2x NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
#23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
#22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)
#21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)
#20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan)
#18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
#17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
#16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
#15 - Mason Parris (Michigan)
#14 - Shane Griffith (Stanford)
#13 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State)
#12 - Carter Starocci (Penn State)
#11 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa)
#10 - Myles Amine (Michigan)
#9 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State)
#8 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)
#7 - Austin O'Connor (North Carolina)
#6 - Aaron Brooks (Penn State)
#5 - David Carr (Iowa State)
#4 - Nick Lee (Penn State)
Next up is…
#3 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell)
Weight: 141/149 lbs
Year: Junior
Career Record: 66-1
Hometown: Rochester, New York
College Accomplishments: 2x NCAA Champion, 2x EIWA Champion
A pair of Cadet World titles and four New York state championships made Yianni Diakomihalis one of the most highly regarded recruits in the high school Class of 2017. Even so, Diakomihalis chose to stay close to home and compete in the Ivy League for Cornell.
While many other top recruits for Cornell took the grayshirt path, Yianni went straight to DI competition. Right off the bat, Yianni hit fellow freshman, Nick Lee (Penn State), in the Bearcat Open, his first collegiate event. His 12-7 win over Lee was the only regular decision for Diakomihalis in the tournament.
After lapping the field at the New York Intercollegiate Championships, Yianni and Cornell headed west for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Diakomihalis kept up his winning ways and claimed a title after wins over Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), and Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) in the championship bout. Meredith was the returning NCAA runner-up at 141 lbs.
Diakomihalis closed out the 2017 calendar year with a trip to the South Beach Duals. After majoring returning All-American Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), Diakomihalis suffered a shootout loss to Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), 9-6. Little did we know at the time, but Yianni has not been beaten on a collegiate mat since.
Diakomihalis would not get pushed until the final bout of the regular season. There he edged North Carolina's AC Headlee by a single point, 7-6.
At his first EIWA Championships, a 9-4 win in the semifinals over Nic Gil (Navy), proved to be the closest bout of the tournament for the young Cornell star. He captured the conference crown with a 17-9 major decision over Tyler Smith (Buffalo).
Despite a record with only a single blemish and a win over Meredith, Diakomihalis was saddled with the third seed (behind #2 Eierman) at the 2018 NCAA Championships in Cleveland. Yianni's tournament started with back-to-back major decisions over Nick Zanetta (Pittsburgh) and Gil. In the quarterfinals, the national audience would get their first taste of Diakomihalis' clutchness.
While wrestling through a torn ACL, Diakomihalis used some late-match heroics to unseat the two-time defending national champion, Dean Heil (Oklahoma State). That set up a semifinal match with the only wrestler to defeat him in college, Eierman. This time, sudden victory was needed, by Diakomihalis still got it done, 6-4.
Waiting in the NCAA finals was the veteran Meredith. Down 4-2, with under a minute remaining, Diakomihalis got an escape, then a takedown via cradle and backpoints. As the clock expired, Diakomihalis was in a scramble preventing a Meredith reversal.
The win made Yianni only the second Cornell freshman to ever bring home a national title (joining Kyle Dake).
The knee injury that slowed Diakomihalis down (or did it?) at the 2018 NCAA Championships slowed down the start of his sophomore campaign. But once he hit the mat, Diakomihalis was as good as ever, earning bonus points in his first nine contests.
The opponent that halted the bonus-point run was Eierman at the South Beach Duals. Unlike the previous season, it was Yianni who left Florida with a win, this time 3-1.
Once again, it was the final dual meet of the year which provided Diakomihalis with his stiffest test of the home stretch. He kept his winning record intact, but was pushed by Ohio State's Joey McKenna, 7-5.
The EIWA competition proved to be no match for Yianni as he cruised to his second title with an 8-2 win over Gil in the championship bout.
A perfect record was good enough for the top seed at Pittsburgh's 2019 NCAA Tournament. Despite his top-billing, Diakomihalis' path to the finals was anything but easy. After an opening-round win, Yianni needed to get by eventual All-American's Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska) and Dom Demas (Oklahoma), just to make the semis. And looming in the semifinals was Eierman. As has been the case before, Diakomihalis pulled out another tight win over the Tiger All-American, 6-5, and locked up a place in the finals.
Yianni's opponent in the 2019 finals was the second seed, McKenna. Late in the contest, McKenna led 3-2 and was trying to fend off a late attack by Diakomihalis. With only a few seconds remaining in the bout, Diakomihalis was awarded a takedown, followed by an escape, in what was a controversial sequence. The call was upheld after review. Once in sudden victory, Diakomihalis pulled out the win.
Through two years of competition, Diakomihalis is halfway to the hallowed total of four NCAA titles. He only has a single loss and is riding a 47-match winning streak.
After the 2019 season, Yianni won the US Open, which gave him a berth in Final X. There, he lost the spot on the world team to Zain Retherford after their best-of-three series in Rutgers, and another match after an appeal.
Diakomihalis finished fourth at the 2020 Olympic Trials at 65 kg, but rebounded to earn a spot on the 2021 World Team after a three-match series with McKenna. At the 2021 World Championships, Diakomihalis won his opening bout, but was defeated in the second round and did not medal
Strengths: Yianni has intangibles for days. Even at a young age, he was never phased by the big stage and seemingly high-pressure situations. Diakomihalis is very creative with his variety of leg attacks. His style reminds many of international competitors, which is also why he is often picked to succeed in freestyle competitions. Opponents are able to get to Diakomihalis' legs, but he is incredibly difficult to finish on. He can sit the corner with the best of them and is an excellent scrambler. If the situation dictates, he'll ride out the competition.
2021-22 Outlook: There's still an air of uncertainty regarding where Diakomihalis will compete at in the current collegiate season. Throughout the summer and fall, some signs have pointed to him moving up to 149 lbs, while others indicate he'd try to make 141. Either way, Diakomihalis should be a favorite at both weights, though 141 seems to be deeper. He might be on a pitch-count, of sorts, so he may not compete in every single event for the Big Red.
2x NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)
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