In college wrestling, you hardly see a team earn a shutout, especially at the Division I level. To do it twice in a season is almost unheard of.
This weekend, though, the Red (7-1, 3-0 Ivy) did just that. Against Columbia (3-7, 0-3 Ivy), Cornell delivered a flawless performance, winning all ten bouts en route to a 40-0 shutout. The day before, against Binghamton (7-8, 3-2 EIWA), the Red won 29-9.
Freshman No. 23 Mikey Dellagatta picked up another pin against Columbia to add to his already impressive freshman campaign. Sophomores Ethan Qureshi and No. 2 Meyer Shapiro also both secured wins by technical fall at 133 and 157 pounds respectively. Additionally, seniors No. 5 Julian Ramirez and No. 7 Chris Foca picked up ranked wins to help cap off the dominant performance.
“The good thing with this team is we keep getting better each week, and I expect that to continue,” said head coach Mike Grey ’11. “It's exciting to see how the younger kids respond and perform.”
In the match against Binghamton, the Red won eight of 10 bouts. Freshman No. 11 Simon Ruiz won with a second-period technical fall at 174 pounds. Additionally, Foca and Shapiro both picked up technical falls. Grey said a highlight for him was watching sophomore Marcello Milani at 125 pounds and senior Josh Saunders at 141 pounds.
“I was really impressed with Milani,” Grey said. “He went 2-0 on the weekend and beat a kid from Binghamton who was top 30 in the country. I also thought Josh Saunders did a really nice job at 141 for us, he won both of his bouts convincingly and really controlled the matches, which is great to see.”
In the Red’s only defeat of the weekend, Binghamton’s Ivan Garcia upset senior No. 18 Ethan Fernandez after a late stall call was awarded at the end of the third period. While it certainly wasn’t the result the team wished for, Grey emphasized the importance of staying aggressive and dictating the pace of the match.
“I think [Fernandez] would tell you that he wasn't as aggressive as he needed to be in that match,” Grey said. “The next day, he came out and had a great bout against a tough kid from Columbia and got right back on track. The name of the game is not letting momentary lapses derail or define you.”
Next week, the Red will focus on preparing for Princeton and Penn. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.
