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Cornell University Athletics

Nahshon Garrett at 2013 NCAAs
Lindsey Mechalik/Cornell Athletics

Big Red Begins Heart Of Dual Meet Season Sunday vs. Lehigh

1/7/2014 12:30:00 PM

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CORNELL INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics I History

LEHIGH INFORMATION
Roster I Schedule & Results I Statistics

MEET INFORMATION
Match #4: Lehigh at Cornell
Tip off: Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2013-14 Records: Lehigh (5-3); Cornell (3-0)
Series Record: Lehigh leads 59-28-3
Last Meeting: Cornell won 20-13, Jan. 6, 2013 in Bethlehem, Pa.
Radio: 1160 ESPN Radio (Matt Schultz)
TV: None
Live Video: available at 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 (234-79-5, .744; 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.
STORY LINES: The Cornell wrestling team opens the heart of dual meet season when it plays host to No. 19 Lehigh on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena. The match will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network, and you can listen to Matt Schultz call all the action on 1160 ESPN Radio in Ithaca.

The Big Red has had a strong campaign so far, winning all three dual meets and the New York State Intercollegiate tournament and placing fourth at both the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle. Eight Big Red wrestlers rank in the top 20 nationally in their weight classes and lead one of the youngest teams in the country with four freshmen and two sophomores in the 10-man lineup. Returning NCAA All-Americans Nahshon Garrett (second at 125 pounds) and Mike Nevinger (11th at 141 pounds) are expected to lead the lineup along with 2013 NCAA qualifiers Chris Villalonga (ninth at 149), Jace Bennett (18th at 197) and Stryker Lane (HWT). Freshmen Mark Grey (13th 133), Brian Realbuto (10th at 157), Dylan Palacio (17th at 165) and Gabe Dean (184) are all among the top 20 wrestlers in their respective weight classes, with Dean sitting No. 2 after his upset of Penn State's Ed Ruth, the two-time defending national champion.

Head coach Rob Koll has built a powerhouse that has won 11 straight Ivy League titles, seven consecutive EIWA crowns and has 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 STREAKS:
• Cornell is 62-12-1 (.833) in dual meet competition in the last six seasons.
• Cornell has won 58 consecutive Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
• The Big Red is 23-2 (.920) in its last 25 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
• Big Red wrestling has won 44 consecutive dual meets against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
• Cornell has won 23 straight meets against New York state opponents.
• Freshman Gabe Dean has won a team-high 12 consecutive matches, while sophomore Nahshon Garrett has won 10 consecutive.

ABOUT LEHIGH:
• The Mountain Hawks are 5-3 in dual meet competition this season with wins over nationally ranked Bloomsburg and Virginia, as well as Ivy League foes Columbia and Penn.
• Three different wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 of their weight class, with seventh-ranked Mason Beckman leading the way at 133 pounds. Joey Napoli is ranked eighth at 157 pounds and Mitch Minotti is 10th at 149 pounds.
• Minotti won the 149-pound title at the Midlands championship in the team's last outing.
• Lehigh finished ninth as a team at Midlands and went a perfect 3-0 at the Northeast Duals.
• Head coach Pat Santoro is in his sixth season directing the Lehigh program and is a two-time conference coach of the year.

THE SERIES WITH LEHIGH:
• Lehigh leads the all-time series 59-28-3, though Cornell has had the better of it recently.
• Cornell has won two straight against its EIWA rival,
• The Big Red won last year's meeting in Bethlehem, Pa. by a 20-13 score.

LAST TIME VS. LEHIGH:
• The No. 7 Big Red wrestling team topped Lehigh 20-13 on Jan. 6, 2013 in Leeman-Turner Arena in Grace Hall.
• Cornell won six bouts overall and freshman Nahshon Garrett won by technical fall at 125 pounds.
• Senior Kyle Dake moved up to 174 pounds for the day and picked up a win over No. 11 Nathaniel Brown in his fifth weight class of his career. Bricker Dixon (133), Mike Nevinger (141), Jesse Shanaman (165) and Stryker Lane (HWT) all added wins for Cornell.

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 23 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 248-81-3 all-time against teams from New York state in its history — Army (11-17-1), Binghamton (7-0), 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.
• Freshman Brian Realbuto has won 12 matches by fall this season, tied for the 12th-most in a season by a Cornell wrestler. The record is the 18 Kyle Dake '13 had a season ago.
• Senior Mike Nevinger has 102 career wins and needs one to match Tyler Baier '05 and Jim Stanec '02 for 17th on the Big Red's all-time list.

NEXT UP:
• Cornell opens Ivy League play when it faces Harvard in dual meet competition on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Friedman Wrestling Center.
• The Big Red holds a 51-9 advantage in the all-time series dating back to the 1946-47 season. Cornell has won 12 consecutive dual meets against the Crimson dating back to the 2000-01 campaign.
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