By: Sydney Duenckel, Athletics Communications Intern
PHILIDELPHIA, Pa. – Cornell wrestling crowns three All-Americans on the second day of the NCAA Championships in the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. No. 2 Meyer Shapiro wrestling through the championship side of the bracket earned his second All-American title in the third session as No. 5 Simon Ruiz and No. 6 Chris Foca joined him in the All-American club in the fourth session.
Ruiz earned the honor in his first trip to the NCAA championship wrestling his way back through the consolation bracket for a chance at the third-place match. Foca redeemed himself after last years early exit to claim his second All-American title in his final tournament appearance.
The team remains in the top 10 in the team score currently sitting in sixth with 46.0 points.
SESSION FOUR ACTION
With loss in the semifinals from Shaprio, he will join Ruiz and Foca in the fifth session on Saturday morning.
Shapiro did not put a point on the board till the middle of the second period against No. 3 Antrell Taylor of Nebraska with an escape. Taylor would respond with an escape of his own at the top of the third period then pour on two takedowns to defeat Shapiro 7-2.
Ruiz added his name to the Cornell All-American list with a 2-1 victory over No. Lenny Pinot of Nebraska. The freshman used and escape and riding time to defeat the Midwesterner and move onto the quarterfinals in the consolation bracket and face No. 14 Matthew Singleton. Ruiz set the pace of the match starting with a takedown. He would add another one in the third period to go with two penalty points and riding time to win the match 10-0.
Foca put a show on for the fourth sold out crowd of the tournament in both of his matches of the night. He started with a 2-0 victory over No. 23 Aiden Brenot of North Dakota State to earn his second All-American title. The senior followed that up with a dominating match over No. 20 Donnell Washington of Indiana. He tallied three four-point nearfall, two take downs and a reversal in the 20-4 win.
An all too familiar heartbreaking match for No. 5 Julian Ramirez as he falls in the round of 12 to No. 7 Hunter Garvin in a high scoring 16-12 match. Garvin started with a three-point advantage before Ramirez added an escape to make the score 3-1 after the first period. Ramirez dominated the second period with an escape, takedown and then a four-point nearfall to end the period 9-7. Ramirez would add three escapes to counter Garvin's three takedowns but it wouldn't be enough for the senior in his last bout in the Big Red uniform.
SESSION THREE ACTION
In the championship bracket, took on No. 7 Vinney Zerban of Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals defeating him 9-4 with two takedowns, a reversal and riding time to send him into the semifinals.
Ruiz and Foca get knocked into the consolation bracket with losses in the quarterfinals. No.13 Cade DeVos of South Dakota got a jump on Ruiz with an early takedown while Ruiz could not catch up with two escapes and a stall penalty point. Foca went back and forth in his 10-7 loss to Max McEnelly of Minnesota recording 3-4 in the first period, 3-2 in the second then 4-1 in the final period.
After a tough loss yesterday, Ramirez came back today with a 6-1 win over No. 27 Tyler Lillard of Indiana capped off by a back-to-back takedown and two-point nearfall. Ramirez kept rolling by pinning No. 30 Aiden Riggins of Iowa State in 1:41. The senior will move on and is only two bouts away from his chance to be called an All-American.
No. 18 Ethan Fernandez didn't want to take too much time in the third session, pinning No. 17 Jaden Albas of Standford in 1:21 to stay alive and continue his way through the consolation bracket. He then faced yet another Ivy League foe, Cross Wasilewski of Penn in the next round. Wasilewski defeated Fernandez for the third time this season with a 7-3 decision to take him out of the tournament.
No. 29 Tyler Ferrara (133), No. 20 Josh Saunders (141), No. 27 Mikey Dellagatta (197) and No. 29 Ashton Davis (285) will exist the competition with their second losses in the tournament.
