FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Cornell wrestling will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for the South Beach Duals, held Dec. 29-30 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. Members of the Big Red squad will compete in five duals, with a number of wrestlers competing individually to round out competition each day.
In the dual portion, Cornell will face South Dakota State, Michigan State and Wyoming on Sunday, Dec. 29, before taking on No. 15-ranked Minnesota and No. 19-ranked Missouri on Monday, Dec. 30. Action for the Big Red begins on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET against SDSU.
Other programs in attendance include Duke, No. 14-ranked Lehigh and Old Dominion. In total, nine teams will be present in Florida. All rankings are by the NWCA as of 12/17.
Live action from the event can be viewed through TrackWrestling.com. Pay-Per-View for the event costs $19.95. More information about the event can be viewed
here.
PROBABLES FOR CORNELL
| Wt. |
Wrestler |
| 125 |
Dom LaJoie (9-6) |
| 133 |
#6 Chas Tucker (12-0), Phillip Moomey (4-3) |
| 141 |
Noah Baughman (12-4), Mike Russo (6-3), Mike Venosa (4-3), Ryan Moore (4-5) |
| 149 |
Hunter Richard (9-4), Chris Schoenherr (7-3) |
| 157 |
Colton Yapoujian (12-3), Micah Hoffman (1-2) |
| 165 |
Milik Dawkins (7-3), Adam Santoro (7-3), Jake Brindley (2-2), Andrew Merola (4-3) |
| 174 |
#15 Brandon Womack (8-5) |
| 184 |
Jonathan Loew (13-4 @ 197 pounds), Jonah Barley (5-4), Jonathon Fagen (6-2) |
| 197 |
Ben Darmstadt (13-4) - #7 at 184 pounds |
| HWT |
Brendan Furman (10-5), Seth Janney (4-4), Drew Flynn (0-0) |
*All individual rankings are by FloWrestling as of 12/24.
HEAD COACH ROB KOLL
• Cornell head coach
Rob Koll is in his 27th season at Cornell (306-96-5, .758; 121-8-1 Ivy, .934).
• 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 17 straight Ivy League titles (20 overall), 11 EIWA crowns and eight 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 16 national titles with 71 All-Americans and 64 individual EIWA champions.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD
• The South Dakota State Jackrabbits (1-2) are led by #15 Henry Pohlmeyer (149), #17 Zach Carlson (184) and #19 Tanner Sloan (197). Along with 141-pounder Clay Carlson, each ranked wrestler for SDSU owns a 2-1 record in duals.
• South Dakota State is coached by former Big Red associate head coach, Damion Hahn, who spent 12 seasons on East Hill prior to accepting a job with the Jackrabbits in the spring of 2018. Also coaching at SDSU is former Big Red four-time All-American,
Cam Simaz, who earned a national title at 197 pounds as a senior in 2012.
• Michigan State (2-0) is without its lone returning All-American, Rayvon Foley, who is expected to redshirt the 2019-20 season. The Spartans still boast a handful of talented grapplers on the edge of the rankings in #25 Garrett Pepple (133), #20 Jake Tucker (157), #25 Drew Hughes (165), #25 Layne Malczewski (174) and #23 Cameron Caffey (184).
• Wyoming (1-1) has four wrestlers in the rankings, including #18 Cole Verner (125), #7 Montorie Bridges (133), #13 Hayden Hastings (174) and #18 Brian Andrews (285).
• Minnesota (2-2) is primed to rocket up the rankings following the return of national runner-up at heavyweight, Gable Steveson, on Dec. 20. In addition to No. 2-ranked Steveson, the Gophers have six ranked wrestlers in #19 Patrick McKee (125), #2 Mitch McKee (141), #5 Brayton Lee (149), #7 Devin Skatzka (174), and #18 Owen Webster (184).
• Missouri (3-2) brings seven ranked wrestlers to the table in South Beach, #24 Allan Hart (133), #9 Grant Leeth (141), #2 Brock Mauller (149), #13 Jarrett Jacques (157), #23 Connor Flynn (174), #22 Dylan Wisman (184) and #23 Wyatt Koelling (197).
• Mizzou head coach Brian Smith served as an assistant coach at Cornell from 1992-97.
LAST TIME AT THE SOUTH BEACH DUALS
• Cornell went 2-1 at the South Beach Duals last season, defeating Wyoming (23-9) and Indiana (32-10) before losing to Missouri (22-9).
BIG RED QUALIFY TWO FOR OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS
•
Yianni Diakomihalis and
Vito Arujau each qualified for the 2020 Olympic Team Trials following a pair of top-5 finishes at the 2019 U.S. Senior Nationals, hosted at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Dec. 20-22. Along with Cornell wrestling alumni,
Kyle Dake '13 and
Nahshon Garrett '16, Diakomihalis and Arujau are set to compete at the trials, held April 4-5, 2020 at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
• Arujau placed third at 57kg following wins over Desmond Moore, Zach Sanders and Nick Suriano. Arujau's lone loss of the event came against eventual champion, Spencer Lee.
• Diakomihalis took fourth at 65kg, defeating Mario Mason, Nick Dardanes, Ben Whitford and Bryce Meredith. Diakomihalis' lone competition loss of the event came against Joey McKenna, 6-5, in the semifinals. In the third-place bout, Diakomihalis forfeited to Nick Lee.
•
Andrew Berreyesa and
Max Dean have yet to qualify for the team trials and will have one more chance at the Last Chance Qualifier held in Millersville, Pa. on March 26-28.
BIG RED BREAK GROUND ON ADDITION TO FRIEDMAN WRESTLING CENTER
• Cornell wrestling broke ground on an estimated 5,500 sq. ft. addition to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Thursday, Dec. 26. The new addition, to the rear of the existing building, will add space for locker rooms, a warm-up practice gym, an upgraded fitness space, a film room, a nutrition zone and a lounge, in addition to upgrading several other spaces throughout the facility. Construction is anticipated to be done in August 2020.
