By March 27, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – On wrestling’s biggest stage on wrestling’s biggest day, the Red secured its second consecutive top-5 finish at the NCAA national tournament, establishing itself as one of the premier wrestling programs in the country. After four Cornell wrestlers earned All-America honors on Day 2 of competition, freshman Troy Nickerson, senior Dustin Manotti, junior Jerry Rinaldi and senior Joe Mazzurco finished second, third, fourth, and sixth in their respective weight classes.
“We are obviously pleased,” said head coach Rob Koll. “We talked about getting top-5 and we pulled through. When you look back on it we finished ahead of some national superpowers, including Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. It was gratifying.”
Nickerson, who posted a near flawless record of 32-1 in the regular season, was introduced to 16,394 fans inside the Ford Center and millions more as his championship bout against defending champion Joe Dubuque of Indiana was televised live on ESPN. Although the crowd was cheering for an upset, inexperience played a factor as Dubuque pulled off the victory, earning his second national title at 125 pounds.
“Second isn’t always what you shoot for,” Nickerson said. “Then again, this tournament gives me a little more motivation and gets me a little more experienced for next year. It’s all about having your best day. It’s a change wrestling in front of 20,000 people and being on ESPN. Next year the advantage will be in my favor.”
After a minute and 30 seconds of feeling each other out, Dubuque went on the offensive, scoring a takedown. Nickerson quickly made his escape and went into the second period trailing by one point. With Dubuque choosing to start down, the Indiana fifth-year senior scored an escape and added a takedown with seven seconds left to widen his lead to 5-1 with one period of wrestling remaining. Nickerson scored a point for escaping after starting the last period in the down position, but Dubuque scored another takedown to make the score 7-3. Nickerson added a late escape but couldn’t find the energy to muster a late offensive charge, falling by a final score of 8-3 after Dubuque racked up 2:03 in riding time.
Despite the loss, Nickerson proved to the nation that he was a contender. Even Dubuque had praise for the first-ever Ivy League rookie of the year and wrestler of the year in the same season.
“He’s going to be a great one,” Dubuque said. “I think he was a little tense and nervous. I expect him to be in the finals four times before the end of his career.”
Manotti wrestled in the morning session and cemented his place among Cornell’s all-time greatest after finishing third in the 157-pound bracket. After losing his first match of the tournament to Oregon State’s Tony Hook, Manotti tore through the consolation bracket, destroying everyone in his path. Manotti went on to win third place by defeating the tournament’s No. 9, 8, 4, 3 and 1 seeds.
He advanced to the third-place match by defeating No. 9 Joe Johnston of Iowa. After no scoring in the first period, Manotti scored takedowns in the second and third periods en route to a 6-0 victory. Cornell’s second-ever four-time All-American then faced the tournament’s top seed, Iowa State’s Trent Paulson, defeating him 8-2. Manotti recorded takedowns in every period, including two impressive double-leg takedowns in the first and second. Manotti was announced over the loud speaker for his outstanding accomplishment of wrestling back through the consolation bracket, earning a standing ovation from the Oklahoma City crowd.
Rinaldi finished fourth in the nation after beating Oklahoma’s Joel Flaggert, 5-4, and falling to Nebraska’s B.J. Padden, 5-3, in the third-place match. Rinaldi recorded a three-point near fall in the second period to defeat Flaggert. Padden racked up 2:55 seconds of riding time against Rinaldi while recording two takedowns in the victory. Rinaldi will return next year in hopes of a national title in his final season in a Red singlet.
Mazzurco lost twice in his final day of competition, earning sixth place after falling to Illinois’ Peter Friedl, 7-5, and Arizona State’s C.B. Dollaway, 6-1. Mazzurco and Friedl wrestled even through two periods. Tied at four entering the third, Friedl scored a takedown with 1:17 left to secure the victory. He was awarded an extra point for posting a riding time advantage of 1:22. Mazzurco then faced Dollaway, surrendering a takedown with 50 seconds left in the second period. Dollaway escaped to start the third and added another takedown as Mazzurco tried to shoot repeatedly as Dollaway had locked up riding time in the bout. Mazzurco ends his career for the Red as a two-time All-American.
