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Cornell University Athletics

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 Ready For Road Tests Against #8 NC State, Appalachian State

2/14/2024 5:00:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. — With postseason competition nearing, No. 9 Cornell (10-3) travels to the Tar Heel State for matchups against No. 8 North Carolina State (13-2) on Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and Appalachian State (6-3) on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. Friday's dual will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra, and Sunday's meet will be streamed on Appalachian State's Facebook, YouTube and Twitch pages. 

Another Year of Ivy Dominance

  • Cornell won its 43rd Ivy League title over the weekend with dominant road victories over Princeton and Penn. The Big Red has won 20 of the last 21 Ivy titles, including three in a row under Mike Grey, the David Dunlop '59 Head Coach of Wrestling. 

  • Grey has been part of 15 of Cornell's Ivy titles: three as a head coach, four as a student-athlete and eight as an assistant coach under Rob Koll. 

  • Cornell wrestlers went 42-8 and recorded 27 bonus-point wins in duals against Ivy opponents this season. 

  • Cornell outscored its Ivy foes 177-25, and none of the five teams scored more than nine points in a dual. 

  • 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 317-53-1 all-time against Ivy League opponents.

  • Cornell is 15-0 against Ivy teams under Grey. 

Team and Individual Notes 

  • Freshman Meyer Shapiro (157), 17-2 overall and 12-0 in duals, has won a team-best 12 straight matches entering the NC State matchup. He has earned bonus points for the Big Red with eight of those wins. 

  • Shapiro earned arguably the best victory of his season against Missouri, taking down then-No. 5 Brock Mauller 13-4 by major decision. It was his third win this season against a multiple-time All-American. 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. 

  • Ethan Fernandez has solidified himself at 149 pounds, the biggest question mark for Cornell's lineup coming into the season. The junior enters the weekend 17-6 and has won his last seven matches. He has often had to gut out close wins, as he leads the team with 13 decisions. 

  • Fernandez beat his highest-ranked opponent — No. 23 Eligh Rivera — in Cornell's win over Princeton. 

  • Senior Jacob Cardenas, who leads Cornell in wins (18) and bonus-point wins (11), has handled business while wrestling a challenging schedule. The 2023 All-American is 9-3 against opponents in the top 25 at 197 in the coaches' rankings, with his best victory coming over then-No. 3 Rocky Elam in Cornell's 20-16 win over Missouri. 

  • Senior Chris Foca (184), an All-American last year at 174, needs one more victory to reach 70 career wins. 

  • Cornell has 51 wins by technical fall this season, a program record. 

  • Cornell is 34-9 in dual meets under Grey. 

  • The Big Red has 114 wins over nationally ranked teams since 1990. 

NC State, Appalachian State Connections

  • Cornell assistant coach Nick Gwiazdowski won NCAA championships at 285 pounds for NC State in 2014 and 2015. Gwiazdowski, who began his collegiate career at Binghamton, went 110-3 with the Wolfpack. 

  • Big Red associate head coach Donnie Vinson was an assistant at NC State from 2017-21 under Wolfpack head coach Pat Popolizio. Vinson helped the Wolfpack win four ACC team titles and record a pair of top-six NCAA team finishes. 

  • Popolizio coached Gwiazdowski at NC State and Binghamton and Vinson at Binghamton. 

  • Appalachian State assistant coach Hunter Richard wrestled at Cornell from 2017-22, reaching the NCAA Championships twice. He went 67-33 overall with the Big Red. 

Know the Foe: NC State

  • Cornell owns a 3-1 record against NC State, which won the most recent meeting (25-9 in 2019). 

  • The Wolfpack returned three All-Americans from last season: Kai Orine (133), Ed Scott (157) and Trent Hidlay (197). 

  • Hidlay, who's 19-0, is ranked No. 2 at 197 pounds by InterMat and No. 1 in the coaches' rankings. He's a three-time All-American. 

  • Three other NC State wrestlers are ranked in the top five in their weight classes, including Orine, Ryan Jack (141) and Jackson Arrington (149). 

  • Under Popolizio, NC State has had three NCAA champions, six finalists and 27 All-Americans. 

Know the Foe: Appalachian State 

  • Sunday's dual will be the first between Cornell and Appalachian State. 

  • The Mountaineers, garnering votes in the NWCA Coaches Poll, have three 2023 NCAA qualifiers in their lineup. That group includes Ethan Oakley (133), Tomm Askey (157) and Will Miller (174). Cody Bond (149) qualified in 2021. 

  • Head coach JohnMark Bentley earned his 140th dual win on Feb. 11 against Chattanooga.

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