Big Opener On Tap For Wrestling As #7 Big Red Faces #14 Wisconsin
SOURCE: cornellbigred.com
November 16, 2022

 


#7 Cornell (0-0, 0-0 EIWA, 0-0 Ivy) at #14 Wisconsin (2-1, 0-0 Big 10)
Date & Time: Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.
Venue: Newman Arena - Ithaca, N.Y.
Twitter: @CUBigRedGameday | @BigRedWrestling

STORY LINES
 - The Cornell wrestling team kicks off a promising 2022-23 campaign when it welcomes No. 14 Wisconsin to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.
 - Andy Malnoske will be on the call on ESPN+.
 - A pair of potential top 10 matchups could be on the slate, as three-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis is expected to wrestle third-ranked Austin Gomez at 149 pounds, while the Badgers' fifth-ranked Dean Hamiti will match up with No. 8 Julian Ramirez at 165.
 - In all, six of the 10 matchups could be between ranked grapplers on Saturday.
 - Diakomihalis will put his NCAA-best 75-match win streak on the line against Big Ten champion and All-American Gomez in his season opener.
 - The senior, who sports a 94-1 career record, earned a 12-6 victory over his Wisconsin counterpart in last season's dual meet.
 - Diakomihalis had a banner offseason, capturing a World silver medal in freestyle at 65kg in Belgrade, Serbia in September, breaking a string of 16 consecutive world meets without a medal at that weight for the United States.
 - He enters his final collegiate campaign as a two-time member of the national team and in search of becoming the fifth wrestler to claim four NCAA titles.
 - Cornell would become the first school to have two wrestlers on the list, as he would join Kyle Dake '13 (2010-11-12-13).
 - Two-time All-American Vito Arujau will also make his season debut after competing for the U23 world team.
 - Cornell has set its sights high, believing it should be in the mix for yet another top 10 team finish.
 - The Big Red has finished in the top 10 at every championship (excepting the 2021 championship when Cornell didn't compete) since 2008, joining Iowa in making that claim.
 - Eight Big Red wrestlers are ranked in the top 25 of Intermat's rankings entering the week.
 - Cornell won its 18th Ivy League title in the last 19 seasons, but the first under head coach Mike Grey after he won four as a student-athlete and eight more as an assistant coach.
 - Cornell is ranked seventh nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll.
 - Eight NCAA qualifiers return this season (Dom LaJoie, Arujau, Diakomihalis, Julian Ramirez, Chris Foca, Jonathan Loew, Jacob Cardenas and Lewis Fernandes), including All-Americans Arujau, Diakomihalis and Loew.

THE STREAKS
 - The Big Red is 85-5 (.944) in its last 90 duals against current EIWA competitors dating back to 2010-11.
 - Cornell is 124-8-1 (.936) in dual meet action against current EIWA teams dating back to 2004-05, including 112-1 (.991) against teams other than Lehigh (2019 loss at Princeton).
 - Cornell has won 97 of its last 98 Ivy League dual meets dating back to the 2001-02 campaign.
 - Big Red wrestling is 108-2 in dual meets (.982) against unranked teams dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
 - Cornell is 136-31 (.814) in dual meet competition in the past 11 seasons.
 - Cornell is 54-9 (.857) in its last 63 road dual matches.
 - The Big Red has crowned at least one EIWA champion in each of the last 19 seasons and in 29 of the last 30 years.
 - The Big Red is 63-11 (.851) in its last 74 home duals dating back to the 2009-10 season.
 - Cornell has won 41 straight meets against New York state opponents.
 - Junior Yianni Diakomihalis is 41-1 and sophomore Vito Arujau is 26-1 in dual meets during their career.
 - Diakomihalis has won 75 consecutive matches, the second-longest streak in program history (Kyle Dake '13 won 77).

