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The Cornell Wrestling team competes against #2 ranked Missouri in Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY on January 28, 2024.
Lexi Woodcock/Cornell Athletics

#9 Wrestling Looks To Keep Win Streak Rolling Against Columbia

1/31/2024 4:00:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. — After an impressive weekend, the No. 9 Cornell Big Red wrestling team (7-3) will look to extend its win streak to four when it faces Ivy League rival Columbia (1-7) on Friday, Feb. 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Friedman Wrestling Center. The dual will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Weekend Rewind: Cornell Takes Down No. 2 Missouri, Sweeps Ivy Openers

  • The Big Red beat No. 2 Missouri 20-16 on Sunday at Newman Arena, matching the program's highest-ever ranked win. It was Cornell's highest-ranked home win in program history. 

  • Cornell wrestlers combined to beat six ranked opponents, including three-time All-Americans Brock Mauller and Rocky Elam. Big Red senior and 2023 All-American Jacob Cardenas sealed the dual with his 4-0 win over Elam. 

  • The Big Red improved to 7-3 overall and 5-0 at home with the victory. It has won three straight duals since a 17-16 loss to Lehigh on Jan. 13. 

  • On Saturday, Cornell opened Ivy League competition with convincing victories over Harvard and Brown. 

  • Cornell won eight to 10 matches against Harvard en route to a 37-6 victory. Against Brown, the Big Red took all 10 bouts and won 47-(-1). The Bears had a team point deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

  •  Only two other teams have finished with negative points against the Big Red in a dual — Boston University in 2005 and Penn in 2014. 

  • Cornell had 15 bonus-point wins in 20 matches over the two duals on Saturday. 

Shapiro Dominating 

  • True freshman Meyer Shapiro has been performing to his billing as the top recruit in the 2023 class. The true freshman enters Friday's dual 14-2 overall and 9-0 in duals. He's won his last nine matches since losing twice at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite in early December. 

  • Shapiro earned arguably his best victory of the season against Missouri, taking down No. 5 Mauller 13-4 by major decision. It was his third win this season against a multiple-time All-Amerian. The other two came against two-time All-American Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), with the first being a 16-4 major decision at the Cliff Keen Invite. 

  • Shapiro's also beaten 2023 NCAA qualifier Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) 15-1 by technical fall. 

  • Shapiro leads the team in technical falls (5). 

Storylines and Individual Notes

  • Three-time All-American and 2023 national champion Vito Arujau returned to the Cornell lineup last weekend. He won all three of his matches. 

  • Arujau trailed Missouri's Kade Moore 8-3 in the third period before recording two consecutive takedowns and riding the match out for the 10-9 decision.

  • Cardenas earned EIWA Wrestler of the Week after going 3-0 and beating No. 3 Elam over the weekend. He joined Julian Ramirez and Chris Foca as the third Big Red wrestler to earn that honor this season. 

  • Cardenas leads the Big Red in wins (15) and bonus-point wins (10). 

  • Four Big Red wrestlers are undefeated in duals this season: Greg Diakomihalis (3-0), Arujau (5-0), Shapiro (9-0) and Foca (9-0). 

  • Foca has won eight consecutive matches since losing twice at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Inivte. 

  • Eight Big Red wrestlers earned spots in the first round of coaches' rankings, which are used in determining seeds for the NCAA Championships. A minimum of eight matches were required to be ranked. 

  • The Big Red's ranked wrestlers include Brett Ungar (#12 at 125), Vince Cornella (#12 at 141), Ethan Fernandez (#24 at 149), Shapiro (#9 at 157), Ramirez (#3 at 165), Foca (#6 at 184), Cardenas (#7 at 197) and Lewis Fernandes (#17 at 285). 

Know the Foe and Series History: Columbia 

  • Cornell is 94-13 all-time against Columbia and has won 36 straight duals in the series. 

  • Columbia is 6-44 on the road against Cornell. 

  • Seniors Nick Babin (125), Angelo Rini (133), Joshua Ogunsanya (165) and Lennox Wolak (174) qualified for the NCAA Championships last season. Rini (No. 19), Kai Owen (#28 at 141), Aaron Ayzerov (#21 at 184) and Jack Wehmeyer (#30 at 197) were ranked in the first coaches' rankings. 

  • Ayzerov took down Foca 9-1 by decision at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. 

Ivy League Dominance

  •  Cornell has captured 19 Ivy League titles in the past 20 seasons, including two in a row under head coach Mike Grey, who won four as a student-athlete and eight as an assistant coach for the Big Red.

  •  The Big Red has won 104 of its last 105 Ivy League duals, including 12 in a row since losing to Princeton in 2020. That loss snapped the program's streak of 92 consecutive Ivy League wins. 

  • Cornell has won 42 Ivy League titles, and its streak of 17 straight from 2003-19 is a record for 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. 

  • Cornell is 314-53-1 all-time against Ivy League opponents.

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