Army West Point (0-4) at #8 Cornell (3-2)

Date & Time: Saturday, Jan. 15
Venue: Friedman Wrestling Center - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @BigRedWrestling
 

STORY LINES

• For the first time in more than a quarter-century, two storied wrestling programs will meet on the mat when No. 13 Cornell welcomes EIWA rival Army West Point to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m.
• Andy Malnoske will be on the call on ESPN+.
• This will be Army's first visit to the Friedman Wrestling Center and its first match of any kind against the Big Red since wrestling at Newman Arena on Feb. 13, 1994 as part of the Cornell Duals.
• The Big Red will attempt to bounce back from an 18-15 upset loss at the hands of EIWA foe Lehigh this past Saturday, its second consecutive conference loss dating back to the 2019-20 campaign.
• It's the first time Cornell has dropped two straight EIWA matchups since the 1997-98 season when it fell to both Rutgers (18-16) and Lehigh (24-15).
• Since the 1989-90 season, the Big Red sports a dominant 189-28-2 record against EIWA foes (.868), including 98-8-2 at home (.917).
• Saturday's dual could see as many as four matchups of nationally ranked wrestlers, including a key battle at 197 for EIWA seeding when Cornell's No. 17 Jacob Cardenas meets No. 25 JT Brown of Army West Point. 
• After missing the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Red is in hot pursuit of regaining its Ivy League and EIWA titles and is prepared to make a mark at nationals.
• Cornell is ranked 13th nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll and with nine of its grapplers ranked in the top 33 of their respective weight classes according to Intermat.
• The Big Red has set its sights high — with the NCAA Championships set for Detroit, Mich. in March, Cornell believes it should be in the mix for yet another top 10 team finish.
• Cornell has finished in the top 10 at every championship (excepting the 2021 championship when the Big Red didn't compete) since 2008, joining Iowa in making that claim.  
• Back in the lineup after taking Olympic redshirts are All-American Vito Arujau (133) and two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (149).
• Seven previous NCAA qualifiers are on the roster — Arujau (133), Dom LaJoie (133), Diakomihalis (149), Hunter Richard (157), Jonathan Loew (184), Ben Darmstadt (197), Brendan Furman (285).
• Two-time NCAA champion Diakomihalis joins Arujau and Darmstadt as All-Americans back on the roster.
 

A WIN OVER ARMY WEST POINT WOULD ...

• improve Cornell to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 against EIWA rivals.
• extend its win streak at the Friedman Wrestling Center to five dual meets.
• be its third consecutive victory in the series for Cornell.
•end a two-match EIWA losing streak dating back to the 2019-20 campaign.
• narrow the Black Knights' lead in the all-time series to 17-12-1.
• be the 838th dual meet win in school history (837-412-20).
 

THE STREAKS

• The Big Red is 76-5 (.938) in its last 81 duals against current EIWA competitors dating back to 2010-11.
• Cornell is 115-8-1 (.931) in dual meet action against current EIWA teams dating back to 2004-05, including 103-1 against teams other than Lehigh (2019 loss at Princeton).
• Cornell has won 92 of its last 93 Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
• Big Red wrestling is 100-2 in dual meets (.980) against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
• Cornell is 127-30 (.809) in dual meet competition in the last 11 seasons.
• Cornell is 51-8 (.864) in its last 59 road dual matches.
• The Big Red has crowned at least one EIWA champion in each of the last 19 seasons and in 29 of the last 30 years.
• The Big Red is 57-11 (.838) in its last 68 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
• Cornell has won 38 straight meets against New York state opponents.
• Sophomore Vito Arujau is a perfect 21-0 in dual matches for the Big Red, while junior Yianni Diakomihalis is 32-1.
• Diakomihalis has won 57 consecutive matches, the second-longest streak in program history (Kyle Dake '13 won 77).
 

NOTES TO KNOW

• Cornell's 17 straight Ivy League titles from 2003-19 is a record of consecutive Ivy titles by the same team in a sport. The Big Red won four more than Cornell had in men's gymnastics (from 1967-68 to 1976-77) and men's lacrosse (1973-74 to 1982-83), as well as Princeton in men's lacrosse (1994-95 to 2003-04).
• Every four-year member of the Cornell wrestling team who has enrolled since 1980 has won at least one Ivy League title during their career.
• Since the Friedman Wrestling Center opened in January of 2003, the Big Red is 64-8 in dual matches (.889) there.
• Since the start of Ivy competition, the Big Red is 302-53-1 (.850) with 40 league titles in 64 seasons (13 second place finishes). That's 116 games clear of second-place Penn (183-166-7) and 128 games ahead of Princeton (172-179-5).
• Cornell has won 92 of its last 93 Ivy League dual meets, but is on its first one-match losing streak since 2002 after its 19-13 loss at Princeton on Feb. 9, 2020.
• Prior to stepping on the mat against Stanford on Nov. 20, junior Yianni Diakomihalis hadn't wrestled in a Cornell singlet since winning the NCAA title on March 23, 2019 — a span of 973 days. Same for sophomore Vito Arujau, whose last match came earlier that same morning in the fourth-place match.
 

THE CORNELL-ARMY WEST POINT SERIES

• The Big Red will welcome Army West Point to Ithaca for the first time since 1994 for an EIWA matchup on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m.
• The two teams, despite both competing in the EIWA, have not met in a dual in more than a quarter-century.
• The Black Knights lead the all-time series 17-11-1, though Cornell has won two straight.
• Army West Point's last dual meet victory over Cornell came in a 30-6 matchup on Jan. 9, 1988.
• Cornell and Army first met during the 1934-35 season, a 21-9 Black Knights' win at West Point.
 

LAST TIME VS. ARMY WEST POINT

• Cornell won the first three matches in building a 10-0 lead and never looked back as the 18th-ranked Big Red topped No. 17 Army 23-8 at the Cornell Duals on Feb. 13, 1994 at Newman Arena.
• Heavyweight Bruce Morgan knocked off EIWA top-ranked Bill Sjolinder 3-1 in sudden victory to close out the win as Cornell won seven of 10 matches.
• Along with two bonus point victories, it was a pair of one-point decisions at the middleweights that pushed the Big Red to the team win to improve to 14-5.
•  Joel Torretti (150) and Mike Klinglesmith (158) each earned 3-2 triumphs over Army wrestlers to swing the match.

NEXT UP

• Cornell will kick off Ivy League competition with a pair of home dual meets when Harvard (1 p.m.) and Brown (3 p.m.) visit the Friedman Wrestling Center on Jan. 22.
• The Big Red has won 19 consecutive duals against Harvard and 23 straight against Brown.