2026 Preseason: A Look at Cornell

With just over two months until the college regular season starts, we’ll turn most of our focus to the collegiate wrestling world. There will be lots of previews and content to get fans ready for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Today, we’re diving into a new-look Cornell team. The Big Red had a massive #3-ranked recruiting Class of 2025 and those recruiting efforts will likely start to show this season, as there could be five freshmen from that group in the starting lineup this year. In addition to a handful of promising freshmen, Cornell also has a pair of talented returners who were seeded #2 at nationals in 2026, but did not place. Like last season, the Cornell lineup will not be at its peak until the second semester as they have a couple of seniors who won’t be available until then. As it turns out, the dual portion of the schedule doesn’t begin until that point anyway. Cornell is entering its sixth year under the leadership of Mike Grey. Under his direction, Cornell has finished with NCAA team trophies on two occasions. They were third in 2023 and second in 2024. Here’s a look at a projected lineup for Cornell along with additional information needed for the 2026-27 season. 125 lbs - Isaiah Cortez/Marcello Milani The returner is Marcello Milani, a senior who qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2025 after finishing third in the Ivy League. Milani saw plenty of action in 2025-26 and amassed an 11-9 record, but did not get the call in the postseason. Generally, Milani has been able to keep it close against the upper echelon of opponents, however, he’ll need to start flipping some of those results. We just saw Isaiah Cortez in action at the U20 World Championships and he should put pressure on Milani as the incumbent at this weight. Cortez captured a silver medal in freestyle in Slovakia, to go with a U20 silver medal in Greco from 2024. While greyshirting, Cortez racked up a 25-5 record at 133 lbs and posted a win over bloodround finisher Markel Baker of Northern Illinois. 133 lbs - Elijah Cortez/Tyler Ferrara This is another weight with a returning national qualifier and a Cortez twin. Tyler Ferrara has made it to nationals twice and was the #11 seed in 2026 after capturing an Ivy League title. In both of his previous NCAA appearances, Ferrara went 1-2. Perhaps his best regular-season result was a third-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Again, the veteran will get pushed by the Cortez brother. This one is Elijah, who went 27-3 and competed at 141 lbs, while greyshirting. While winning the season-opening Clarion Open, Cortez notched a 9-4 victory over Air Force’s Carter Nogle, who wound up placing fifth in the country. 141 lbs - Gabriel Bouyssou/Foster Cardinale/Vince Cornella Because of Ivy League restrictions, Vince Cornella only had one semester of eligibility remaining. With that in mind, Cornella won’t be able to compete until the second semester (late December). Cornella did the same last season. Although he got off to a late start, Cornella managed to hold a 19-1 record heading into the NCAA Championships. In Cleveland, Cornella advanced to the quarterfinals, but fell to Brock Hardy (Nebraska) and was eliminated in the bloodround. Getting the call for Cornell during the first semester will be Gabriel Bouyssou and Foster Cardinale. Bouyssou was 4-2 last season and captured a title at the Big Red Invitational. Cardinale picked up 10 wins and got his first taste of dual action, beating Binghamton’s Ryan Hartung, 7-3. Both Bouyssou and Cardinale should be able to fill in adequately for Cornella; however, the veteran has the highest postseason potential. 149 lbs - Jaxon Joy There is no doubt who the Cornell staff will turn to at 149 lbs. Sophomore Jaxon Joy had a bit of an underwhelming NCAA Tournament, but was excellent up until mid-March. Even at nationals, Joy earned a win over an opponent that went on to finish sixth in the nation (Ryder Block - Iowa). Throughout the regular season, Joy picked up wins over three other All-Americans (Collin Gaj, Cross Wasilewski, and Casey Swiderski). Joy won the CKLV Invitational with a fall in the finals and only had one official loss heading into Cleveland. He was given the #2 seed and was stopped in the quarters by the eventual national champion (Aden Valencia - Stanford) and eliminated by Gaj. 149 looks like it will be nasty for the upcoming season. We’re expecting to see three national champions and four finalists at the weight. Even though Joy missed the podium in 2026, he should be considered a contender and should be the mix for a high finish. 157 lbs - Ryder Yoshitake/Benny Rogers This weight will be similar to 141 lbs, as Benny Rogers will have to sit out the first semester. In steps Ryder Yoshitake, who went 5-4 as a freshman in 2025-26. While greyshirting in 2024-25, Yoshitake went unbeaten at the Michigan State Open, the Shorty Hitchcock Memorial, and the Patriot Last Chance Open. Rogers got the call in the postseason for the first time in 2026, up at 165 lbs. At the Ivy League Championships, Rogers notched a win over eventual qualifier Sean Seefeldt (Penn). Earlier in the season, Seefeldt majored Rogers. Rogers started the 2025-26 campaign at 157 lbs, but moved to 165 late in the game. He should push for NCAA qualification with a full season (or half) at his ideal weight. 