NOTES TO KNOW
 - Cornell's 17 straight Ivy League titles from 2003-19 is a record of consecutive Ivy titles by the same team in a sport. The Big Red won four more than Cornell had in men's gymnastics (from 1967-68 to 1976-77) and men's lacrosse (1973-74 to 1982-83), as well as Princeton in men's lacrosse (1994-95 to 2003-04).
 - Every four-year member of the Cornell wrestling team who has enrolled since 1980 has won at least one Ivy League title during their career.
 - Since the Friedman Wrestling Center opened in January of 2003, the Big Red is 70-8 in dual matches (.897) there.
 - Since the start of Ivy competition, the Big Red is 307-53-1 (.852) with 41 league titles in 65 seasons (13 second place finishes). That's 119 games clear of second-place Penn (187-170-7) and 128.5 games ahead of Princeton (178-171-5).
 - Prior to stepping on the mat against Stanford on Nov. 20, junior Yianni Diakomihalis hadn't wrestled in a Cornell singlet since winning the NCAA title on March 23, 2019 ? a span of 973 days. Same for sophomore Vito Arujau, whose last match came earlier that same morning in the fourth-place match.

THE CORNELL-WISCONSIN SERIES
 - The Badgers lead the all-time series 4-1-1 dating back to the first meeting between the programs in the 1992-93 season.
 - The Big Red won the previous meeting between the schools 24-11 at the National Duals on Jan. 9, 2010.
 - This will be the sixth time in seven meetings both squads enter the matchup nationally ranked.

CORNELL VS. THE BIG TEN
 - Cornell wrestling has a long history against Big Ten opponents, posting a 49-97-6 record all-time against teams that currently comprise the league.
 - Nearly half of those meetings have come against Penn State (11-57-3).
 - The Big Red has lost two consecutive duals to Big Ten members, with its last victory an 18-16 victory at Rutgers on Jan. 17. 2020.
 - Cornell has also faced Illinois (3-1), Indiana (3-0), Iowa (1-5), Maryland (2-1), Michigan (3-3), Michigan State (1-2), Minnesota (4-9), Nebraska (2-3), Northwestern (1-1), Ohio State (7-7-1), Purdue (3-1) and Rutgers (7-3-1).

LAST TIME VS. WISCONSIN
 - Cornell wrestlers won five matches over ranked opponents, but bonus points for No. 11 Wisconsin lifted the Badgers to a 19-16 win at UW Field House on Feb. 20, 2022.
 - Wisconsin jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two matches with a narrow win by Kyle Burwick over Dom LaJoie to open the dual at 133, followed by a major decision win at 141 by 32nd-ranked Joe Zargo.
 - Cornell cut the deficit to 7-6 win after a 12-6 win by top-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis over No. 6 Austin Gomez at 149, followed by a 10-6 decision for No. 24 Hunter Richard over No. 29 Garrett Model.
 - Consecutive victories for the home team at 165 and 174, including a win by fall for No. 6 Dean Hamiti over ninth-ranked Julian Ramirez, made it 16-6, leaving the Badgers on the cusp of a win.
 - Cornell made its run with three victories in the final four matches, but couldn't add bonus points to alter the final team result.
 - Jonathan Loew, ranked No. 13 at 184, cruised past No. 27 Chris Weiler by a 9-4 score, while Jacob Cardenas picked up the lone takedown of the match in a 3-1 sudden victory triumph over No. 20 Braxton Amos.
 - In the feature match of the night, No. 3 Vito Arujau made a statement with a 13-3 major over No. 6 Eric Barnett, dominating from the first whistle to add a bonus point.
LAST WIN VS. WISCONSIN
 -  Big Red wrestling team opened the 2010 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals with a 24-11 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin on Jan. 9, 2010 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
 - Cornell won seven out of 10 matches with junior Mack Lewnes winning by fall at 174 pounds to pick up bonus points for the Big Red.
 - Current Cornell head coach Mike Grey, ranked 10th nationally at 133 pounds, earned a 6-0 victory over sixth-ranked Tyler Graff, a 2019 World Team member and four-time All-American, to help the Big Red to the team win.
 - Other wins came from Frank Perrelli (125), Kyle Dake (141), John Basting (157), Cam Simaz (197) and Josh Arnone (285).

NEXT UP
 - Members of the Big Red will head to Lock Haven, Pa. to compete at the Mat Town Open I on Sunday, Nov. 27.
 - Cornell will wrestle at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2-3 in Las Vegas, Nev.


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