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As a red digital clock above the wrestling team’s locker room counts down to the NCAA tournament, No. 13 Cornell (12-4) will take a crucial step forward this weekend when it travels to Annapolis, Md. to partake in the EIWA championships. The EIWAs — a tournament consisting of 13 teams — serve as the qualifying tournament for Nationals, as the top three finishers in each weight class and 12 other wild card wrestlers will have their opportunity to punch their ticket to St. Louis in two weeks. “We’re definitely ready to go,” said No. 9 senior Joe Mazzurco (174 pounds). “We got tortured [in practice] last week so we’re pretty much in the best physical shape possible right now. I think we’re all peaking at about the right time.” There are six wrestlers — including three-time EIWA champ senior No. 2 Travis Lee (133) — who have been to the EIWAs before, but four are making their first trip. While veterans like senior No. 8 Tyler Baier (184) emphasize that the team cannot get caught up in distractions, head coach Rob Koll expects his less seasoned guys to be ready. “People make too much about the kids being freshmen or sophomores in this sport,” Koll said. “These kids have wrestled at least 10, some as many as 15, 17 years … These are wily veterans even though their class in college might not indicate that.” The Red’s largest challenge this year will come from No. 5 Lehigh. Although Cornell is currently rated as the top-seed in the EIWAs, Lehigh — which has won the EIWAs for the past three years — defeated the Red in January, 20-12. Led by No. 1 Troy Letters (165), Lehigh’s lineup is stacked with nationally ranked wrestlers. However, Koll is not worried, noting the depth of his Cornell squad. The Red has wrestlers who are seeded within the top six of the pre-tournament EIWA rankings in nine out of ten weight classes, including six in the top three. In addition, while the team has not won the EIWAs since 1993, Koll’s ultimate goal is to have wrestlers qualify for St. Louis. “I would rather send 10 guys to nationals and lose Easterns then send eight or nine guys to nationals and win Easterns,” Koll said. “To me, it’s something that whenever we compete, we want to win regardless of the tournament. But it’s not the end of the world. Obviously, our goal is ultimately to have national champions, All-Americans, and place as high as we could possibly place at nationals.” Cornell hopes to send a representative to nationals from each weight class. Last year, the Red sent eight wrestlers. However, expectations are running so high at Friedman that sophomore No. 9 Jerry Rinaldi (197) said that the team is, “confident to the point that we’re expecting it.” Although the Red is also stacked with a number of nationally ranked wrestlers, it will be the newcomers — freshman Jordan Leen (141), sophomore Joey Hooker (165), junior John Cholish (157) and senior Tyler Shovlin (HWT) — who will be instrumental in the team’s results this weekend. “We got to count on everybody and if we’re going to win this tournament, it’s going to be those guys who win it for us,” Baier said. While qualifying for and possibly competing at the national tournament is the culmination of a most wrestlers’ careers, Shovlin in particular took a difficult road to get to the EIWAs. Coming to Cornell as a 174-pounder and having undergone knee surgeries, Shovlin faced a variety of injury setbacks and was a reserve for most of his career. This season, he moved into the starting heavyweight spot. Shovlin then won his spot by defeating close friend and senior teammate, Matt Bogumil, for the starting position. Shovlin, who said that Bogumil has been a “tremendous help” in many aspects and even wrote him a scouting sheet for potential opponents, is eager to go to Annapolis. “I’m really excited just to go down there, finish out my senior season in the right way and just go out there and do my best,” Shovlin said. “We’ve been training for now, for all of our lives for this sport.” Tournament notes: Lee and Matt Greenberg ’04 captured EIWA titles last year … Cornell placed third behind Lehigh and Penn at the EIWAs last year … The Red won eight consecutive dual meets to end the regular season … Cornell has sent eight wrestlers to Nationals for two years in a row. Archived article by Brian TsaoSun Senior Editor
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The last time Cornell and Yale met, the two teams battled into double overtime before the Red emerged with an 87-82 victory. The thrilling win gave Cornell (12-13, 7-5 Ivy) a weekend sweep of Brown and the Bulldogs (9-15, 5-6 Ivy) and, more importantly, sparked a streak that has guaranteed the program its first .500 Ivy season in eight years and placed the Red second among the Ancient Eight. This weekend, Cornell will again face these Ivy opponents in the final weekend of conference play. A win over Yale would give the team a 13-13 overall record and secure it a second-place finish in the league. For seniors Cody Toppert and Eric Taylor, and head coach Steve Donahue, a win would also mark the culmination of a four-year quest for respect. “Its’ been a great week. Guys have worked hard. We have a lot of respect for both programs,” Donahue said. “The guys are going to play well, so they can be one of the better teams in the league.” The Red’s strategy for success this weekend will not differ from the formula it has used to win its last three games since dropping the Bulldogs: expert foul shooting, strength off the bench, and a strong mental approach. From the foul line, the Red has shot .747 as a team this year. Junior Ryan Rourke leads the pack with an .863 mark, but Toppert barely trails him at .860. In its comeback win over Princeton Saturday, Cornell shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half, but made 20-of-22 crucial buckets from the charity stripe. That win against Princeton completed the Red’s first sweep of the Tigers in 20 years, but Cornell realizes that defeating one of the league’s perennial champions does not mean it may beat one of its middlemen with ease. Though neither Yale nor Brown has a stellar record, both teams have shown glimpses of brilliance throughout the season, and both teams have found themselves barely on the losing end of games on more than one occasion. “I think they’re two teams that have played well in stretches this year. Both have talentented players,” Donahue said. “I think they’re both very dangerous teams.” Yale, in particular has proven especially potent. Not only did the Bulldogs take the Red into double overtime, they also handed No. 1 Penn its only league loss of the year. Senior Edwin Draughan leads the team with 15.7 points per game, while classmates Dominick Martin and Alex Gamboa trail just behind with 12.2 ppg and 9.9 ppg, respectively. Brown also has the defending Ivy League Player of the Year, Jason Forte, who has led the Bears all season with his strong drives and stealthy defensive play. While the Red’s opponents may have one, two, or even three key players, Cornell routinely counts on seven or eight men to deliver in games. Taylor and Toppert lead the senior class, while Rourke, Lenny Collins, and David Lisle head the juniors. Sophomores Graham Dow and Andrew Naeve represent the sophomores, and freshman Jason Canady has proven that he has the talent to play with the league’s best. “Yale is playing three main guys substantial minutes. I think they have a talented group, but, when you play young kids, it’s asking a lot,” Donahue said. “Brown is young as well. Jason[Forte] is a very good player, but no one else is playing substantial minutes. It’s hard to win when you’re playing a lot of younger players.” Regardless of which players see time this weekend, Cornell’s athletes will face them head on with the same confidence they have demonstrated all season. And, with so much riding on this weekend’s games, the Red has incentive to go all out. “Sweeping these teams would be great. We’re trying to do as well as we can, finish in second place and have a winning record,” Donahue said. “So its a huge weekend. there’s a lot of work left and we’re looking forward to this.” Archived article by Everett HullversonSun Assistant Sports Editor