Koll Picks Up 300th Coaching Win, Cornell Sweeps
January 26, 2019

 


PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Bonus points all over the lineup allowed Cornell head coach Rob Koll to win his 300th and 301st dual matches as head coach of the Big Red as his 10th-ranked team dropped Brown 42-6 and Harvard 50-0 on Saturday. The Big Red improved to 8-2 on the season (3-0 Ivy) with its 85th and 86th consecutive Ivy League victories.

The Big Red put away the Bears early. Cornell won the first five matches, four with bonus points attached, and raced out to a 23-0 lead in the team score. Cornell piled up a pair of wins by fall, tech fall and major decision, as well as scoring an injury default in the final match of the day. All seven Cornell wrestlers ranked in the first NCAA Coaches Panel ranking earned victories, with five earning extra team points.

Vitali Arujau kicked things off with a 16-3 major over twow-time EIWA qualifier Trey Keeley at 125, falling just short of the major decision that Chas Tucker at 133 and Yianni Diakomihalis at 141 claimed in the ensuing two matches. The trio put up 58 points on the board in board in three matches and didn't surrender an offensive point. Jonathan Furnas looked to be on his way to a third straight tech fall before he was able to stick Sam Lynch less than two minutes in for the victory. Adam Santoro picked up a 10-5 win over Christian LaBrie at 157 to keep the wheels rolling.

The Bears picked up their only win of the day at 165, as 18th-ranked Jonathan Viruet pinned Andrew Berreyesa in the third period to capture some momentum, but Brandon Womack held off Cade Wilson at 174 and the heavyweight hammers earned three straight wins to end the dual with bonus points. Max Dean shook off a slow start to pin CJ LaFragola at 4:39 of his 184-pound match, Ben Honis picked up a major over Tucker Ziegler at 197 and Jeramy Sweany led 5-0 before picking up an injury default win at heavyweight.

The win over the Crimson was the sixth-largest in school history in dual meets and the biggest since a 54-0 home win over Princeton during the 2008-09 season.

The Big Red won seven of the nine contested matches with bonus points, with four Cornell wins coming by fall and another by forfeit.

The tightest match of the day came early on, with Chas Tucker earning a takedown in the second sudden victory overtime period to capture a 6-4 victory over Lukus Stricker. Jonathan Furnas also needed a third period takedown to Brock Wilson's back for a four-point move to capture a 4-1 triumph. Otherwise, the Big Red only wrestled a full seven minutes just one other time.

The Big Red won three consecutive matches by fall midway through the match, with 165, 174 and 184 featuring wins by fall. Both Andrew Berreyesa at 165 and Max Dean at 184 earned first period pins and Brandon Womack earned a fall with just three seconds remaining in his 174 pound match. Top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis was the fourth Cornell wrestler to earn a fall, remaining unbeaten on the year after sticking Ryan Friedman 3:35 into the match.





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