Wrestling Captures Seventh Ancient Eight Championship

The wrestling team captured its seventh consecutive Ivy League Championship with two victories this past weekend. The second-ranked Red (12-2, 5-0 Ivy) dominated matches against Brown (4-6, 3-2 Ivy) and Harvard (5-12, 2-3 Ivy) as the team completed its regular season schedule.
“[Winning the Ivy League] is real exciting, but it’s really just the beginning,” said sophomore Corey Manson. “We’ve got the EIWA tournament and the NCAA tournament coming up. Our goal is to ultimately win the National Title.”
[img_assist|nid=35450|title=Eat mat!|desc=Wrestling took the Ivy League by storm for the seventh consecutive season, finishing its sweep of the Ancient Eight at Brown and Harvard this weekend. The team now heads to NCAAs.|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]
On Friday, Cornell traveled to Rhode Island to take on the Bears. The Red won seven of 10 matches en route to a 32-9 victory. Four Cornell wrestlers picked up bonus points, while no one on Brown was able to do the same.
Saturday, in the final meet of the regular season, Cornell completed its Ivy League schedule with a perfect 5-0 record. The Red technically won eight of 10 matches against Harvard, however three of the matches never took place due to forfeit. Cornell was the beneficiary of two of the three forfeits. The final score was Cornell 34, Harvard 9.
Junior Troy Nickerson — the top-ranked wrester at 125 pounds — picked up the maximum possible 12 points for his team this weekend. He won by fall against Brown and won by forfeit against Harvard.
No. 11 Mike Grey, a sophomore, earned two decisive victories at 133 pounds. He scored five points with a win by technical fall against Brown. In his match against Harvard, Grey fell just short of earning bonus points with a 13-6 victory.
At 141 pounds, sophomore Corey Manson fell 5-2 against Brown. He exacted revenge the next day when he scored 11 takedowns in his match against Harvard. Manson scored a four-point technical fall in the match.
Manson’s classmate, DJ Meagher, won two close matches at 149 pounds. He was victorious by scores of 6-0 and 3-1 against Brown and Harvard, respectively.
Freshman Derek Schreiner filled in for senior Jordan Leen at 157 pounds. The rookie competed admirably, but could not compare to All-American Leen’s performances. Schreiner lost 3-2 against Brown. The next day, No. 5 JP O’Connor of Harvard scored a 6-1 decision over Schreiner.
Sophomore Mack Lewnes showed why he is the top-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds. Lewnes pinned both of his opponents in the first round as he scored six points per match for his team.
One weight class above Lewnes, No. 7 senior Steve Anceravage had a strong weekend for the Red. The senior, competing in his last regular season meet, won by forfeit against Brown and earned an 11-4 decision over Harvard.
No. 15 sophomore Justin Kerber, scored a 5-2 victory in his match against Brown. He forfeited his match against Harvard. According to Manson, Kerber was held out of competition because he tweaked his knee during match at Brown.
“There was no reason for him to wrestle if he had a sore knee,” Manson said. “The match was pretty much already over, so it made a lot more sense for him to rest his knee.”
Kerber warmed up for the meet and may have competed if not for the fact that Cornell held a 25-3 lead entering his match at 184 pounds.
Freshman Cam Simaz finished up his extremely impressive rookie season with two victories. The No. 14 wrestler at 197 pounds won 10-4 against Brown. He won by forfeit against Harvard.
At heavyweight, senior Zach Hammond split his two matches. In his match against Brown, he was unable to recover from an early takedown and fell 3-2. He was far more impressive against Harvard as he scored a 6-1 decision.