165 lbs - Alessio Perentin Another Cornell wrestler in the U20 World Championships was Alessio Perentin, who took fifth at 74 kg, representing Italy. Perentin was a top 20 recruit in the Class of 2025 and put together a strong greyshirt campaign, even in limited action. Perentin grabbed wins over a pair of national qualifiers (Jared Keslar and Brock Woodcock) and wrestled a one-takedown match with All-American Paddy Gallagher. Expect Perentin to quickly establish himself as a national player and move quickly up the ranks. 174 lbs - Simon Ruiz Surprisingly, Simon Ruiz is the only past All-American on the Cornell roster. He took fifth in 2025, but came up a match shy of the podium last year. Ruiz’s 2025-26 season started with a win at the NWCA All-Star Classic and then featured a pair of wins over national qualifiers at the National Duals Invitational. After returning home from Tulsa, Ruiz was sidelined for about two months. He came back in January and reeled off 15 straight wins, captured his second Ivy League crown and earned the #2 seed at nationals. Ruiz ended up falling in the NCAA bloodround to Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla. Like Joy, don’t be scared by Ruiz’s NCAA finish. Without Levi Haines in the mix (we think), 174 lbs should be wide open. Ruiz should be on the short list of national title contenders. 184 lbs - Mikey Dellagatta/Lou Cerchio After a promising freshman campaign at 197 lbs, it appeared as if Mikey Dellagatta was ready for a big 2025-26 at 184 lbs. Unfortunately, Dellagatta’s season ended before it began due to an injury. As a freshman, Dellagatta finished second in the Ivy League and went 1-2 at NCAA’s. The returning starter at this weight is Lou Cerchio, who started last season at 165 lbs, but moved up to 184 lbs in February. The move proved to be a good idea for Cerchio, as he went 6-0 in dual competition at the higher weight. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a track record at the weight and wasn’t able to get selected for an at-large berth to nationals. 197 lbs - Jude Correa Jude Correa could be in for a big freshman year at 197 lbs. Correa rolled to a 19-4 mark while greyshirting in 2025-26 and that only included the first two months of the season, because he was injured at the Midlands. An astounding 15 of those wins came via fall, so Correa has a penchant for pins. Typically, 197 lbs is a senior-laden weight class. 2026 was the exception and there are lots of high-profile 197’s returning. Even so, Correa is talented enough to push some of them aside and establish himself as a force at the weight. 285 lbs - Ashton Davis/Rocco Dellagatta/Cash Henderson/Cy Kruse So, we’re really unsure of how this one plays out. Ashton Davis is the returning starter and a 2025 NCAA qualifier. Last season, he went 18-14, but came up short of qualifying. Right on Davis’ heels is freshman Rocco Dellagatta. While greyshirting, Dellagatta went 25-7 and picked up plenty of solid wins along the way. Also in the mix is Cash Henderson, who went 8-10 as a freshman and saw action in three duals. Cy Kruse also was a freshman in 2025-26 and went 12-7. He was used in six late-season duals and ended up with three wins in that format. His 8-1 win over Penn’s John Pardo was instrumental in an 8-1 victory over their Ivy League counterparts. New Faces: Cornell boasts the #7 overall recruiting class for 2026; however, they typically greyshirt their athletes. That still looks like it will be the case with the bulk of that group. There will be plenty of freshmen expected to make an impact coming off greyshirts (Isaiah Cortez, Elijah Cortez, Alessio Perentin, Jude Correa, Rocco Dellagatta); however, they are not completely “new” faces. Key Dates: Cornell has non-conference duals against NC State, Pittsburgh, Lehigh, Bucknell, Army West Point, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and Binghamton. For tournaments and multi-team events, they’ll be at the Journeymen Classic, the Big Red Invitational (hosts), the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and the Soldier Salute. This will be Cornell’s first trip to the Salute. The late-season dual in Ames, against Iowa State, could be the dual highlight. The teams met two years ago at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in Nashville and Iowa State prevailed 26-15. Miscellaneous: The Big Red coaching staff had some turnover in the offseason. Scottie Boykin left Cornell for a coaching position with the brand-new IMG Academy program. Kellen Russell went back to his alma mater, Michigan. Filling those vacancies are Cornell legend Yianni Diakomihalis and former Ivy League head coach Zach Tanelli. Diakomihalis has assisted with the program and RTC in different capacities, but never as an actual assistant head coach. Tanelli led the Columbia program to some of the biggest accomplishments in school history before spending two years on the Virginia Tech staff.

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2026 Preseason: A Look at Cornell

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