No. 12 Cornell beats No. 7 Lehigh, 23-14, in major EIWA battle before sold-out crowd in Ithaca
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by Lehigh Athletics, Cornell Athletics
Photo of Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis courtesy of Cornell Athletics.
Story by Steve Lomangino, Lehigh Athletics
ITHACA, N.Y. – In a battle of top-15 teams in a packed Friedman Wrestling Center Friday night, No. 12 Cornell won six of 10 bouts to hand No. 7 Lehigh its first EIWA loss of the season, 23-14. The Big Red scored bonus points in three of their six wins and clinched the dual when Ben Darmstadt pinned freshman Jake Jakobsen in the next-to-last bout at 197.
Senior Darian Cruz and junior Ian Brown delivered bonus points with major decisions but the majority of the key “swing” matches went the hosts’ way. Lehigh falls to 8-2 in duals and falls to Cornell for the second straight season. The Big Red improve to 5-2 with the victory.
“We knew we had to win early and we didn’t,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. “We weren’t very aggressive in some of those matches. We needed to take the fight to them early and we waited to see what was going to happen. That kept them in the match and we got beat at the end.”
Cruz opened the dual with a 19-6 major decision over Noah Baughman at 125 but Baughman did well to stay off his back and only give up the major.
Cornell claimed the next three bouts to build a 10-4 advantage. With junior Scott Parker still sidelined, freshman Nick Farro was in a tight battle with Chaz Tucker at 133. The only takedown of the bout went to Tucker with 21 seconds left in sudden victory for the 3-1 win. Fourth-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis then put Cornell in front with an 8-0 major decision over 13th-ranked Luke Karam at 141. Diakomihalis broke open a close match with a reversal and four point near fall in the second period before Karam rode out the third period on top. The Big Red run was completed at 149 as Will Koll used a third period takedown to knock off junior Cortlandt Schuyler 4-1.
“We knew those matches were going to be huge for this dual meet,” Santoro said. “It didn’t happen for us. In those big moments you have to get big because the postseason is all about doing big things in big moments.”
Brown brought Lehigh within 10-8 at intermission with a solid 10-1 major decision over Adam Santoro at 157. He went in front with an early double leg takedown and then nearly pinned Santoro with a tilt before settling for four near fall points.
The Big Red got another big win in a tossup match at 165 as Jon Jay Chavez hit a six point move early in the first period, which proved to be the difference in a 12-6 decision over junior Gordon Wolf. Trailing in the third period, Wolf did score the last takedown to avoid the major but was unable to turn Chavez to pull any closer.
Sophomore Jordan Kutler got Lehigh back on track with a 4-1 decision over Brandon Womack at 174. Kutler scored the only takedown of the bout in the second period.
Junior Ryan Preisch was also out of the lineup, and despite some quality shots early, his replacement, sophomore Andrew Price dropped a 10-1 major decision to 11th-ranked Max Dean at 184.
Needing to win the final two bouts to at worst send the dual to criteria, Jakobsen was taken down against the sixth-ranked Darmstadt who then locked up a cradle to get the clinching pin at 2:35.
In the final bout of the night, freshman Jordan Wood scored a takedown in each period to defeat Ben Honis 8-3.
“We have to show up every time,” Santoro said. “Doesn’t matter if we’re home or away. We need to fight harder. Cornell has won the conference 11 years in a row. They’re going to fight us. We have to be able to battle. We didn’t do a great job tonight in all of our matches.”
The Mountain Hawks will conclude their weekend road trip with a visit to Army West Point on Sunday. Match time is set for 2 p.m. from Christl Arena at West Point, N.Y. Army will offer video through their subscription-based Knight Vision streaming service, while Lehigh will have audio on WLVR-FM (91.3) and WLVR.org.
No. 12 Cornell 23, No. 7 Lehigh 14
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Noah Baughman (Cornell) 19-6
133 – Chaz Tucker (Cornell) dec. Nick Farro (Lehigh) 3-1, sv
141 – Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) major dec. Luke Karam (Lehigh) 8-0
149 – Will Koll (Cornell) dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) 4-1
157 – Ian Brown (Lehigh) major dec. Adam Santoro (Cornell) 10-1
165 – Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 12-6
174 – Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Brandon Womack (Cornell) 4-1
184 – Max Dean (Cornell) major dec. Andrew Price (Lehigh) 10-1
197 – Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) Fall Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) 2:35
285 – Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. Ben Honis (Cornell) 8-3
Official – John Hnath
Story by Steve Lomangino, Lehigh Athletics
ITHACA, N.Y. – In a battle of top-15 teams in a packed Friedman Wrestling Center Friday night, No. 12 Cornell won six of 10 bouts to hand No. 7 Lehigh its first EIWA loss of the season, 23-14. The Big Red scored bonus points in three of their six wins and clinched the dual when Ben Darmstadt pinned freshman Jake Jakobsen in the next-to-last bout at 197.