“Whenever you lose two All-Americans [Manotti and Mazzurco], they’re always going to be hard to replace,” Koll said. “Manotti is a four-time All-American and Mazzurco only had two losses on the entire year going into the tournament. All they’ve done their whole careers is perform.”
Besides the four All-Americans who competed on the tournament’s final day, four other Red wrestlers made the trip to Oklahoma City. Sophomore Steve Anceravage was the only Cornell wrestler to be eliminated on Day 1 of competition, while senior Mike Mormile, senior Dan Miracola and junior Keith Dickey all lasted until Day 2.
Cornell finished fifth in the team standings behind Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Iowa. The only Ivy Leaguer to win an individual title was Matt Valenti of Penn in the 133-pound bracket.
In the end, 330 wrestlers were entered in the tournament and Cornell wrestlers took home four of the 80 All-America spots.
The Red will look to add another top-5 finish next year at the 77th NCAA wrestling national championships at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Full Recaps of Day 1 and Day 2 of the NCAA 2006 wrestling championships can be found in the March 17 issue of The Sun at www.cornellsun.com.
By March 27, 2006
All it takes is one bounce, one save, one opportunity – a split-second between jubilation and dismay.
Last night, that split second came in the form of Jack Skille’s game-winning goal in the third overtime, giving top-seeded Wisconsin a 1-0 win in the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Regional final over second-seeded Cornell (22-9-4). This goal booked the Badgers’ ticket to the Frozen Four in front of a raucous, predominately pro-Wisconsin crowd at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisc.
“I might be too tired to make an opening statement,” said Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves. “I think that was a college hockey game that everyone in the building will be talking about for a long time.”
After playing for 111 minutes and 13 seconds, Skille finally broke the deadlock when he hit a blistering one-timer from the high slot off a pass from Josh Engel past out-of-position junior goaltender David McKee and just inside the right post. As Wisconsin jumped on its hero by the Red bench, Cornell players looked on in shock, facing the reality that for the second season in a row, it was just a single overtime goal away from reaching the Frozen Four. Just a year ago at the same stage in the tournament, a Minnesota extra time game-winner sent the Red back to Ithaca with the same unwanted memories.
“I saw the puck being wrapped around and just driving towards the net and I called for the puck,” Skille said. “Josh Engle, I guess he heard me and he just threw it out real quick where I was and I one timed it and was fortunate that it went in.”
“I threw the puck around the boards [before the goal] and thought our guys were going to get there, but I got it up off the ice a little too much and they picked it up and threw it in front,” McKee said. “The guy got off a good shot, he one timed it and I didn’t have time to react.”
It would be an understatement to call last night’s game a classic, with both teams almost a mirror image of each other with their physical styles focused on dominating along the boards and in each other’s offensive zones working hard to the bitter end. Last year’s Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist McKee, who was embattled by some critics earlier this season for a seemingly slow start, was unbelievable all night long, making a career-high 59 saves. His counterpart Brian Elliott was equally impressive, recording 40 stops in the win.
“When was the last time you’ve seen 100 shots and goaltending of that caliber,” Eaves said. “I said to [Cornell head coach Mike Schafer ’86] after the game, ‘It’s a shame that someone had to walk away from this game not going on to Milwaukee, because both teams definitely deserve to be there.'”
The game was the longest scoreless encounter in NCAA tournament history and was the second-longest game ever in the competition. However, if it wasn’t for McKee and Elliott, these records would surely have not been set.
At the end of the third period with 3:02 remaining, the Badgers could have swiped the game on its fifth power play of the night after sophomore Topher Scott was penalized for holding. However, McKee blocked shots from Andrew Jourdey, Tom Gilbert and Jeff Likens and made the stop of the night when he made an acrobatic kick save to knock away a close-range Robbie Earl one-timer. Later, in the first overtime, McKee knocked away a backhand from Skille before stopping Earl on the doorstep in the first and second extra periods.
