The wrestling team said goodbye Sunday when its seniors, including national champions Kyle Dake and Steve Bosak, wrestled for the last time at Friedman Wrestling Center.“It was a strange feeling, I was happy, sad and shocked all at once. It went by so fast. I feel like September was the start of my career even though it has been four years,” Dake said. “It was also an awesome way to end my career in Friedman — to go out with a first period pin against a guy ranked in the top 10.”In addition to Dake’s excellent performance, the Red defeated Bucknell, 37-3.“Looking back over my time here, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I’ve had a great time and I plan on making the best of my last couple months here,” Dake said.Before the start of the match against the Bison, the Red honored its eight seniors, including Dake, Bosak, Cody Hutcheson, Pete Mesko, Oney Snyder, Lukasz Stala, Joe Stanzione and Patrick Sullivan.Additionally, Cornell initiated three new members into its Hall of Distinguished Wrestling Alumni, including Joe DeMeo ’66, Dan Kathan ’71 and Cornell athletic director Andy Noel.
125-pound freshman Nahshon Garrett won by Bison forfeit, and 133-pound sophomore Bricker Dixon won against Bucknell’s Paul Petrov in a 6-4 decision. 141-pound No. 12 junior Mike Nevinger won a 3-0 decision, and 149-pound No. 13 ranked junior Chris Villalonga won a 9-1 major decision.
After the halftime break, No. 1 ranked Dake took on No. 10 Corey Lear. Dake went on the attack right off the whistle, taking down Lear with a throw and immediately working to secure a cradle. Dake won by fall with :53 left. Dake has won his last eight matches by bonus points including seven falls and one technical fall.Bosak faced Robert Marchese and immediately took him down, pinning him at 2:24. To end the day, sophomore Jacob Aiken-Phillips took on Bucknell’s Joe Stolfi at heavyweight. Stolfi brought an eight match winning streak going into the weekend. With 15 seconds left in the bout, Aiken-Phillips escaped to deny Stolfi a major decision, ending the bout with a score of 9-2. Cornell will finish its competition on the Hill this upcoming weekend as it hosts the National Duals in Newman Arena on Sunday.“The only thing that is going to make my time here better is a fourth national championship and our first team national championship,” Dake said.
Original Author: Haley Velasco