Binghamton (7-9, 5-1 EIWA) at #11 Cornell (11-2, 8-1 EIWA)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m.
Venue: Friedman Wrestling Center - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @BigRedWrestling
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell wrestling team will honor its seniors and attempt to finish off an unbeaten home season when it welcomes Binghamton to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m.
• Andy Malnoske will be on the call on ESPN+.
• After missing the 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Red is in hot pursuit of regaining its EIWA title and is prepared to make a mark at nationals after reclaiming the Ivy League crown last weekend.
• Cornell won its 18th Ivy League title in the last 19 seasons, but the first under head coach Mike Grey after winning four as a student-athlete and eight more as an assistant coach.
• Back in the lineup after taking Olympic redshirts during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons are All-American Vito Arujau (133) and two-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (149).
• Cornell is ranked 11th nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll and with eight of its grapplers ranked in the top 33 of their respective weight classes according to both Intermat and the latest NCAA Coaches Poll.
• 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.  
• Seven previous NCAA qualifiers are on the roster — Arujau (125), 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.
 

THE STREAKS

• The Big Red is 84-5 (.944) in its last 89 duals against current EIWA competitors dating back to 2010-11.
• Cornell is 123-8-1 (.936) in dual meet action against current EIWA teams dating back to 2004-05, including 111-1 against teams other than Lehigh (2019 loss at Princeton).
• Cornell has won 97 of its last 98 Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
• Big Red wrestling is 107-2 in dual meets (.982) against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
• Cornell is 135-30 (.818) in dual meet competition in the last 11 seasons.
• Cornell is 54-8 (.871) in its last 62 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 62-11 (.849) in its last 73 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
• Cornell has won 40 straight meets against New York state opponents.
• Junior Yianni Diakomihalis is 40-1 and sophomore Vito Arujau is 25-1 in dual meets during their career.
• Diakomihalis has won 65 consecutive matches, the second-longest streak in program history (Kyle Dake '13 won 77).
 

NCAA COACHES' PANEL

• Both Vito Arujau (125) and Yianni Diakomihalis (149) are the top-ranked wrestlers in their resppective weight classes when the first NCAA Coaches' Panel was released on Jan. 21.
• They were among eight Cornell grapplers among the top 33 in their weight classes, with four ranked among the top 10.
• Along with Arujau and Diakomihalis, Julian Ramirez is ranked No. 8 at 165, while Chris Foca is 10th at 174.
• In addition, Dom Lajoie (27th at 133), Jonathan Loew (17th at 184), Jacob Cardenas (19th at 197) and Lewis Fernandes (17th at 285) are also among the top wrestlers at their weight classes.
 

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 69-8 in dual matches (.896) there.
• Since the start of Ivy competition, the Big Red is 307-53-1 (.852) with 41 league titles in 65 seasons (13 second place finishes). That's 119  games clear of second-place Penn (186-170-7) and 128 games ahead of Princeton (178-180-5).
• 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-BINGHAMTON SERIES

• Cornell leads the all-time series with Binghamton 9-0.
• 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 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.
• The Big Red won the last meeting between the teams 32-8 on Feb. 15, 2020 at the Friedman Wrestling Center.
 

LAST TIME VS. BINGHAMTON

• Wrestling in its final dual of the season at the Friedman Wrestling Center, the Gig Red defeated Binghamton by a final score of 32-8 on Saturday, Feb. 15. 
• It was senior day for the Big Red, and Noah Baughman, Chris Schoenherr and Chas Tucker all picked up wins in the starting lineup in their final home appearances.
• Ben Darmstadt pinned Sam DePrez in 1:48 at 197 pounds to highlight the Big Red's dual meet victory, its ninth without a loss all-time against the Bearcats.
 

NEXT UP

• Cornell closes the regular season with a road matchup against No. 9 Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) in Madison, Wis.
• The Badgers lead the all-time series 3-1-1 dating back to the first meeting between the programs in the 1992-93 season.
• The Big Red won the last meeting between the school 24-11 at the National Duals on Jan. 9, 2010.
• Current Cornell head coach Mike Grey, ranked 10th nationally at 133 pounds, earned a 6-0 victory over sixth-ranked Tyler Graff, a 2019 World Team member and four-time All-American, to help the Big Red to the team win.