ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 9 Cornell wrestling team brings it home one last time this season as they face Bucknell on Saturday in the Friedman Wrestling Center.
DUAL INFO
vs. Bucknell
Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.
Friedman Wrestling Center
Watch
ALL ABOUT ARIZONA STATE
Bucknell is 5-10 on the season coming off a loss at American. The Bison will face Columbia on Friday at home before the match in Ithaca.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2013. Cornell is 7-1 over Bucknell winning the last five.
The Bison return four national qualifiers: Kurt Phipps, Dylan Chappell, Noah Mulvaney and Myles Takats.
The Bison line up has four ranked wrestlers: No. 27 Kurt Phipps, No. 22 Noah Muvaney, No. 16 Myles Takats, No. 25 Dillon Bechtold
Dillon Bechtold grabbed a technical fall win in their last dual against American's Carsten Rawls.
SENIOR NIGHT IN FRIEDMAN
Cornell will honor eight seniors before the dual on Saturday.
Colt Barley, Owen Finn, Chris Foca, Cole Handlovic, Ethan Hatcher, Justin Mayes, Gage McClenahan, and Julian Ramirez.
PROJECTED LINEUP THIS WEEK
125- Marcello Miliani
133- Tyler Ferrara
141- Josh Saunders
149- Ethan Fernandez
157- Meyer Shapiro
165- Julian Ramirez
174- Simon Ruiz
184- Chris Foca
197- Mikey Dellagatta
285- Ashton Davis
BIG RED TIDBITS AND ALL THE RANKINGS
Eight Big Red wrestlers find themselves on the second coaches' ranking for the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. A minimum of eight matches were required to be ranked. Tyler Ferrara, Meyer Shapiro and Chris Foca join the previous five.
Tyler Ferrara (133) ranked 29, Josh Saunders (141) ranked 26th, Ethan Fernandez (149) ranked 21st, Meyer Shapiro (157) ranked 5th, Julian Ramirez (165) ranked 5th, Simon Ruiz (174) ranked 6th, Chirs Foca (184) ranked 7th and Mikey Dellagatta (197) ranked 22nd.
Simon Ruiz makes the largest jump from the first coaches poll where he started 12th and has moved to 6th.
The first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships came out this week as well. The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked.
Six Cornell wrestlers appear on the first RPI. Marcello Milani (125) ranked 23rd, Josh Saunders (141) ranked 27th, Ethan Fernandez (149) ranked 23rd, Julian Ramirez (165) ranked 12th, Simon Ruiz (174) ranked 12th, Ashton Davis (285) ranked 26th.
Cornell remains in the top 10 of the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll at ninth as well as tenth on InterMat.
Julian Ramirez (10-0) and Chris Foca (10-0) remain undefeated in duals since their midseason return.
Meyer Shapiro has won nine consecutive matches since losing at the Journeyman Classic.
Freshman Simon Ruiz leads the team in total wins this season with 19 and bonus points wins with 12.
RECAP FROM OUT WEST
Cornell picked up a win over Arizona State with a 25-12 comeback on Saturday afternoon.
The Sun Devils took the first three bouts (125, 133, 141) from the Big Red but the lead did not last long.
Ethan Fernandez put the first points on the board for the Big Red with a 20-4 technical fall over Mykey Ramos. Julian Ramirez had a quick match at 165 with a 59 second fall over Caleb Camp. Simon Ruiz followed that up immediately with a 15-0 technical fall over Arturo Anaya.
Nate Wade, Chris Foca and Mikey Dellagatta each secured victories to assist Cornell.
UP NEXT
Cornell travels to Princeton for the 2025 Ivy League Tournament on March 9.
