ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell wrestling team claimed its 26th EIWA title in program history and its first since 2017, crowning three champions and qualifying six for NCAA Tournament bids when the two-day meet concluded on Sunday at Newman Arena. The Big Red's 153 team points narrowly held off Ivy rival Penn (143). Princeton (120.5), Lehigh (111) and Columbia (84.5) rounded out the top five teams.

Junior Yianni Diakomihalis (149) claimed his third title and first at 149 pounds, while both Vito Arujau (125) and Jonathan Loew (184) clinched their first titles. Lewis Fernandes was also a finalist, coming out on the short end of a 2-0 decision to Lehigh's Jordan Wood, who claimed an unprecedented fifth EIWA individual title. Arujau was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

At the end of Sunday, Arujau, Diakomihalis, Julian Ramirez (165), Loew, Jacob Cardenas (197) and Fernandes had each qualified for NCAAs in two weeks, while Dom LaJoie (133), Hunter Richard (149) and Chris Foca (174) will hope for word on at-large bids. All nine reached the podium with LaJoie taking third, Ramirez taking fourth, Cardenas slotting in fifth and Richard and Foca placing sixth in addition to the finalists.

The 26th title didn't come easy, which was to be expected. The Big Red's semifinal session was full of adversity - second-seeded Jacob Cardenas dropped consecutive matches at 197, while second-seeded Chris Foca was forced to injury default with a lead in his semi that resulted in him medically forfeiting out to sixth. Top-seeded Julian Ramirez fell in the semis at 165, as did fourth-seeded Dom LaJoie. He was caught in sudden victory by Navy's Josh Koderhandt. It entered the finals with a slim two-point edge over Penn.

The Big Red bounced back in a big way in the finals, starting right from the start. Vito Arujau, who won by fall less than two minutes into his semifinal match against Penn's Ryan Miller, ran right through top-seeded Patrick Glory on Princeton for his first EIWA title. In the fourth matchup between the rivals, Arujau earned three first period takedowns and cruised to a 19-6 win. The junior improved to 14-1 on the season with 13 of the wins coming with bonus points attached. 

Diakomihalis also ran through the field, picking up an injury default victory to send him into the semifinals, where his head-to-head win over Anthony Artalona of Penn created some separation for the Big Red over the Quakers. He won all three of his matches with bonus points and extended his win streak to 70 entering the NCAA Championships.

Loew extended his own win streak to 12 with a 12-5 win over second-seeded Travis Stefanik of Princeton to secure his first EIWA title. He guaranteed himself a second NCAA Tournament bid with his 8-4 semifinals win over Neil Antrassian of Penn earlier in the day. He closed the championship with a team-high 26 victories this season.

Fernandes, who became the seventh Big Red wrestler to earn the EIWA's Billy Sheridan Memorial Award for the most falls in the least amount of time with two pins in 3:36 of action, gave Lehigh's Wood all he could handle in the finals, falling 2-0. The only points of the match came when Wood reversed Fernandes in the second after a hard ride for nearly a minute on the seventh-ranked Mountain Hawk heavyweight. Fernandes chose neutral in the third eyeing a tying takedown, but couldn't get it against the crafty veteran. The Big Red sophomore will bring an 18-7 record into nationals.
 
LaJoie climbed a spot from the pre-tournament seeding, taking third overall after bouncing back from the sudden victory defeat to eventual runner-up Josh Koderhandt of Navy to win a couple of hard-fought decisions in the back draw, including putting a hard ride on American's Jack Maida en route to a 4-0 win.

Richard fell one spot short of qualifying for NCAAs automatically, but will have a good case for an at-large after suffering a second tight loss to third-seeded Doug Zapf of Penn. His only other loss at the championship came to top-seeded Josh Humphreys of Lehigh in the consolation round of four after he was sent to the back draw after a defensive fall.

Julian Ramirez had a guaranteed NCAA bid entering the day, and he recovered from narrow loss in the semifinals to Columbia's Joshua Ogunsanya, 6-4, to head into the third place match against Penn's 24-th ranked Lucas Reveno. He earned a two-point victory over the Quaker, another key win in the team battle, before falling to second-seeded Zach Hartman of Bucknell.

Foca looked in championship form at 174, winning two matches Saturday by major decision and picking up a first period takedown of Penn's Nick Incontrera before injury sidelined him for the rest of the championship. He's expected to be another strong candidate for an at-large.

Cardenas also won his NCAA qualifying match for fifth place, topping JT Davis of Lehigh 4-1 after dropping a pair of two-point decisions to nationally-ranked opponents. He'll enter NCAAs with a 22-6 record.

