Three Cornell wrestlers won titles as the Big Red wrapped up its 28th EIWA Championship in its final trip to the tournament on Saturday. @BigRedWrestling has won three EIWA titles in a row under head coach Mike Grey and 14 since 2007.
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) March 10, 2024
Recap ⬇️ https://t.co/TzIihywTW9
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Three Cornell wrestlers won titles as the Big Red wrapped up its 28th EIWA Championship in its final trip to the tournament on Saturday night at Bucknell University's Sojka Pavilion.
Cornell's champions included first-timers Ethan Fernandez (149 pounds) and Meyer Shapiro (157) and two-timer Julian Ramirez (165). Brett Ungar (125), Vito Arujau (133) and Jacob Cardenas (197) took second in their weight classes. Benny Baker (174) and Lewis Fernandes (285) earned third-place finishes, while Chris Foca (184) took fourth.
All nine qualified for the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, and amassed 164.5 points for the Big Red over the two-day tournament, edging second-place Lehigh by five. The Big Red has won three EIWA titles in a row under head coach Mike Grey and 14 since 2007.
Lehigh pulled close to or ahead of Cornell at various points Saturday, but the Big Red always responded with crucial bonus-point wins.
After Lehigh took the lead at the end of the semifinal round, Baker, Foca and Fernandes rattled off three bonus wins in the consolation semis to put the Big Red back in front. Baker earned a major decision over Myles Takats (Bucknell), Foca pinned Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), and Fernandes stuck No. 2 Cory Day (Binghamton). Those wins gave Cornell a 12-point lead going into the night session.
FOCA! A first-period pin gets the Big Red much-needed bonus points.
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) March 9, 2024
Foca will wrestle in the third-place match tonight! #YellCornell 🐻 pic.twitter.com/zLME80JTpD
Lehigh made another charge early in the final round, but No. 1-seeded Fernandez, who was unranked to start the season, beat Harvard's Jack Crook 20-5 by technical fall to give Cornell some breathing room. Ivy Rookie of the Year and No. 1 Shapiro beat No. 3 Max Brignola (Lehigh) 6-3, and Ramirez earned his second straight EIWA title with a 5-3 win over No. 3 Andrew Cerniglia.
@BigRedWrestling's Ethan Fernandez is a champion!
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) March 9, 2024
The 149-pounder finishes off the technical fall, earning the Big Red key bonus points and winning his first EIWA title. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/qHpK4cokUV
In the third-place match at 174 pounds, No. 8 Baker finished his impressive run by beating Ivy League Wrestler of the Year and No. 1 seed Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) for the second straight night. Baker's victory over Conigliaro in the quarterfinal round on Friday punched his ticket to Kansas City.
Another one for @BigRedWrestling 🏆
— Cornell Big Red (@CornellSports) March 9, 2024
For the second straight year, Julian Ramirez wins the 165-pound title at EIWAs. pic.twitter.com/DojnO2eJFw
Cornell Notes and Highlights
Cornell and Lehigh have combined to win every EIWA title since 2002.
The Big Red has crowned at least one EIWA champion in each of the last 21 seasons and in 31 of the last 32 years.
Cornell has finished in the top two as a team at each EIWA Tournament since 2005 (except the 2021 season when it didn't compete).
Cornell has had multiple individual EIWA champions every year it has participated in the tournament since 2007.
Cornell has 175 EIWA champions and 535 place winners in program history.
This is the ninth time nine Cornell wrestlers have qualified for NCAAs in program history. It has happened twice under head coach Mike Grey.
Ramirez became Cornell's 21st two-time EIWA champion.
Shapiro became the first freshman to win an EIWA title since four-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis in 2018.
Shapiro will enter nationals on an 18-match win streak. He has 12 bonus-point wins during this streak (including three at EIWAs).
With Fernandez's title, Cornell has won the 149-pound EIWA championship three years in a row.
Baker has won seven of his last eight matches after a nine-match losing streak that stretched from December to early February. He has three ranked wins in this stretch.
On his way to a second-place finish, No.2 Cardenas avenged his February loss to No. 3 Lou DePrez (Binghamton).
