Yianni Diakomihalis raises both arms in celebration after winning the NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)PRINCETON, N.J. -- 2018-19 Ivy League wrestling champion Cornell swept Wrestler and Rookie of the Year honors and split Coach of the Year with the team that finished second, Princeton, after a vote by the League's coaches.
Big Red sophomore Yianni Diakomihalis was unanimously voted Wrestler of the Year, while his teammate freshman Vitali Arujau was tabbed Rookie of the Year. Cornell head coach Rob Koll and Princeton head coach Chris Ayres shared Coach of the Year honors.
Diakomihalis is the first-ever Ivy to earn Wrestler of the Year after being named Rookie and Wrestler of the Year the previous season. He is the 19th Big Red to receive the award and the fourth to do so in back-to-back seasons, joining Mark Fergeson (1992, 93), Mack Lewnes (2009, 10) and Cam Simaz (2011, 12). Diakomihalis, the defending national champion at 141 pounds, also received unanimous first-team All-Ivy honors at 141 for the second-straight season.
Arujau is the 17th Big Red to be named Rookie of the Year and the third in the past four seasons. He gives Cornell back-to-back such honors for the first time since Nahshon Garrett and Gabe Dean received the award in consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Arujau, who was also unanimously selected to the first team at 125, went 5-0 in Ivy action this season and clinched a berth to his first-ever NCAA Championships after finishing second at EIWAs.
Koll and Ayres share Coach of the Year for the third time in the past four seasons, and the first since 2017. Koll has received the award each of the five years since it was implemented in 2015. The ninth-ranked Big Red won the Ivy League title for the 17th-straight season and finished second at EIWAs. Ayres led Princeton to a No. 19 ranking as well as second-place in the Ivy League standings and a third-place showing at the EIWA championships.
A total of 21 All-Ivy recipients are freshmen, sophomores or juniors, so the future is bright for Ivy League wrestling. For Cornell, Arujau and Diakomihalis were joined on the first team by junior Chas Tucker at 133, junior Brandon Womack at 174, sophomore Max Dean at 184, senior Ben Honis at 197 and senior Jeramy Sweany at heavyweight. Princeton, meanwhile, saw junior Matthew Kolodzik (149) and freshman Quincy Monday (157) each earn unanimous first team honors. Brown also placed two on the first team in senior Jon Viruet at 165 and senior Ian Butterbrodt at heavyweight.
Penn received five All-Ivy accolades, highlighted by freshmen Anthony Artalona (149) and Ben Goldin (heavyweight) on the second team, while Columbia received three All-Ivy accolades, including second team honors for freshman Matt Kazimir (133) and junior Laurence Kosoy (165). Harvard sophomore Lukus Stricker was selected honorable mention at 133 pounds to represent the Crimson.
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
*Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell (So., 141 - Rochester, N.Y.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Vitali Arujau, Cornell (Fr., 125 - Syossett, N.Y.)
CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
Rob Koll, Cornell
Chris Ayres, Princeton
FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY^
125 - *Vitali Arujau, Cornell (Fr., 125 - Syossett, N.Y.)
133 - *Chas Tucker, Cornell (Jr., 133 - Worcester, Mass.)
141 - *Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell (So., 141 - Rochester, N.Y.)
149 - *Matthew Kolodzik, Princeton (Jr., 149 - Bellbrook, Ohio)
157 - *Quincy Monday, Princeton (Fr., 157 - Chapel Hill, N.C.)
165 - *Jon Viruet, Brown (Sr., 165 - Springfield, Mass.)
174 - *Brandon Womack, Cornell (Jr., 174 - Scottsboro, Ala.)
184 - *Max Dean, Cornell (So., 184 - Lowell, Mich.)
197 - *Ben Honis, Cornell (Sr., 197 - Syracuse, N.Y.)
HWT - Ian Butterbrodt, Brown (Sr., HWT - North Andover, Mass.)
Jeramy Sweany, Cornell (Sr., HWT - Vacaville, Calif.)
SECOND-TEAM ALL-IVY
125 - Pat Glory, Princeton (Fr., 125 - Randolph, N.J.)
133 - Matt Kazimir, Columbia (Fr., 133 - Auburn Township, Ohio)
141 - Marshall Keller, Princeton (Fr., 141 - Christianburg, Va.)
149 - Anthony Artalona, Penn (Fr., 149 - Seffner, Fla.)
157 - Adam Santoro, Cornell (Jr., 157 - Valhalla, N.Y.)
165 - Laurence Kosoy, Columbia (Jr., 165 - Boca Raton, Fla.)
174 - Travis Stefanik, Princeton (Fr., 174 - Nazareth, Pa.)
184 - CJ Lafragola, Brown (Sr., 184 - Little Egg Harbor, N.J.)
197 - Patrick Brucki, Princeton (So., 197 - Orland Park, Ill.)
HWT - Ben Goldin, Penn (Fr., HWT - Orlando, Fla.)
HONORABLE MENTION
125 - Carmen Ferrante, Penn (Fr., 125 - Newton, N.J.)
133 - Lukus Stricker, Harvard (So., 133 - Rootstown, Ohio)
Doug Zapf, Penn (Fr., 133 - Downingtown, Pa.)
141 - A.J. Vindici, Penn (Sr., 141 - Randolph, N.J.)
149 - Jon Furnas, Cornell (Sr., 149 - Powell, Ohio)
157 - Christian LaBrie, Brown (Sr., 157 - Exeter, R.I.)
165 - Andrew Berreyesa, Cornell (Fr., 165 - Reno, Nev.)
174 - Max Elling, Columbia (Sr., 174 - Bloomsbury, N.J.)
184 - Kevin Parker, Princeton (Jr., 184 - Clifton Park, N.Y.)
197 - Tucker Ziegler, Brown (Sr., 197 - Myersville, Md.)
*-unanimous selection
^-first team expanded due to ties in the voting
About the Ivy League
The Ivy League stands at the pinnacle of higher education and Division I athletics, rooted in the longstanding, defining principle that intercollegiate athletics competition should be "kept in harmony with the essential educational purposes of the institution." Unrivaled in its legacy, The Ivy League provides the true test of academic and co-curricular rigor - fostering an enduring culture that celebrates a storied-tradition, thrives on shared values and holds paramount the academic and personal growth of students.
Consistently ranked as the top academic conference and with more national championships than any other collegiate athletic conference (287 team, 546 individual), The Ivy League showcased 98 nationally-ranked programs in 2018-19 and prides itself on sponsoring 33 sports, the highest number of any NCAA conference, with more than 8,000 student-athletes competing annually. The League's world-renowned schools - Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale - serve as the standard bearers for inspiring and transforming student-athletes to boldly take on the world's challenges and lead lives of great impact.
For more information, please visit IvyLeague.com.
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