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125 (3 qualifiers)
First Round: #3 (2) Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by technical fall over (15) Ryan Chauvin (Army), 19-1
Quarterfinal: #3 (2) Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by major decision over (11) Gio Diaz (F&M), 12-2
Semifinal: #3 (2) Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by fall over #23 (3) Ryan Miller (Penn), 1:43
Final: #3 (2) Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by major decision over #2 (1) Patrick Glory (Princeton), 19-6

133 (2 qualifiers)
First Round: (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell) won by fall over (13) Anthony Petrillo (SHU), 6:30
Quarterfinal: (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell) won by decision over #32 (5) Kurt Phipps (Bucknell), 2-1
Semifinal: #22 (1) Josh Koderhandt (Navy) won by fall over (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell), 7:46
Consolation Semifinal: (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell) won by decision over (10) Nick Kayal (Princeton), 7-2
Third Place Match: (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell) won by decision over (7) Jack Maida (American), 4-0

141 (4 qualifiers)
First Round: #28 (4) Darren Miller (Bucknell) won by decision over (13) JJ Wilson (Cornell), 5-2
Consolation First Round: (13) JJ Wilson (Cornell) won by fall over (12) Michael Jaffe (Harvard), 1:50
Consolation Quarterfinal: (7) Wil Gill (F&M) won by major decision over (13) JJ Wilson (Cornell), 15-5

149 (4 qualifiers)
First Round: #1 (1) Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by  technical fall over (16) Marshall Keller (Princeton), 20-2
Quarterfinal: #1 (1) Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over (8) Nick Lombard (Binghamton), 12-2
Semifinal: #1 (1) Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by injury default over #20 (4) PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point), 0:01
Final: #1 (1) Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over #24 (2) Anthony Artalona (Penn), 11-2

157 (5 qualifiers)
First Round: #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell) won by major decision over (11) Joe McGinty (Hofstra), 9-1
Quarterfinal: #19 (3) Doug Zapf (Penn) won by decision over #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell), 5-4
Consolation Second Round: #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell) won by fall over (8) Parker Kropman (Drexel), 5:35
Consolation Quarterfinal: #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell) won by decision over (7) Nick Delp (Bucknell), 9-8
Consolation Semifinal: #6 (1) Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) won by decision over #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell), 7-4
Fifth Place Match: #19 (3) Doug Zapf (Penn) won by decision over #24 (6) Hunter Richard (Cornell), 5-3

165 (7 qualifiers)
First Round: #9 (1) Julian Ramirez (Cornell) won by fall over Noah Fox (F&M), 2:37
Quarterfinal: #9 (1) Julian Ramirez (Cornell) won by decision over (8) Brevin Cassella (Binghamton), 5-3
Semifinal: #18 (4) Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia) won by decision over #9 (1) Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 6-4
Consolation Semifinal: #9 (1) Julian Ramirez (Cornell) won by decision over #24 (6) Lucas Reveno (Penn), 6-4
Third Place Match: #10 (2) Zach Hartman (Bucknell) won by major decision over #9 (1) Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 16-3

174 (4 qualifiers)
First Round: #14 (2) Chris Foca (Cornell) won by major decision over (15) Ross McFarland (Hofstra), 14-4
Quarterfinal: #14 (2) Chris Foca (Cornell) won by major decision over (10) Nate Dugan (Princeton), 14-5
Semifinal: #22 (3) Nick Incontrera (Penn) won by injury default over #14 (2) Chris Foca (Cornell), 0:50
Consolation Semifinal: (8) Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) won by medical forfeit over #14 (2) Chris Foca (Cornell) 
Fifth Place Match: (5) Jake Logan (Lehigh) won by medical forfeit over #14 (2) Chris Foca (Cornell) 

184 (3 qualifiers)
First Round: #13 (1) Jonathan Loew (Cornell) won by fall over Colin Shannon (American), 1:48
Quarterfinal: #13 (1) Jonathan Loew (Cornell) won by decision over (8) Brian Bonino (Columbia), 5-0
Semifinal: #13 (1) Jonathan Loew (Cornell) won by decision over #29 (5) Neil Antrassian (Penn), 8-4
Final: #13 (1) Jonathan Loew (Cornell) won by decision over #24 (2) Travis Stefanik (Princeton), 12-5

197 (5 qualifiers)
First Round: #18 (2) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by technical fall over (15) Will Hoeft (Harvard), 17-2
Quarterfinal: #18 (2) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by fall over (10) Mason McCready (Bucknell), 0:28
Semifinal: #19 (3) Luke Stout (Princeton) won by decision over #18 (2) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), 6-4 (sv1)
Consolation Semifinal: (8) Cole Urbas (Penn) won by decision over #18 (2) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), 2-0
Fifth Place Match: #18 (2) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by decision over (9) JT Davis (Lehigh), 4-1

285 (4 qualifiers)
First Round: #16 (2) Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) won by fall over (15) Nick Copley (SHU), 1:14
Quarterfinal: #16 (2) Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) won by fall over (7) Kade Carlson (Army), 2:22
Semifinal: #16 (2) Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) won by decision over #18 (3) Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra), 5-0
Final: #7 (1) Jordan Wood (Lehigh) won by decision over #16 (2) Lewis Fernandes (Cornell), 2-0