Senior Darian Cruz and junior Ian Brown delivered bonus points with major decisions but the majority of the key “swing” matches went the hosts’ way. Lehigh falls to 8-2 in duals and falls to Cornell for the second straight season. The Big Red improve to 5-2 with the victory.
“We knew we had to win early and we didn’t,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. “We weren’t very aggressive in some of those matches. We needed to take the fight to them early and we waited to see what was going to happen. That kept them in the match and we got beat at the end.”
Cruz opened the dual with a 19-6 major decision over Noah Baughman at 125 but Baughman did well to stay off his back and only give up the major.
Cornell claimed the next three bouts to build a 10-4 advantage. With junior Scott Parker still sidelined, freshman Nick Farro was in a tight battle with Chaz Tucker at 133. The only takedown of the bout went to Tucker with 21 seconds left in sudden victory for the 3-1 win. Fourth-ranked Yianni Diakomihalis then put Cornell in front with an 8-0 major decision over 13th-ranked Luke Karam at 141. Diakomihalis broke open a close match with a reversal and four point near fall in the second period before Karam rode out the third period on top. The Big Red run was completed at 149 as Will Koll used a third period takedown to knock off junior Cortlandt Schuyler 4-1.
“We knew those matches were going to be huge for this dual meet,” Santoro said. “It didn’t happen for us. In those big moments you have to get big because the postseason is all about doing big things in big moments.”
Brown brought Lehigh within 10-8 at intermission with a solid 10-1 major decision over Adam Santoro at 157. He went in front with an early double leg takedown and then nearly pinned Santoro with a tilt before settling for four near fall points.
The Big Red got another big win in a tossup match at 165 as Jon Jay Chavez hit a six point move early in the first period, which proved to be the difference in a 12-6 decision over junior Gordon Wolf. Trailing in the third period, Wolf did score the last takedown to avoid the major but was unable to turn Chavez to pull any closer.
Sophomore Jordan Kutler got Lehigh back on track with a 4-1 decision over Brandon Womack at 174. Kutler scored the only takedown of the bout in the second period.
Junior Ryan Preisch was also out of the lineup, and despite some quality shots early, his replacement, sophomore Andrew Price dropped a 10-1 major decision to 11th-ranked Max Dean at 184.
Needing to win the final two bouts to at worst send the dual to criteria, Jakobsen was taken down against the sixth-ranked Darmstadt who then locked up a cradle to get the clinching pin at 2:35.
In the final bout of the night, freshman Jordan Wood scored a takedown in each period to defeat Ben Honis 8-3.
“We have to show up every time,” Santoro said. “Doesn’t matter if we’re home or away. We need to fight harder. Cornell has won the conference 11 years in a row. They’re going to fight us. We have to be able to battle. We didn’t do a great job tonight in all of our matches.”
The Mountain Hawks will conclude their weekend road trip with a visit to Army West Point on Sunday. Match time is set for 2 p.m. from Christl Arena at West Point, N.Y. Army will offer video through their subscription-based Knight Vision streaming service, while Lehigh will have audio on WLVR-FM (91.3) and WLVR.org.
No. 12 Cornell 23, No. 7 Lehigh 14
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Noah Baughman (Cornell) 19-6
133 – Chaz Tucker (Cornell) dec. Nick Farro (Lehigh) 3-1, sv
141 – Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) major dec. Luke Karam (Lehigh) 8-0
149 – Will Koll (Cornell) dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) 4-1
157 – Ian Brown (Lehigh) major dec. Adam Santoro (Cornell) 10-1
165 – Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 12-6
174 – Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Brandon Womack (Cornell) 4-1
184 – Max Dean (Cornell) major dec. Andrew Price (Lehigh) 10-1
197 – Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) Fall Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) 2:35
285 – Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. Ben Honis (Cornell) 8-3
Official – John Hnath
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