday’s match, eventually claiming a 14-4 victory. “Travis was real tough in the postseason, beating three guys he had lost to [during the regular season],” commented Koll, “I heard complete strangers talking about him which was neat.” “I didn’t quite do as well as I thought I should’ve during the season but I guess I sort of made up for that [during the postseason],” added Lee. The weekend was particularly special because it was only the third time in Cornell history that multiple teammates were named All-American. However, to say it was an unexpected result would be misguided. “Most people were saying what a surprise it was to see two [Cornell] wrestlers on the All-American team. To me, anything less would’ve been a disappointment,” Koll said. On the strength of its two returning All-Americans, next year’s squad will have even greater pressure to perform. “Two was great, but what I’d really like to see is four or five of our guys going to All-American … and we can do that next year,” finished Koll. The stench of hard work may be unbearable at times, but the fumes of success can be ever so sweet. A combination of each will only strengthen Cornell’s resolve as the wrestling program continues its rise to national prominence on the backs of its All-Americans.Archived article by Scott Jones
Baseball Splits on Trip Down South

By wpengine March 26, 2002

Winner of four of its eight games over spring break, the baseball team returns to the wintry conditions of Ithaca with considerable confidence heading into this weekend’s match-up against Ithaca College and April’s Ivy League season. Although still under .500 at 5-9, the Red came away with quality wins over Chicago State, Rider, Drexel, and Northwestern during its trip south while dropping contests against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Florida Atlantic, Rider and Ohio State. Senior tri-captain and outfielder/pitcher Erik Rico characterized the team’s performance saying, “We got some good wins. We played some good teams tough. We definitely played well and it will be a building block for the Ivy League [season].” Quick Start The Red got off to a hot start, scorching Chicago State 12-1 in its first game, led by senior second baseman and offensive spark plug Vince Santo’s 3-4 performance at the plate. In addition to his three base hits in the opener, Santo scored two runs and drove in another. Speaking about his role as offensive catalyst, the second baseman commented, “I’m just looking to get on base any way I can as many times as I can. I get on base so guys like Erik, Andrew [Luria] and others down the order can drive me in.” In addition to the standout performance of Santo, five other Red players contributed multiple hit games against Chicago State. Amongst those was Rico who also tallied a team-high three RBIs. However, pitching ace Brendan McQuaid’s eight scoreless innings made the team’s offensive outburst unnecessary, as he limited Chicago State to four base hits while striking out eight. Cornell couldn’t match its first game success over the next two contests, as it dropped games against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Florida Atlantic. Wisconsin-Milwaukee withstood a ninth-inning rally by Cornell to win 9-8 and Florida Atlantic, in the midst of a 15 game win streak, bombarded the Red by a score of 18-7. The Red rebounded in its fourth game, racing to a 7-0 lead against Rider. Behind eight strong innings by sophomore righthander Dan Baysinger, the Red evened its record at 2-2 over spring break. Senior first baseman Flint Foley ignited the offense with a double and a home run. Finishing the game 2-4, the senior slugger drove in five runs. Rico added two base hits, including a triple and an RBI. The Red won its third game in Florida against Drexel, defeating them in a slugfest, 12-10. A six run sixth-inning sparked the Red to victory, led by Rico’s base-clearing double. In addition to Rico’s offensive heroics, Foley collected two hits and an RBI. Junior relief pitcher John Hardy picked up the victory against Drexel, while junior closer Dave Sharfstein protected the lead to pick up the save. Despite losing two games to Rider and Ohio State to drop to 3-4 over spring break, the Red played well, narrowly losing to a potential top 25 team in the Buckeyes behind another strong pitching performance by McQuaid. Looking to even its record in Florida and improve to 5-9 overall, the Red relied upon a last-inning comeback against Northwestern to lift the team to a 3-2 victory and a .500 record over spring break. Rico drove a pitch for a two run triple to tie the game in the final frame, and sophomore outfielder Dave Bredhoff hit a sacrifice fly to bring Rico home, clinching the win. Bredhoff, a transfer from the University of Saint Louis, was ecstatic about the game-winning RBI saying, “I’m very happy with the opportunity to play and do the job. It’s a great credit to hit behind Erik and the Northwestern game was a big confidence booster for me. I was really proud to be in that situation and to come through. It was just awesome. A great feeling.” On the heels of the emotional victory over Northwestern, the Red has returned to Ithaca riding a wave of optimism due to its southern successes. Head coach Tom Ford summed up the team’s favorable Florida trip saying, “We would have liked to win more, but 4-4 is a pretty good trip. We played a tough schedule, but the guys did well competing down there. We kept focused, and didn’t have any collapses.” In fact, the baseball team has shown steady improvement throughout the season, playing .500 baseball over its last ten games after early season miscues denied the Red a single victory in a four game series against Bucknell. This weekend, the Red continues its climb toward the .500 level against South Hill rival, Ithaca College. The two squads will square off in a doubleheader this Saturday as the Red hosts its first games of the year. Archived article by Mark Fetzko