Diakomihalis Shines, Cornell Splits Sunday In South Beach
SOURCE: cornellbigred.com
December 31, 2018

 


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis knocked off a pair of ranked challengers and Cornell split a pair of matches on Sunday at the South Beach Duals, topping Indiana 32-10 before falling to No. 6 Missouri 22-9. The loss to the Tigers snapped a 13-match win streak by the Big Red (5-1) dating back to last season.

Diakomihalis again avenged his lone collegiate loss, earning the only takedown in a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Jaydin Eierman of Missouri in the showcase matchup of the day. After a scoreless first period, it took Diakomihalis more than a minute to earn his point in the second after choosing bottom. The sophomore rode Eierman long enough to eliminate the riding time in the third, then picked up the takedown with 24 seconds remaining and rode Eierman out to remain unbeaten on the season. Diakomihalis earned a 23-4 tech fall over No. 16 Cole Weaver of Indiana earlier in the day, one of five consecutive wins to open the first dual of the day. Five takedowns and four turns, including a pair of four-point nearfalls, were all she wrote for Weaver.

Freshman Vitali Arujau and senior Jeramy Sweany also won a pair of matches, with Sweany's first period fall over Indiana's Brandon Streck and 3-2 nailbiter over 13th-ranked Zach Elam of Missouri almost assuredly earning him a spot back in the top 20. Sweany earned a takedown with less than a minute left and then held off Elam to remain perfect on the weekend with a pair of top 20 victories. Arujau, meanwhile, won easily by major decision 10-1 over Liam Cronin of Indiana in the morning before picking up an overtime takedown of Dack Punke of Missouri to secure a 4-2 victory.

Chas Tucker had the lone takedown in a 3-1 victory over Indiana's Paul Konrath before suffering a 4-2 loss to No. 9 John Erneste of Missouri later in the day, joining 184-pounder Max Dean, 157-pounder Fredy Stroker and and 174-pounder Brandon Womack as ranked Big Red wrestlers to top Indiana grapplers before dropping contests against the Tigers.

The loss was Cornell's first since a 27-11 defeat at the hands of Missouri at the South Beach Duals, exactly one year ago to the day. Since then, the Big Red won 13 consecutive, including five against top 20 teams. The win over Indiana was the 298th of head coach Rob Koll's career on East Hill.

Cornell will square off with Lehigh on Jan. 12, 2019 at 2 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa. Lehigh leads the all-time series 60-33-3, though the Big Red has won seven of the last eight meetings. Included was last season's 23-14 Big Red victory in Ithaca.


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