PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Cornell has a meet-best seven semifinalists and qualified its first wrestler to the NCAA Championships on day one of the 2023 EIWA Championship on Saturday at the Palestra. The Big Red sits atop the team standings with 82.5 points and got at least one win from all 10 in the lineup. Cornell used a total of 12 bonus point wins to take a 14-point lead into the final day of competition.

Cornell's 82.5 points rank it ahead of Lehigh (68.5), Penn (67) and Columbia (66.5), who are all clustered with just two points separating second through fourth. The Quakers have six semifinalists and the Lions four, with the Mountain Hawks having just four.

The Big Red used 12 bonus point wins - six by fall, four by tech fall and two major decisions - to build its lead. Vince Cornella won both of his matches via first round pin at 141 pounds, while Vito Arujau (two tech falls at 133), Yianni Diakomihalis (pin and tech fall at 149) and Jacob Cardenas (two major decisions at 197) each won their two matches with bonus points.
 
At 125 pounds, Brett Ungar captured two triumphs to reach the semifinals as the No. 1 seed, one of five Big Red wrestlers placed No. 1 in their bracket. All five made the finals. The freshman will wrestle 18th-ranked Diego Sotelo of Harvard in one semifinal. Ungar is guaranteed a top six finish at the weight and will earn his first bid to the NCAA Championship.

Arujau did not wrestle a full match in his two wins, though a last-second takedown in the quarterfinal against Brown's Hunter Adrian triggered the technical fall with just :01 left. He will wrestling fifth-seeded Brendan Ferretti of Navy for a spot in the finals.

Both Cornella, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and Diakomihalis, the three-time Ivy League Wrestler of the Year, are now within two wins of Eastern titles. It would be the first for Cornella, who wrestled just 3:59 in his two wins by fall, and the fourth for Diakomihalis, who wrestled 5:18 in ending both his matches early.

Julian Ramirez picked up a first period pin in round one, then used a late third period takedown of Harvard's Josh Kim for a 3-1 victory in the quarters. He'll wrestle 19th-ranked Evan Barczak of Drexel for a spot in the finals on Sunday morning.

Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Chris Foca needed just 39 seconds to pin Sacred Heart's Ryan Bolletino in the round of 16, then grinded out a 6-2 decision over Princeton's Kole Mulhauser. Next up is 30th-ranked Lennox Wolak of Columbia as Foca continues his quest for a first EIWA title.

The lone Big Red grappler in the wrestlebacks is heavyweight Brendan Furman, who will face Penn's Ben Goldin in the consolation round of four. The winner will guarantee themselves an NCAA Tournament berth. He earned a pair of victories on the day, including an 8-2 triumph over American's William Jarrell to advance to day two.

Two of other Big Red wrestlers did not reach the podium, though both scored with wins on day one. Cole Handlovic topped ninth-seeded Jack Nies of American in round one (3-0), while Christian Hansen, wrestling up a weight at 184 pounds, pinned Sacred Heart's Owen Ayotte in a pigtail match to kick off the tournament for Cornell.
 

Next Up

• The Big Red will attempt to clinch its second straight EIWA title when wrestling begins again on Sunday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m.
• Cornell's qualifiers will compete at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships beginning on March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

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125 (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (1) #21 Brett Ungar (Cornell) won by technical fall over (16) Grayson McLellan (Bucknell), 15-0 (3:02)
Quarterfinal: (1) #21 Brett Ungar (Cornell) won by decision over (9) Micah Roes (Drexel), 5-0
Semifinal: (1) #21 Brett Ungar (Cornell) vs. (4) #18 Diego Sotelo (Harvard)

133 (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (1) #3 Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by technical fall over (16) Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton), 15-0 (4:42)
Quarterfinal: (1) #3 Vito Arujau (Cornell) won by technical fall over (8) Hunter Adrian (Brown), 16-1 (6:59)
Semifinal: (1) #3 Vito Arujau (Cornell) vs. (5) #30 Brendan Ferretti (Navy)

141 (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (1) #17 Vince Cornella (Cornell) won by fall over (16) Christopher Martino (Princeton), 1:52
Quarterfinal: (1) #17 Vince Cornella (Cornell) won by fall over (9) Justin Hoyle (Hofstra), 2:07
Semifinal: (1) #17 Vince Cornella (Cornell) vs. (4) #22 Matt Kazimir (Columbia)

149 (top 2 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (2) #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by fall over (15) Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart), 2:24
Quarterfinal: (2) #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by technical fall over  (7) Luke Nichter (Drexel), 18-1 (2:54)
Semifinal: (2) #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. (6) Danny Fongaro (Columbia)

157 (top 3 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (8) Cole Handlovic (Cornell) won by decision over (9) Jack Nies (American), 3-0
Quarterfinal: (1) #17 Anthony Artalona (Penn) won by decision over (8) Cole Handlovic (Cornell), 6-1
Consolation Round of 8 #2: (10) Ty Whelan (Princeton) won by decision over (8) Cole Handlovic (Cornell), 5-2

165 (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (1) #8 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) won by fall over (16) Matt Rogers (Hofstra), 2:26
Quarterfinal: (1) #8 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) won by decision over (9) Josh Kim (Harvard), 3-1
Semifinal: (1) #8 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs. (4) #19 Evan Barczak (Drexel)

174 (top 4 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (1) #4 Chris Foca (Cornell) won by fall over (17) Ryan Bolletino (Sacred Heart), 0:39
Quarterfinal: (1) #4 Chris Foca (Cornell) won by decision over (8) Kole Mulhauser (Princeton), 6-2
Semifinal: (1) #4 Chris Foca (Cornell) vs. (5) #30 Lennox Wolak (Columbia)

184 (top 4 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 32: (17) Christian Hansen (Cornell) won by fall over (16) Owen Ayotte (Sacred Heart), 5:54
Round of 16: (1) #18 Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) won by major decision over (17) Christian Hansen (Cornell), 15-4
Consolation Round of 8 #1: (8) Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Army West Point)won by major decision over (17) Christian Hansen (Cornell), 15-7

197 (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (2) #16 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by major decision over (15) Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton),12-3
Quarterfinal: (2) #16 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) won by major decision over John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall), 12-0
Semifinal: (2) #16 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) vs. (3) #21 Luke Stout (Princeton)

285 (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: (9) #28 Brendan Furman (Cornell) won by decision over (8) Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra), 8-3
Quarterfinal: (1) #7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) won by decision over (9) #28 Brendan Furman (Cornell), 7-2
Consolation of 8 #2: (9) #28 Brendan Furman (Cornell) won by decision over (11) WIlliam Jarrell (American), 8-2
Consolation of 4:  (9) #28 Brendan Furman (Cornell) vs. (5) #31 Ben Goldin (Penn)