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CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History

BINGHAMTON INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

MEET INFORMATION
Match #1: Binghamton at Cornell
Tip off: Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2013-14 Records: Binghamton (0-0); Cornell (0-0)
Series Record: Cornell leads 6-0
Last Meeting: Cornell won 30-7, Nov. 16, 2012 in Ithaca, N.Y.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio (Matt Schultz)
TV: None
Live Video: available at www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com
Tickets: check availability by calling (607) 254-BEAR

HEAD COACH ROB KOLL
Cornell head coach Rob Koll is in his 21st season at Cornell (231-79-5, .741; 91-8-1 Ivy, .915) ... he is the David R. Dunlop '59 Head Coach of Wrestling at Cornell ... the all-time winningest wrestling coach in program history, Koll has guided the Big Red to 11 straight Ivy League titles (14 overall), seven consecutive EIWA crowns and seven top five NCAA team finishes, including second twice (2010, 2011) ... he was the 2005 NWCA Division I Coach of the Year and the Dan Gable Coach of the Year ... his wrestlers have won 11 national titles with 49 All-Americans and 42 individual EIWA champions.

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STORY LINES: The Cornell wrestling team has established itself as one of the sport's perennial powers and will bring a new-look lineup into the 2013-14 season when it opens its home slate this weekend with a dual meet against Binghamton, followed by the New York State Intercollegiate Championships at Newman Arena. The Big Red and the Bearcats square off on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m., while the NYS tournament will run all day Sunday.­­

Head coach Rob Koll has built a powerhouse that has won 11 straight Ivy League titles, seven consecutive EIWA crowns and four NCAA top-five team finishes in a row and nine top-10 finishes in the last 11 years. With five starters who qualified for NCAAs a year ago returning, as well as one of the top recruiting classes in the country, Cornell wrestling looks to reach all of those lofty goals yet again.

The 2012-13 season was one for the ages, as now-assistant coach Kyle Dake became the face of collegiate wrestling by becoming the first to win national titles at four different weight classes and the first to win four titles without a redshirt season. The Hodge Award winner as collegiate wrestler of the year, he was named the EIWA and Ivy League Wrestler of the Year and went unbeaten at 165 pounds, including knocking off the reigning champion at the weight class and 2012 Hodge Award winner David Taylor of Penn State. The Big Red again won the EIWA title (seventh straight year) and the Ivy title (11th consecutive season). Steve Bosak (third at 184 pounds), Nahshon Garrett (third at 125 pounds) and Mike Nevinger (fifth at 141 pounds) also earned All-America status. Both Garrett and Nevinger return to the team, as do NCAA qualifiers Chris Villalonga (149), Jace Bennett (197) and Stryker Lane (HWT).

A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD:
• be the 750th in program history (749-388-20 in 95 seasons, .656).
• give the Big Red its fourth straight season-opening dual meet win.
• improve its all-time record vs. Binghamton to 7-0.
• be the 43rd straight dual meet win over an unranked opponent.
• extend its win streak over New York opponents to 23 straight.

ABOUT BINGHAMTON:
• Binghamton sent four individuals to the 2013 NCAA championship and placed 32nd at the national meet.
• For the fourth straight season, the Bearcats finished in the top two at the Colonial Athletic Association meet, as they tied for second.
• Six starters return, though three of the lost were NCAA qualifiers and two, Donnie Vinson (149) and Nate Schiedel (197), won a combined 235 career bouts.
• Returning 184-pounder Cody Reed was a CAA champ and an NCAA qualifier. He is off to a 5-2 start this season.
• Freshman 133-pounder Nick Tighe has posted a team-best eight wins and is 8-3 so far this season.
• Second-year head coach Matt Dernlan was previously a successful coach at Clarion after serving as an assistant coach at Penn State for seven seasons.

THE CORNELL-BINGHAMTON SERIES:
• Cornell leads the all-time series 6-0.
• The series began in 1971-72, when the two teams met in a quad meet in Cortland with the Big Red outscoring the Bearcatas 97.5-53.5.
• The Big Red won last year's dual, 30-7, at the Friedman Wrestling Center on Nov. 16, 2012.
• The closest meet in series history came in Cornell's 22-21 win on Jan. 5, 2012 in Vestal, N.Y. The Big Red won on criteria after ending the meet tied 21-21 having had scored more points in the individual matches.
• In its last two home duals, Cornell has outscored the Bearcats 65-10.

