ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University and Big Red athletics will celebrate "Kyle Dake Day" as part of the Big Red's home opening wrestling match against West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Newman Arena. The match will start at 3 p.m. (doors open at 2:30 p.m.), with admission for kids through eighth grade free. 

Dake '13, who won Cornell's first World Championship in the sport last month, will have a meet-and-greet and post-match autograph session following the seventh-ranked Big Red's matchup against the Mountaineers. There will also be a special halftime ceremony honoring Dake. The Lansing, N.Y. native won the 79 kg freestyle crown with a 2-0 win over Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the finals. He outscored his opponents 37-0 in capturing his weight class at the 2018 UWW Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

To purchase tickets, visit CornellBigRedTickets.com or in person at the ticket office in Bartels Hall from Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Dake became the first NCAA wrestler to win national titles in four different weight classes, the first to win four national titles without taking a redshirt season and just the third athlete to claim four national titles overall. The 2013 Hodge Award winner as the national Wrestler of the Year was a three-time EIWA Wrestler of the Year. The Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA tournament in 2013, Dake became the third Cornell wrestler to capture the award and the first since Dave Auble in 1960. 

He wrapped up his amazing career with a 137-4 record, including winning his final 79 collegiate matches. Dake was named the Charles H. Moore Senior co-Athlete of the Year at Cornell, the Sports Illustrated Male College Athlete of the Year and was an ESPY finalist for Best Male College Athlete in 2013. The four-time NCAA All-American was elected to the EIWA Hall of Fame in 2014.