No. 2 ranked Troy Nickerson opened the day for the Big Red at 125 against Pride freshman No. 20 Steve Bonanno. Nickerson scored the only point of the first period with a takedown with a minute left, and the Big Red wrestler rode his opponent out for the remainder. Bonanno started the second period down on the mat and after 30 seconds, he made an escape. With 31 seconds left in the period, Nickerson took a 4-1 lead with another takedown. Nickerson grabbed another point with an escape from his opening down position and with 1:13 left in the match scored another takedown. Nickerson quickly let his opponent loose looking for team bonus points with a major decision. The Big Red wrestler caught his opponent with four seconds left on the clock for a takedown and with 1:44 in riding time, Nickerson won a 10-2 major decision. With the win Nickerson moves to 12-0 for the season.
At 133 pounds, No. 12 Mike Grey faced off against No. 8 Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra. The two wrestlers traded scoring opportunities throughout the first period, but neither was able to pull through until with six seconds left on the clock, Ruggirello notched a takedown. Grey chose to start the second period down on the mat, but was unable to escape allowing Ruggirello to rack up 2:04 in riding time. Grey cut Ruggirello loose from his starting down position to start the third period looking to score. The Pride wrestler countered a shot by Grey and came out on top to go up 5-0 with the takedown. Grey was unable to get away and with 3:39 in riding time, Ruggirello won a 6-0 decision.
Sophomore Corey Manson squared off against Justin Accordino at 141 pounds. Manson and Accordino scrambled 30 seconds into the period and the Big Red wrestler came out on top to take a 2-0 lead. Accordino rolled away from Manson for an escape, but with 52 seconds left on the clock the Big Red grappler grabbed his opponent's leg and pulled him to the mat for another two points. With 30 seconds left in the period, Accordino rolled out and grabbed Manson for a reversal. Thirteen seconds later, Manson got to his feet and broke away for an escape. Accordino escaped from his initial down position to start the second, and with 1:41 left in the period Manson notched another takedown. Accordino escaped, but with 55 seconds left in the period the Pride wrestler got hold of Manson. Accordino caught him in a bad position allowing the Hofstra grappler to catch him on his back to win by fall in 4:05. With the six team bonus points, the Pride took a 9-4 lead.
At 149 pounds, sophomore DJ Meagher wrestled Jeff Rotella. Meagher earned a takedown at the edge of the mat with a little less than a minute off the clock. The Big Red wrestler rode out his opponent for a minute before tilting him to his back. Meagher grabbed back six team points for the Big Red, winning by fall in 2:06.
At 157 pounds, returning NCAA champion Jordan Leen faced No. 16 Jonny Bonilla-Bowman. Bonilla-Bowman came out quick in the first period looking to score early, but neither wrestler was able to convert on chances and the two were scoreless after three minutes. The Pride wrestler chose to start the second period at neutral. Leen got hold of one of Bonilla-Bowman's legs with 30 seconds left in the period and earned the first points of the bout with a takedown. Leen quickly escaped from his starting down position in the third period, and with a quick turn grabbed two more points with a takedown. Bonilla-Bowman got to his feet with Leen holding on, and two fell back to the mat. The Pride wrestler took injury time, but quickly returned to the mat. With 1:13 left in the period, Leen titled his opponent to earn three back points and was looking for more. Leen earned six more points for the Big Red, winning by fall in 6:44.
After an intermission break, No. 1 ranked Mack Lewnes faced Ryan Patrovich at 165 pounds. Neither wrestler was able to score in the first period, and Patrovich earned the only point of the second with an escape from his starting down position. Lewnes tied the match with an initial escape of his own in the third period. Lewnes had a hold of one of Patrovich's legs and was looking to sweep him to the mat, but time ran out before he was able to finish. The two wrestlers traded scoring opportunities back and forth in the sudden victory round, but each countered out of their opponents shots. With four seconds left, Lewnes grabbed a hold of his opponent and took him to the mat to score the match-winning takedown to win a 3-1 decision. With the win, Cornell lengthened its lead to 19-9.
At 174 pounds, No. 6 Steve Anceravage took on No. 10 Alton Lucas. Neither wrestler was able to score in the first period. Lucas chose to start the second period down on the mat, but was able to escape from Anceravage. Anceravage quickly escaped from his starting down position to score the only point of the third. With 1:58 in riding time, Anceravage won a 2-0 decision.
Sophomore and No. 16 ranked Justin Kerber wrestled against Ben Clymer of Hofstra at 184 pounds. With a minute off the clock, Kerber earned the first points of the match with a takedown. After 19 seconds, Clymer grabbed his first point with an escape. Kerber started the second period down on the mat and quickly got to his feet for an escape. With 59 seconds left in the period, Kerber grabbed hold of one of Clymer's legs and fought his way to another takedown and rode his opponent out for the remainder of the period. Clymer chose to start the third period down on the mat, and after 30 seconds flipped out of Kerber's clutches for an escape to bring the score to 5-2. With 1:42 in riding time, Kerber won a 6-2 decision. With three more team points, Cornell took a 25-9 lead and locked up the dual victory.
At 197 pounds, freshman Cam Simaz took the mat against Joe Fagiano. After a scoreless first period, Simaz grabbed the first point with an escape from his starting down position. With 1:17 left in the period, Simaz grabbed hold of one of Fagiano's legs and muscled his way to a takedown and racked up riding time as the period wound down. Simaz went on the attack after Faginano escaped from his opening down position looking for points. Simaz grabbed three more takedowns, but Fagiano fled from his opponent for the remaining 40 seconds to avoid a major. With 1:27 in riding time, Simaz won an 11-4 decision. Cornell took a 28-9 lead after 197 pounds, but the Big Red sideline was penalized a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the bout.
At heavyweight, No. 12 Zach Hammond faced Jordan Enck. After a scoreless first period, Hammond escaped from his opening down position after 39 seconds. Enck tied the match in the third with a quick initial escape. Neither wrestler scored for the remainder of the match to send the bout into sudden victory. Despite solid scoring chances, the bout remained tied after a minute of sudden victory. Hammond started the first overtime down on the mat ,but after 30 seconds was unable to escape. Enck then started in the down position and quickly escaped to take a 2-1 lead and would win the match by a 2-1 decision.
The Big Red will wrestle its final two home matches of the season next weekend when it plays host to Princeton on Feb. 14 and Penn on Feb. 15.
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