LAST TIME VS. BINGHAMTON:
• The No. 9 Big Red wrestling team won eight out of 10 matches on its way to a 30-7 victory over No. 23 Binghamton at the Friedman Wrestling Center.
• Senior Kyle Dake pinned his opponent to grab six team points for the Big Red.
• Cornell rookies kicked their season off right by going four-for-four with Nahshon Garrett and Duke Pickett winning by major decisions.
• Senior Joe Stanzione also won by major decision, while Bricker Dixon, Chris Dowdy, Craig Scott and Stryker Lane all claimed victories.
• A pair of ranked Binghamton wrestlers earned victories for the Bearcats, with Donnie Vinson winning by major decision at 149 and Nate Schiedel earning a decision at 197.

THE NEW YORK STATE INTERCOLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT:
• The New York State Intercolelgiate tournament has been held every year since 1970, when Buffalo won an eight-team event in Binghamton, N.Y.
• Buffalo won seven of the first nine championships.
• Army has won 13 team titles, four more than both Buffalo and Cornell.
• Cornell has won nine titles, all coming in the last 22 years, including last year at Newman Arena when it posted 183.5 points to outpace Columbia (152.5) and Hofstra (135.5).
• Syracuse has won five championships, Brockport has won three, Binghamton and Hofstra have each claimed two, and St. Lawrence and Columbia have won one apiece.
• Cornell's junior varsity squad made its first appearance in 1979, finishing ninth overall, then placing second the following year.
• The Big Red first won the title in 1992 when it out-distanced Syracuse 179.5-144.5 at Cornell.
• The Big Red crowned four champions in 2012, with Nahshon Garrett (125), Mike Nevinger (141), Craig Scott (184) and Jace Bennett (197).
• Cornell has won 74 individual New York state titles, including five wrestlers on the current roster who have won championships — Garrett, Nevinger, Scott and Bennett in 2012 and Bricker Dixon (125) in 2011.
• Participating teams this season include other Division I varsity teams from Army, Binghamton, Buffalo, Columbia and Hofstra.

THE STREAKS:
• Cornell is 59-12-1 (.826) in dual meet competition in the last five seasons.
• Cornell has won 58 consecutive Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
• The Big Red is 22-2 (.917) in its last 24 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
• Big Red wrestling has won 42 consecutive dual meets against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
• Cornell has won 22 straight meets against New York state opponents.

NOTES TO KNOW:
• The Big Red has had at least one individual NCAA champion in each of the last six years, the longest active streak in the country (next is Penn State with three straight years).
• The Big Red has won 11 consecutive Ivy crowns and enters the season having won 58 straight Ivy matches.
• Cornell has won 22 consecutive dual meets against teams from New York dating back to its last loss, a 16-15 decision to Hofstra at the 2004 National Duals in Cleveland, Ohio.
• The Big Red is 247-81-3 all-time against teams from New York state in its history — Army (11-17-1), Binghamton (6-0), Brooklyn Poly (2-0), Buffalo (6-4), Clarkson (2-0), Colgate (29-2), Columbia (85-13), Cortland (17-1), Geneseo (1-0), Hofstra (16-4), Ithaca (12-3), Long Island (1-0), Manhattan (1-0), NYU (2-0), Queens (1-0), RPI (2-0), RIT (7-0-1), St. Lawrence (0-1), Syracuse (42-35-1), Union (2-1) and Wagner (2-0).
• The Big Red's coaching staff has combined for 14 All-America accolades and seven individual NCAA titles at a total of six different weight classes as collegiate athletes.
• How would the nation's top 20 program rankings look if you shifted around the numbers by Facebook followers? Penn State would sit first with 22,839 and Cornell would be nipping at their heels in second with 21,764. Third is Michigan with 20,015 — well ahead of fourth-place Oklahoma State (9,052). (as of Nov. 21 at noon)

TALL IVY:
• Since Rob Koll took over the Cornell program in 1993, the Big Red has gone 91-8-1 (.915) in its 100 Ivy League matches.
• Over that same span, Penn is next best 82-17-1, followed by Brown (44-55-1).
• Rounding out the field is Columbia 38-62, Harvard 34-65-1 and Princeton 9-91.
• Dating back to the 2002-13 season (11 years), Cornell's perfect 55-0 record laps the competition. Penn is second-best at 42-13, followed by Columbia 27-28, Brown 18-36-1, Harvard 16-38-1 and Princeton 6-49.

