#4 Cornell (12-2, 8-0 EIWA) at #8 Ohio State (12-3, 6-2 Big Ten)

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 at 1:00 p.m.
Where: Tampa Convention Center (Tampa, Fla.)
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @BigRedWrestling
Watch Live: FloWrestling
 

STORY LINES

• The Cornell wrestling team will challenge itself heading into defense of its EIWA crown when the Big Red closes out dual meet season against No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in the FloDuals Series in Tampa, Fla.
• The dual will be streamed live on FloWrestling live from the Tampa Convention Center.
• When the Big Red grapples with the Buckeyes, it will be attempting to even the all-time series (OSU leads 8-7-1) and capture its third straight win over a top 10 opponent this season, matching the 2010-11 and 2016-17 Big Red teams in achieving that.
• The matchup between the Big Red and the Buckeyes could feature seven contests between nationally ranked wrestlers,including the feature bout at 149 pounds between top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis and third-ranked Sammy Sasso.
• Diakomihalis is 2-0 all-time against Sasso on the collegiate level, winning 7-2 in the finals of the 2021Cliff Keen La Vegas Invitational, as well as 6-3 in the NCAA semifinals last spring.
•Two other top 10 matchups could be on tap, as third-ranked Vito Arujau of Cornell meets No. 8 Jesse Melendez of Ohio State at 133 pounds and No. 4 Chris Foca of the Big Red meets No. 5 Ethan Smith for the Buckeyes.
• Cornell is ranked fourth nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll and is 12-2 with an 11-match win streak in tow.
• Head coach Mike Grey's team is 2-1 against top 10 opponents this season with wins over then-No. 3 Arizona State (19-12) and No. 8 Virginia Tech (22-12) and a narrow 18-13 defeat against No. 6 Iowa State.
• Eight Big Red wrestlers are ranked in the top 25 of Intermat's rankings entering the week, including four in the top eight. 
• Cornell has set its sights high, believing it should be in the mix for yet another top 10 team finish.
• The Big Red has finished in the top 10 at every championship (excepting the 2021 championship when Cornell didn't compete) since 2008, joining Iowa in making that claim.  
• Eight NCAA qualifiers return this season (Dom LaJoie, Vito Arujau, Yianni Diakomihalis, Julian Ramirez, Chris Foca, Jonathan Loew, Jacob Cardenas and Lewis Fernandes), including All-Americans Arujau, Diakomihalis and Loew.
• Cornell won its 19th Ivy League title in the past 20 seasons in 2022-23, the second straight under head coach Mike Grey after he won four as a student-athlete and eight more as an assistant coach.
• Next up is the EIWA Championship, where the Big Red will attempt to repeat at the top and claim its 27th team crown while advancing wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
 

THE STREAKS

• The Big Red is 93-5 (.949) in its past 98 duals against current EIWA competitors dating back to 2010-11.
• Cornell is 132-8-1 (.940) in dual meet action against current EIWA teams dating back to 2004-05, including 119-1 (.992) against teams other than Lehigh (2019 loss at Princeton).
• Cornell has won 102 of its past 103 Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign, including 10 consecutive wins.
• Big Red wrestling is 115-2 in dual meets (.983) against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
• Cornell has won five straight against nationally ranked opponents.
• Cornell is 148-33 (.818) in dual meet competition in the past 11 seasons.
• Cornell is 59-9 (.868) in its last 64 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 66-12 (.846) in its last 78 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
• Cornell has won 44 straight meets against New York state opponents.
• Junior Yianni Diakomihalis is 53-2 and sophomore Vito Arujau is 36-2 in dual meets during their careers.
• Diakomihalis' recently snapped 75-match win streak will go down as the second-longest streak in program history (Kyle Dake '13 won his final 77 matches).
• Dating back to high school, Diakomihalis has won 316 of his last 318 matches in folkstyle (.994).
• Chris Foca has won a team-best 13 consecutive matches, with Diakomihalis right behind with 12 straight.
 

SERIES NOTES  VS. OHIO STATE

• The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 8-7-1.
• A 15-13 Ohio State victory on March 2, 1929 kicked off the series in Columbus, Ohio.
• Cornell picked up its first victory over Ohio State on March 5, 1932, 17-13. Ohio State held a 2-0-1 advantage until that point.
• The teams wouldn't meet again until Jan. 10, 1998, when Cornell defeated the Buckeyes, 15-14.
• Eight of the 16 meetings have been decided by one bout, with six meeting being decided by one team point (including the 14-14 tie on March 6, 1931).
 

LAST TIME  VS. OHIO STATE

• Ohio State led from whistle-to-whistle, taking down the big Red 23-9 at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 1, 2019.
• Without the services of All-American Vito Arujau and national champion Yianni Diakomihalis on Olympic redshirts, the eighth-ranked Buckeyes proved too much with seven wins over the evening.
• Top 10 wrestlers Ben Darmstadt (184) and Chas Tucker (133) each picked up wins, as did Colton Yapoujian at 157. 
• Top-ranked Luke Pletcher won the opener over Noah Baughman at 141 pounds by an 8-6 decision, one of three Big Red losses by a takedown or less. 
 

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 73-9 in dual matches (.890) there.
• Since the start of Ivy competition, the Big Red is 312-53-1 (.854) with 42 league titles in 65 seasons (13 second place finishes). That's 118.0 games clear of second-place Penn (191-168-7) and 134.0 games ahead of Princeton (176-185-5).
• 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.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• As usual, when senior Yianni Diakomihalis is in the spotlight, he delivers. 
• In front of his family and hometown fans, the three-time national champion earned a first period pin to highlight the Cornell wrestling team's 28-15 win over Binghamton at Hilton HS.
• The sold-out crowd was delighted after Diakomihalis earned a takedown of Michael Zarif a minute into the 149-pound match, then used a tilt to gain near-fall points before squaring the Bearcats' shoulders to the mat 2:22 into the first to extend Cornell's team lead to 14-3. 
• It was win No. 105 at Cornell for the four-time New York State champion at Hilton HS.
• The win was the 11th straight dual victory for Cornell, who moved to 12-2 on the season and 8-0 against EIWA opponents. 
• Without four starters in the lineup, Cornell still made quick work of the Bearcats to improve to 11-0 all-time in the series. 
• The Big Red improved to an impressive 115-2 (.983) against unranked opponents dating back to 2007.
 

NEXT UP

• With dual meet season in the rearview, the Big Red will turn its attention to the EIWA Championship on March 4-5 at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Cornell will attempt to defend its 2022 crown and capture its 27th title in program history, as well as qualify its 10 weight classes for the NCAA Championship.