TULSA, Okla. -- Yianni Diakomihalis will attempt to become just the fifth wrestler in NCAA history to claim four national titles and Vito Arujau will try to join rare company with his first after the Big Red duo won their semifinal matches on Friday evening at the BOK Center. They are among four Cornell All-Americans, joining first-timers Chris Foca (174) and Jacob Cardenas (197). The Big Red sits in third place in the team standings with 64 points, behind only Penn State (116.5) and Iowa (77) and narrowly ahead of Ohio State (62).
Arujau and Diakomihalis reached the finals with two very different types of matches in the semis.
Arujau was the aggressor from the start, dominating No. 2 seed and three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix in a brilliant 11-3 major decision win in the semifinals. That came on the heels of his 8-5 triumph over Virginia Tech's sixth-seeded Sam Latona, avenging his only loss of the year. He'll take his shot at two-time defending NCAA champ and top-seeded Roman Bravo-Young in Saturday evening's finals.
Diakomihalis was able to grind out a win over No. 12 Shayne Van Ness of Penn State in the semis and will get rival Sammy Sasso, the No. 2 seed, for his fourth title. A win on Saturday would have him join fellow Cornellian Kyle Dake, as well as John Smith, Cael Sanderson and Logan Stieber as the only four-time champs. Cornell would also become the first school with multiple four-timers.
Getting there was anything but easy.
Diakomihalis squeaked by No. 8 seed Max Murin of Iowa 8-7, building a big lead with four takedowns, then giving up one late. He avoided back points in the final seconds to advance into the semis, where he had all he could handle in Van Ness. The Nittany Lion grappler had a third period takedown to take a 3-1 lead, but the Diakomihalis escape and a six-point in the final minute gave the senior some breathing room in an 8-3 win.
Cornell's third semifinalist, Chris Foca, was not as fortunate, running into a buzzsaw in top-ranked Carter Starocci, the two-time defending NCAA champion at 174 pounds. Starocci used a first period takedown and rideout to stake himself to a lead and walked away with a 6-0 victory to propel him back into the finals. Foca will finish no lower than sixth and will wrestle for placement on Saturday morning. He clinched his first All-America honor earlier in the day with a first period pin of Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott.
Joining Foca as a first-time All-American was Cardenas, who picked up his third straight win in the consolation bracket, defeating Campbell's Levi Hopkins (13-4), Oklahoma State's Luke Surber (12-5) and Illinois' Zac Braunagel (6-4) in the blood round to reach the podium. He fell to Iowa's Jacob Warner in his final match, 4-2, and will meet former Big Red All-American Max Dean of Penn State in the seventh-place match.
Both freshman Brett Ungar (125) and sophomore Julian Ramirez (165) reached the Round of 12, but fell a takedown short in the blood round of becoming All-Americans for the first time.
Ungar used a pin and a major decision to advance on Friday morning, but fell just short against three-time All-American Killian Cardinale of West Virginia, 3-2. Ramirez, meanwhile, won a wild 16-15 contest against Dan Braunagel of Illinois, then stopped No. 6 seed Patrick Kennedy of Iowa, 5-2. In the Round of 12, he faced multiple-time All-American and 2021 NCAA finalist Shane Griffith of Stanford, surrendering a late takedown on a scramble in a 4-2 defeat.
The Big Red's seventh qualifier, 141-pound EIWA champion Vince Cornella had a comfortable lead on Iowa State's Casey Swiderski, but got caught late and was taken down to his back, giving up the fall with 12 seconds remaining.
Cornell jumped from sixth to third in the morning after going 9-1 and advancing six into the evening session.