Similarly, Elliott, who has now gone 252 minutes and 49 seconds without conceding a goal and was named the regional’s MVP, played a major hand in destroying the Red’s dreams with a number of huge stops in extra time. In the third overtime, Elliott made a spectacular post-to-post save on Scott, before blocking senior captain and leading scorer Matt Moulson twice in front of the crease to give his team a chance to win.
In the final overtime period, Cornell and Wisconsin both had chances which were rejected by the metalwork. Less than seven minutes into the frame, junior defenseman Dan Glover took a shot from the left point that banged off the crossbar after Elliott partially deflected it. Less than four minutes later, Skille had another golden opportunity for the Badgers when he wrapped around a shot from McKee’s right that beat the goaltender, but slammed off the post. Skille, who was Wisconsin’s most dangerous player during the extra periods, almost send the Red packing when he dinged a shot off the crossbar less than two minutes into the first overtime.
In between the spectacular goaltending was gritty and physical play on both sides. At the beginning of the game, it seemed as if Wisconsin’s speed, skill and strength combined with the Red’s seeming lack of focus coming out of the gate would push the Badgers to the win. However, Cornell’s defense, led by McKee, weathered the storm during the first period, and its penalty kill, which had conceded seven goals in its last 13 chances, predominately shut down the Wisconsin power play.
Throughout the encounter, which started at 5:00 p.m. EST and ended four hours and 40 minutes later, clear-cut chances were hard to come by, with both squads being forced to take shots from the perimeter since closer range shots were often times well-defended by the opposing team.
Cornell had its best chance in regular time less than two minutes into the second period. Junior Mitch Carefoot skated the puck down the left wing and took a shot from the faceoff circle that Elliott saved. Carefoot’s classmate Byron Bitz got a stick on the rebound from outside the crease, but Elliott stretched out, and kicked it away with his pad to keep the game scoreless.
In the third period, the energy picked up to another level and both sides had opportunities to draw first blood. Ben Street took a shot from the right faceoff circle that McKee saved and subsequently fell on.
Cornell had a pair of opportunities when Moulson, who along with senior defenseman Jon Gleed was named to the Midwest Regional All-Tournament team, had his attempt from the slot pushed away from Elliott. With 11:35 left in regular time, senior Daniel Pegoraro wound up from a pass by classmate Cam Abbott and shot it high from the left side of goal. Later, with freshman Evan Barlow in the box for charging at the 11:21 mark, McKee was forced to make a pair of close range stops on Street.
After McKee helped keep the game tied after the third period, Wisconsin took control during the first overtime. Cornell, which only two weeks ago played a pair of double-overtime games at Lynah Rink in an ECACHL tournament quarterfinal series win over Clarkson, appeared to be a step slower than its WCHA foe.
“You got to tell yourself ‘I’m not tired. I’m not tired,'” said Wisconsin captain Adam Burish. “It’s easy to quit, but we’re not quitting. You hang on as long as you can.”
However, as the pace understandably slowed as the battle went on, Cornell grew stronger on both ends of the ice during the second and third overtimes. Cornell out-shot Wisconsin, 8-6, in the second overtime, and the defensive unit held strong, led by Gleed, who stopped a Badger 2-on-1 break by blocking a cross ice pass with his body. Players on both teams were visibly tired and stretching out to prevent cramping. In Earl’s case, the cramps were so bad that at the end of one shift late in the game, he crawled back to his bench because he could not get on his skates.
It was a game which neither side deserved to lose, but something had to give. At the 10:48 mark, freshman Tyler Mugford and Badger Davis Drewiske were given matching penalties for roughing, reducing play to 4-on-4. With more open ice to work with, just 25 seconds later, Skille landed the final blow, and the Red, which had been toeing that line between jubilation and dismay for so long, was forced to watch another unwanted, familiar split-second moment turn hope into heartbreak.
“That’s one of the most exciting … games that hockey has seen,” Schafer said. “It’s tough to explain in words how proud I am of our guys. I asked them not to have any regrets and they don’t.”