NEW YORK, N.Y.—The Big Red wrestling team kicked off its Ivy season with a bang, flying past Columbia 39-6 on Sunday afternoon. Cornell picked up bonus points in six bouts with Troy Nickerson and Steve Anceravage pinning their opponents. The Big Red improves to 7-2 and 1-0 Ivy with the victory.

Nickerson opened the day against Kevin Tao at 125 pounds. The Big Red wrestler quickly took control of the match and took down Tao at 2:16 of the first period. Nickerson titled his opponent onto his back and pinned Tao in 2:12.

At 133 pounds, Mike Grey quickly went on the attack against Kyle Gilchrist. With less than seven seconds off the clock, Grey went up 2-0 with a takedown. Grey notched thirty second of riding time before he let his opponent up looking for more points. The Big Red wrestler notched two more takedowns before the period was over to take a 6-3 lead into the second period. Grey quickly escaped from his opening down position in the second and within 20 seconds had another takedown to lead 9-2. He quickly cut his opponent loose. With 15 seconds left in the period, Grey and Gilchrist scrambled and the Big Red wrestler spun around to notch two more points to bring an 11-3 advantage into the third. Gilchrist chose to start the last period down on the mat, and Grey finally cut him loose with 30 seconds left on the clock. Grey quickly grabbed another takedown and added three back points tilting his opponent on to his back. With 4:03 in riding time, Grey walked away with a 17-4 major decision.

Sophomore Corey Manson took on Shane Strumwasser at 141 pounds. With 2:15 left in the period Manson caught hold of one of the Columbia wrestler's legs and kept working until he pulled him to the mat for the takedown. One minute later Strumwasser escaped but within 20 seconds, Manson notched another takedown and rode out the remainder of the period. Manson chose to start the second period at neutral looking to score. The Columbia wrestler was able to evade Manson until 15 seconds left in the period when Manson grabbed the takedown he was looking for. Strumwasser chose to start the third period down on the mat but was unable to escape for the remainder of the period. With 3:58 in riding time, Manson won a 7-1 decision.

With only 12 seconds off the clock, DJ Meagher grabbed an early takedown at 149 pounds against Matt Dunn. Meagher notched 22 seconds of riding time before Dunn made his escape. With 15 seconds left in the first period, Meagher grabbed both of Dunn's legs and pushed him to the mat to take a 4-1 lead into the second period. Meagher chose to start the second period down and after 30 seconds escaped away from Dunn. Dunn started the third down on the mat and within nine seconds worked to the neutral position to bring the score to 5-2. Dunn took a shot at Meagher, but the Big Red wrestler countered for a takedown and quickly let his opponent up looking for more points. Time ran out before Meagher could earn more points, but the Big Red wrestler won a 9-4 decision.

Cornell lengthened its team score to 22-0 after a Columbia forfeit at 157 pounds to the Big Red's Jordan Leen.

At 165 pounds, No. 1 Mack Lewnes faced Eren Civan. Lewnes was caught off guard after Civan countered an attack, and the Columbia wrestler forced Lewnes to give up a takedown. Lewnes escaped and with one minute left in the period Lewnes earned a takedown of his own. The match was delayed for a blood time out for Columbia. Civan escaped for the last point of the first period. Lewnes escaped from his opening down position in the second to take a 4-3 lead and quickly grabbed two more points with a takedown. Civan brought the score to 6-4 with an escape. The Columbia wrestler chose to start the third period down on the mat and came within a point with an escape. The two wrestlers scrambled late in the period with Civan coming out on top with 36 seconds left in the match. Lewnes quickly countered and with 15 seconds left in the match, and earned the reversal to win an 8-7 decision.

No. 6 Steve Anceravage earned six takedowns over Mike Wolfer in the first period of his match at 174 pounds, before pinning his opponent in 2:52. With six team points, the Big Red took a 31-0 lead.

At 184 pounds, No. 16 Justin Kerber earned his first point over Kenji Porter after the Columbia wrestler was penalized for an illegal move. Kerber earned two more points with a takedown at 1:08. The Big Red wrestler rode Porter out for the entire second period to rack up 3:04 in riding time. Kerber escaped from his initial down position in the third period and earned a takedown midway through the period. Porter took his first point of the period with an escape. With 18 seconds left in the match, Kerber grabbed one more takedown and with 3:09 in riding time won a 9-1 major decision.

At 197 pounds, freshman Cam Simaz faced Lou Miller. Simaz grabbed three takedowns in the first period to take a 6-2 lead into the second period. The Big Red rookie continued to score in the second period with three more takedowns. Simaz overpowered his opponent for two more takedowns in the third and with 2:39 in riding time won a 19-5 major decision. Cornell took a 39-0 lead heading into the final bout of the day.

In the most anticipated match of the day, No. 12 Zach Hammond took on No. 14 Ryan Flores. Neither wrestler scored in the first period. Hammond started the second period down on the mat, but could not escape his opponent. Flores caught Hammond and tilted him until he pinned him in 4:46.

The Big Red will face Hofstra at 5 p.m. this evening.


125: No. 2 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) win by fall Kevin Tao, 2:12 (Cornell, 6-0)
133: No. 12 Mike Grey (Cornell) maj. dec. Andrew Grabfelder, 17-4 (Cornell, 10-0)
141: Corey Manson (Cornell) dec. Shane Strumwasser, 7-1 (Cornell 13-0)
149: DJ Meagher (Cornell) dec. Matt Dunn/Nick Standish, 9-4 (Cornell, 16-0)
157: No. 5 Jordan Leen (Cornell) win by Forfeit (Cornell, 22-0)
165: No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec. Eren Civan, 8-7 (Cornell, 25-0)
174: No. 5 Steve Anceravage (Cornell) pinned Mike Wolfer, 2:52 (Cornell, 31-0)
184: No. 16 Justin Kerber (Cornell) maj. dec. Kenji Porter, , 9-1 (Cornell, 35-0)
197: No. 18 Cam Simaz (Cornell) maj. dec Lou Miller, 19-5 (Cornell, 39-0)
HWT: No. 14 Ryan Flores (Columbia) pinned No. 12 Zach Hammond (Cornell), 4:46, (Cornell 39-6)