125: No. 2 Brett Ungar (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 15 Eric Howe (Franklin & Marshall) 17-1 by technical fall
Quarterfinal: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 7 Max Gallagher (Penn) 4-3 by decision
Semifinal: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 3 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 6-3 by decision
Final: No. 2 Ungar lost to No. 1 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) 6-0 by decision
133: No. 2 Vito Arujau (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 15 Hunter Adrian (Brown) 8-2 by decision
Quarterfinal: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 10 Max Leete (American) 4-2 by decision
Semifinal: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 6 Braden Basile (Army) 12-6 by decision
Final: No. 2 Arujau lost to No. 1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) 10-6 by decision
141: No. 2 Vince Cornella (top four qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 2 Cornella def. No. 15 Raymond Lopez (American) 9-2 by decision
Quarterfinal: No. 2 Cornella lost No. 7 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) 4-1 in SV
Consolation Round of 8: No. 2 Cornella lost by medical forfeit to No. 12 Tyler Vasquez (Princeton)
149: No. 1 Ethan Fernandez (top 4 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 17 Braden Bower (Bucknell) 4-1 by decision
Quarterfinal: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 9 Dominic Findora (Drexel) 17-2 by technical fall
Semifinal: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 4 Jude Swisher (Penn) 9-6 by decision
Final: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 6 Jack Crook (Harvard) 20-5 by technical fall
157: No. 1 Meyer Shapiro (top 3 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 17 Andy Garr (Columbia) by fall in 58 seconds
Quarterfinal: No 1 Shapiro def. No. 8 Jonathan Ley (Navy) 18-2 by technical fall
Semifinal: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 4 Nate Lukez (Army) 11-1 by major decision
Final: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 3 Max Brignola (Lehigh) 6-3 by decision
165: No. 1 Julian Ramirez (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 17 Breon Phifer (American) by fall in 1:01
Quarterfinal: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 9 Cael Berg (Harvard) by fall in 2:10
Semifinal: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 4 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) 10-4 by decision
Final: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 3 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 5-3 by decision
174: No. 8 Benny Baker (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 8 Baker def. No. 9 Jack Janda (Drexel) 15-7 by major decision
Quarterfinal: No. 8 Baker def. No. 1 Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) 9-4 by decision
Semifinal: No. 8 Baker lost to No. 4 Ben Pasiuk (Army) by fall in 5:41
Consolation semifinal: No. 8 Baker def. No. 7 Myles Takats (Bucknell) 14-4 by major decision
Third-place match: No. 8 Baker def. No. 1 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) 4-2 by decision
184: No. 1 Chris Foca (top 7 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 1 Foca def. No. 16 Dalton Harkings (Army) 15-0 by technical fall
Quarterfinal: No. 1 Foca def. No. 8 David Key (Navy) 10-6 by decision
Semifinal: No. 1 Foca lost to No. 5 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) 9-6 by decision
Consolation semifinal: No. 1 Foca def. No. 6 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) by fall in 1:16
Third-place match: No. 1 Foca lost to No. 8 David Key (Navy) by inj. default
197: No. 2 Jacob Cardenas (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 15 Alex Whitworth (Harvard) 15-0 by technical fall
Quarterfinal: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 7 Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) 11-3 by major decision
Semifinal: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 3 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) 4-1 by decision
Final: No. 2 Cardenas lost to No. 1 Michael Beard 6-3 by decision
285: No. 5 Lewis Fernandes (top 8 qualify for NCAAs)
Round of 16: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 12 Alex Semenenko (Brown) by fall in 3:53
Quarterfinal: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 4 Keaton Kluever (Hofstra) 13-0 by major decision
Semifinal: No. 5 Fernandes lost to No. 1 Nate Taylor (Lehigh) by fall in 2:28
Consolation semifinal: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 2 Cory Day (Binghamton) by fall
Third-place match: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 8 Matt Cover (Princeton) 9-2 by decision
Up Next
The Big Red's qualifiers will compete at the NCAA Championships at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on March 21-23.