CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Freshman Yianni Diakomihalis used a four-point cradle in the closing seconds to become Cornell's second freshman NCAA champion, topping No. 1 seed Bryce Meredith of Wyoming 7-4 in the 141 pound final on Saturday evening at Quicken Loans Arena. The rookie took the most challenging path possible as the No. 3 seed to earn the crown.
The freshman joined Kyle Dake as the lone Big Red freshmen to earn national titles. Dake also won his initial title at 141 pounds on his way to becoming a four-time NCAA champ - and doing so at four different weight classes.
Trailing 4-2 with under a minute and a half remaining after a Meredith takedown, Diakomihalis escaped to get back within one with 43 ticks remaining. Needing a takedown for the win, the freshman was able to wrap up the senior into a cradle and got two back points to rally for the victory.
Diakomihalis and Meredith had a fantastic early scramble that ended in a stalemate, setting the early tone. The freshman pushed the pace to the edge throughout the first period despite an extended blood break for Meredith. Once returned to action, the two wrestlers spent the remainder of the period jockeying for position without a score. The freshman started neutral in the second and picked up an explosive takedown, followed by a quick escape by Meredith. A re-attack by the freshman nearly resulted in a second takedown, but was warded off by Meredith. Meredith chose bottom to kick off the third trailing 2-1, and Diakomihalis was only able to ride for five seconds before Meredith got the match-tying escape. He finally finished a shot to take the lead, setting up Diakomihalis' comeback.
For the Cornell program, the win gave the Big Red its 20th individual national with Diakomihalis becoming the 14th to contribute to the total. The Big Red has now celebrated at least one NCAA champion in nine of the last 11 seasons and have had a finalist in each of those 11 years.
With three first-year starters earning All-America honors, including three freshmen, Cornell has now finished in the top 10 of the team race every year since 2008, joining Iowa as the lone schools to make that claim.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Three of Cornell's All-Americans closed out fantastic seasons with sixth, seventh and eighth place finishes. Freshman Yianni Diakomihalis waits in the wings tonight at Quicken Loans Arena, looking to become the Big Red's second freshman national champion.
Cornell enters Saturday evening's championship round in the top 10 of the team standings after freshman Ben Darmstadt's sixth-place finish at 197, Jon Jay Chavez's seventh-place effort at 165 and freshman Max Dean's eighth-place at 184 pounds. Chavez was the lone winner in the morning session, using five takedowns to defeat No. 8 seed Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State.
Darmstadt took two losses in the back draw, a 7-4 defeat at the hands of No. 1 seed Kollin Moore of Ohio State, then got caught by Northern Iowa's Jacob Holschlag in the fifth-place match for a pin at the end of the first period. Dean, meanwhile, fell to North Carolina's Chip Ness 6-3 to end his rookie year in eighth place.
133 - Chas Tucker
First Round: #9 Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Chas Tucker (Cornell), 4-1
Consolation First Round: Chas Tucker (Cornell) won by decision over Ben Thornton (Purdue), 10-4
Consolation Second Round: #10 Jack Mueller (Virginia) won by decision over Chas Tucker (Cornell), 8-4
141 - #3 Yianni Diakomihalis
First Round: #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over Nick Zanetta (Pitt), 10-1
Second Round: #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over #14 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 13-4
Quarterfinal: #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 6-5
Semifinal: #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), 6-4 (ot1)
Final: #3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #1 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 7-4
165 - #16 Jon Jay Chavez
First Round: #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by major decision over Andrew Atkinson (Virginia), 14-3
Second Round: #1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) won by decision over #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), 10-5
Consolation Second Round: #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 6-1
Consolation Third Round: #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over Drew Daniels (Navy), 4-0
Consolation Fourth Round: #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over #11 Isaiah White (Nebraska), 2-1 (tb1)
Consolation Quarterfinal: #10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) won by decision over #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), 9-2
Seventh Place Match: #16 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over #8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 10-5
174 - Brandon Womack
First Round: #6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) won by decision over Brandon Womack (Cornell), 4-2 (ot1)
Consolation First Round: Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley) won by decision over Brandon Womack (Cornell), 8-5
184 - #9 Max Dean
First Round: #9 Max Dean (Cornell) won by major decision over Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 11-3
Second Round: #9 Max Dean (Cornell) won by decision over #8 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), 6-0
Quarterfinal: #1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) won by decision over #9 Max Dean (Cornell), 13-7
Consolation Fourth Round: #9 Max Dean (Cornell) won by decision over #12 Bryce Carr (Chattanooga), 6-4
Consolation Quarterfinal: #7 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) won by decision over #9 Max Dean (Cornell), 11-6
Seventh Place Match: Chip Ness (North Carolina) won by decision over #9 Max Dean (Cornell), 6-3
197 - #2 Ben Darmstadt
First Round: #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) won by decision over Jacob Smith (West Virginia), 3-0
Second Round: #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) won by major decision over #15 Matt Williams (Cal-Santa Barbara), 15-4
Quarterfinal: #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) won by decision over Chris Weiler (Lehigh), 5-4
Semifinal: #3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) won by fall over #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell), 5:41
Consolation Semifinal: #1 Kollin Moore won by decision over #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell), 7-4
Fifth Place Match: Jacob Holschlag (Northern Iowa) won by fall over #2 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell), 2:37
285 - Jeramy Sweany
Pigtail: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by decision over Brett Dempsey (American), 9-4
First Round: #7 Nathan Butler (Stanford) won by technical fall over Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 15-0
Consolation First Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by major decision over Cory Gilliland-Daniel (North Carolina), 12-2
Consolation Second Round: #8 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) won by decision over Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 6-4
