Seven EIWA semifinalists. One NCAA qualifier (so far). First day lead in defense of its conference title. Not a bad afternoon in Philly for @BigRedWrestling. #YellCornell https://t.co/a0CrIVkocj
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) March 5, 2023
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Cornell has a meet-best seven semifinalists and qualified its first wrestler to the NCAA Championships on day one of the 2023 EIWA Championship on Saturday at the Palestra. The Big Red sits atop the team standings with 82.5 points and got at least one win from all 10 in the lineup. Cornell used a total of 12 bonus point wins to take a 14-point lead into the final day of competition.
Cornell's 82.5 points rank it ahead of Lehigh (68.5), Penn (67) and Columbia (66.5), who are all clustered with just two points separating second through fourth. The Quakers have six semifinalists and the Lions four, with the Mountain Hawks having just four.
The Big Red used 12 bonus point wins - six by fall, four by tech fall and two major decisions - to build its lead. Vince Cornella won both of his matches via first round pin at 141 pounds, while Vito Arujau (two tech falls at 133), Yianni Diakomihalis (pin and tech fall at 149) and Jacob Cardenas (two major decisions at 197) each won their two matches with bonus points.
At 125 pounds, Brett Ungar captured two triumphs to reach the semifinals as the No. 1 seed, one of five Big Red wrestlers placed No. 1 in their bracket. All five made the finals. The freshman will wrestle 18th-ranked Diego Sotelo of Harvard in one semifinal. Ungar is guaranteed a top six finish at the weight and will earn his first bid to the NCAA Championship.
Arujau did not wrestle a full match in his two wins, though a last-second takedown in the quarterfinal against Brown's Hunter Adrian triggered the technical fall with just :01 left. He will wrestling fifth-seeded Brendan Ferretti of Navy for a spot in the finals.
Both Cornella, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and Diakomihalis, the three-time Ivy League Wrestler of the Year, are now within two wins of Eastern titles. It would be the first for Cornella, who wrestled just 3:59 in his two wins by fall, and the fourth for Diakomihalis, who wrestled 5:18 in ending both his matches early.
Julian Ramirez picked up a first period pin in round one, then used a late third period takedown of Harvard's Josh Kim for a 3-1 victory in the quarters. He'll wrestle 19th-ranked Evan Barczak of Drexel for a spot in the finals on Sunday morning.
Fourth-ranked and top-seeded Chris Foca needed just 39 seconds to pin Sacred Heart's Ryan Bolletino in the round of 16, then grinded out a 6-2 decision over Princeton's Kole Mulhauser. Next up is 30th-ranked Lennox Wolak of Columbia as Foca continues his quest for a first EIWA title.
The lone Big Red grappler in the wrestlebacks is heavyweight Brendan Furman, who will face Penn's Ben Goldin in the consolation round of four. The winner will guarantee themselves an NCAA Tournament berth. He earned a pair of victories on the day, including an 8-2 triumph over American's William Jarrell to advance to day two.
Two of other Big Red wrestlers did not reach the podium, though both scored with wins on day one. Cole Handlovic topped ninth-seeded Jack Nies of American in round one (3-0), while Christian Hansen, wrestling up a weight at 184 pounds, pinned Sacred Heart's Owen Ayotte in a pigtail match to kick off the tournament for Cornell.