Match-by-match results (NCAA seed) Cornell team score: 46.0
125: No. 32 Marcello Milani
Pig Tails: Milani defeated No.33 Caleb Weiand 4-1 by sudden victory (MSU)
First Round: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl defeated Milani 19-4 by technical fall at 4:25 (PSU)
Consolation First Round: No. 17 Max Gallagher defeated Mailani 5-1 by decision (PENN)
133: No. 29 Tyler Ferrara
First Round: No. 4 Zeth Romney defeated Ferrara 7-3 by decision (POLY)
Consolation First Round: Ferrara defeated No. 20 Blake Boarman 5-3 by decision (CHAT)
Consolation Second Round: No. 3 Nasir Bailey defeated Ferrara 2-1 by decision (UALR)
141: No. 20 Josh Saunders
First Round: Saunders defeated No.13 Todd Carter 8-2 by decision (GW)
Second Round:No. 4 Josh Koderhandt defeated Saunders by fall at 3:32 (NAVY)
Consolation Second Round: No. 19 Mosha Schwarts defeated Saunders 13-8 by decision (OKLA)
149: No. 18 Ethan Fernandez
First Round: No. 15 Ty Whalen defeated Fernandez 4-0 by decision (PRIN)
Consolation First Round: Fernandez defeated No. 31 Sam Cartella 3-2 by decision (NW)
Consolation Second Round: Fernandez defeated No. 17 Jaden Abas by fall at 1:21 (STAN)
Consolation Third Round: Cross Wasilewski defeated Fernandez 7-3 by decision (PENN)
157: No. 2 Meyer Shapiro
First Round: Shapiro defeated No.31 Noah Castillo 20-2 by technical fall at 4:30 (CHAT)
Second Round: Shapiro defeated No. 15 Johnny Lovett 10-4 by decision (CMU)
Quarterfinals: Shapiro defeated No. 7 Vinny Zerban 9-4 by decision (UNCO)
Semifinals: No. 3 Antrell Taylor defeated Shapiro 7-2 by decision (NEB)
165: No. 5 Julian Ramirez
First Round: Ramirez defeated No. 28 Mac Church 11-2 by major decision (VT)
Second Round: No.12 Christopher Minto defeated Ramirez 11-1 by major decision (NEB)
Consolation Second Round: Ramirez defeated No. 27 Tyler Lillard 6-1 by decision (IND)
Consolation Third Round: Ramirez defeated No. 30 Aiden Riggins by fall at 1:41 (ISU)
Consolation Fourth Round: No. 7 Hunter Garvin defeated Ramirez 16-12 by decision (STAN)
174: No. 5 Simon Ruiz
First Round: Ruiz defeated No. 28 Clayton Whiting 17-2 by technical fall at 7:00 (MINN)
Second Round: Ruiz defeated No. 21 Joshua Ogunsanya 4-2 by decision (UNC)
Quarterfinals: No. 13 Cade DeVos defeated Ruiz 4-3 by decision (SDSU)
Consolation Fourth Round: Ruiz defeated No. 8 Lenny Pinto 2-1 by decision (NEB)
Consolation Quarterfinals: Ruiz defeated No. 14 Matthew Singleton 10-0 by major decision (NCST)
184: No. 6 Chris Foca
First Round: Foca defeated No. 27 Ross McFarland 5-3 by decision (HOF)
Second Round: Foca defeated No. 11 Gabe Arnold 12-1 by major decision (IOWA)
Quarterfinals: No. 3 Max McEnelly defeated Foca 10-7 by decision (MINN)
Consolation Fourth Round: Foca defeated No. 23 Aidan Brenot 2-0 by decision (NDSU)
Consolation Quarterfinals: Foca defeated No. 20 Donnell Washington 20-4 by technical fall at 4:32 (IND)
197: No. 27 Mikey Dellagatta
First Round: No. 6 Mac Stout defeated Dellagatta 12-0 by major decision (PITT)
Consolation First Round: Dellagatta defeated No. 22 Mikey O'Malley 10-0 by major decision (DREX)
Consolation Second Round: No.12 Stephen Little defeated Dellagatta 16-5 by major decision (UALR)
285: No. 29 Ashton Davis
First Round: No. 4 Owen Trephan defeated Davis 17- 2 by technical fall at 5:40 (LEH)
Consolation First Round: Davis defeated No. 20 Jordan Greer 7-1 by decision (OHIO)
Consolation Second Round: No. 14 Gavin Hoffman defeated Davis 14-5 by major decision (LH)
UP NEXT
The three wrestlers will wrestle at 11 a.m. in Session Five for consolation placements.