RED-WHITE WRESTLE OFFS:
• Six newcomers earned victories as Red eked out a victory over the White team, 17-15, as part of the Red-White Wrestle Off on Nov. 16, 2013 at the Friedman Wrestling Center.
• Six of the matches were decided by major decision, including at five of the first six weights.
• Returning All-American Nahshon Garrett earned a 17-5 decision over Bricker Dixon at 125 pounds to lead off, while NCAA qualifiers Jace Bennett (197) and Stryker Lane (HWT) also picked up wins.
• Jesse Shanaman, a 2012-13 All-Ivy League selection, was victorious at 174 pounds, while newcomers Mark Grey (133), Corey Dake (141), Alex Cisneros (149), Brian Realbuto (157), Dylan Palacio (165) and Gabe Dean (184) also made their mark in their debut matches at Friedman..

Red-White Wrestle Off Results
125: Nahshon Garrett (White) major decision over Bricker Dixon, 17-5
133: Mark Grey (Red) major decision over Logan David, 15-4
141: Corey Dake (White) major decision over Josh Kennedy, 9-1
149: Alex Cisneros (Red) major decision over Conner David, 10-0
157: Brian Realbuto (White) major decision over Taylor Simaz, 11-1
165: Dylan Palacio (Red) decision over Craig Eifert, 9-7 (OT)
174: Jesse Shanaman (White) major decision over Jake George, 10-1
184: Gabe Dean (Red) decision over Billy George, 7-2
197: Jace Bennett (White) decision over Steven Congenie, 6-4
HWT: Stryker Lane (Red) decision over Jacob Aiken-Phillips, 5-0.

BINGHAMTON OPEN:
• The Cornell wrestling team had three individual champions and six finalists at the 2013 Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open at Binghamton on Nov. 10.
• Nahshon Garrett avenged last season's loss to Penn State's Nico Medaludis with a 7-4 decision in the 125-pound finals to cap a 5-0 day for the sophomore.
• At 133 pounds, Mark Grey defeated another Penn State wrestler, Jordan Conaway, 3-1 in the finals.
• The 149-pound final was all Big Red, as teammates Chris Villalonga and Alex Cisneros both won five matches earlier in the day to advance to the final. After earning two pins and two majors, Villalonga captured the title via forfeit.
• Several other Cornell wrestlers finished within the top four of their respective weight classes at the open; Craig Eifert (second, 165); Owen Scott (second, 174); Gabe Dean (second, 184); Jace Bennett (second, 197), Jesse Shanaman (third, 174); Steven Congenie (fourth, 197), Brian Realbuto (fourth, 157) and Taylor Simaz (fourth, 157).

GARRETT WINS AT NWCA ALL-STAR CLASSIC:
• After a third-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Wrestling championships, Cornell All-American Nahshon Garrett got his sophomore season off to a soaring start by getting the best of an overtime scramble to knock off returning All-American Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma 6-1 at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 2 at George Mason.
• In the dual meet featuring many of the nation's top returning wrestlers at each weight class, Garrett was able to pick up the victory with a takedown and three near-fall points in the sudden death overtime session after heading to overtime locked at 1-1.
• Neither wrestler could score except to pick up escapes, Garrett getting his point in the second and Patterson earning his to tie it in the third.

GRAPPLE AT THE GARDEN:
• Cornell will wrestle at the 2013 Grapple at the Garden on Sunday, Dec. 1.
• The Big Red will wrestle Maryland at 10 a.m. and Illinois at noon.
• In addition, Cornell assistant coach and Olympic hopeful Kyle Dake will wrestle two-time NCAA finalist Bubba Jenkins.
• A year ago, the Big Red wrestled Missouri (L, 22-12) and Oklahoma State (L, 21-16) as part of the inaugural event.

HOW TO FOLLOW CORNELL WRESTLING:
• There are numerous way to follow the Big Red through the 203-14 wrestling season.
• The Big Red's home dual meets will all be broadcast live with streaming video as part of the Ivy League Digital Network subscription service. Visit www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com for all the latest information on Cornell broadcasts.
• Wrestling duals will be broadcast on 1160 ESPN Radio for the 2013-14 season. Matt Schultz will be on the radio call.
• You can follow the team on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Highlights, interviews and features can be found at www.youtube.com/CornellWrestling, www.facebook.com/cornellwrestling or www.twitter.com/bigredwrestling.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 1 when it competes in dual meets against No. 7 Illinois and Maryland at the Grapple at the Garden at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
• Cornell will close out the 2013 calendar when team members compete at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6-7.