For fans of Cornell Wrestling, winning has become the expectation. Since the 2001 season, the Red have gone 109-1 in Ivy League competition, with its only loss coming to Princeton in 2020.
This year, it seems the Red (5-1, 2-0 Ivy) is again positioned to continue its dominance. Against Harvard (0-4, 0-1 Ivy), the Red posted a score of 39-3, and against Brown (1-4, 0-1 Ivy), it delivered another decisive victory, finishing 35-3.
In their matchup with Harvard, Cornell won nine of the ten bouts, with standout performances from sophomore No. 2 Meyer Shapiro and No. 7 Chris Foca. Shapiro earned a second period technical fall at 157 pounds, and Foca secured a technical fall of his own at 184 pounds. At 125 pounds, sophomore Marcello Milani suffered the only loss of the night at the hands of Harvard’s No. 21 Diego Sotello in a tight match that ended 6-3.
“Everybody did their job, which is good to see,” said head coach Mike Grey ’11. “We’re getting into the portion of the season where we’re wrestling more dual meets, and we’re moving towards the postseason. We’re not there quite yet, but it’s good to see the progression at this point in the year.”
The Red’s momentum continued as they faced Brown, with Cornell again winning nine of the ten bouts. Freshman standout No. 27 Mikey Dellagatta was able to pin his opponent in the second period, while Shapiro secured a 7-2 ranked win over Brown’s No. 32 Blake Saito.
“[Dellagatta] is definitely stepping up,” Grey said. “He’s ranked in the top 30 in the country, so he’s putting together a good freshman campaign. He needs to just continue to progress and build experience. If he does that he’s going to be in a good spot.”
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Compared to the other teams in the Ivy League, the Red operates at a different level of competition. Duals against conference teams — even the Ivy League tournament — are stepping stones toward the NCAA Championships, where the competition is fiercer and the stakes are higher.
Last year, Vito Arujau ’24 won his second national championship. Before that, Yianni Diakomihalis ’23 won four national championships in his four years wrestling for the Red. This year, however, there is no longer a national champion on the roster. While Shapiro may look like the heir apparent after he took home third place as a freshman, he’ll face stiff competition to win the title at 157 pounds.
“Everybody is hungry to be the face of the program,” Grey said. The challenge is who’s going to step up. For 16 years we’ve had somebody in the national finals. So the question is, who’s next? Who’s going to take that step? It’s a challenge to the team.”
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For now, though, the Red will focus on preparing for Binghamton and Columbia next weekend. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.