Whats gonna happen to Cornell?

[BigRedFan]

39 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

Isaiah, Elijia, Cornella, Joy, ?, Perentin, Ruiz, Delgatta, Correa, Delgatta.

Jeez...

Most likely, although the upper weights are TBD:

Isaiah Cortez, Elijah Cortez, Cornella, Joy, Rogers, Perentin, Ruiz, Cerchio (or maybe Diakomihalis or Mikey Dellagatta), Correa, Rocco Dellagatta (maybe).

[Nak21]

I’m not sure I’d put the nail in Cornell’s coffin just yet. BUT some interesting things to watch over the next 5-10 yrs.

They don’t have the revenue sharing, I don’t think they’re allowed NIL, 5for5 is a no go unless the Ivy League changes their rules otherwise you get 4 and you’re done or you transfer for your 5th, no more fun and games at Finger Lakes CC.

With some of the defections, does that become more of a trend?? Kids decommitting or transferring out for “greener” pastures?

Cornell has been amazing given their disadvantages vs the mostly large state schools power programs, but it’s the Wild West now, do we see a downward slide and this past season was the beginning?

I hope not and their incoming class seems loaded for bear but is it sustainable in the new economic NCAA model? This isn’t just we can’t give you an athletic scholarship anymore but we’ll play some grant and aid games and get your family taken care of…this is no scholarship, no revenue share and I’m sorry the car dealership down the street can’t give you a $100k to hand out balloons and sign autographs twice a year (correct me if I’m wrong on Ivy’s not allowing NIL).

It’s adding up to a lot of money left on the table for that piece of paper at graduation…and young men aren’t always known for their decision making and thinking long term.

[BigRedFan]

17 minutes ago, Nak21 said:

I’m not sure I’d put the nail in Cornell’s coffin just yet. BUT some interesting things to watch over the next 5-10 yrs.

They don’t have the revenue sharing, I don’t think they’re allowed NIL, 5for5 is a no go unless the Ivy League changes their rules otherwise you get 4 and you’re done or you transfer for your 5th, no more fun and games at Finger Lakes CC.

With some of the defections, does that become more of a trend?? Kids decommitting or transferring out for “greener” pastures?

Cornell has been amazing given their disadvantages vs the mostly large state schools power programs, but it’s the Wild West now, do we see a downward slide and this past season was the beginning?

I hope not and their incoming class seems loaded for bear but is it sustainable in the new economic NCAA model? This isn’t just we can’t give you an athletic scholarship anymore but we’ll play some grant and aid games and get your family taken care of…this is no scholarship, no revenue share and I’m sorry the car dealership down the street can’t give you a $100k to hand out balloons and sign autographs twice a year (correct me if I’m wrong on Ivy’s not allowing NIL).

It’s adding up to a lot of money left on the table for that piece of paper at graduation…and young men aren’t always known for their decision making and thinking long term.

NIL is available to Ivy League athletes.  Ethan Fernandez and Lewis Fernandes (no relation :-)) both gave up trying to get a fourth year and took Wall Street jobs instead.  Those who don't want a career in wrestling are getting value out of that "piece of paper."

Ivy League never gave athletic scholarships:  all aid is need-based.  I'm guessing that the young men who pass the sniff test from Cornell are pretty good at decision-making and "thinking" in general.

Cornell's 2027 recruiting class includes five Flo Big Board wrestlers.

wrt "defections:"  a number followed Koll to Stanford.  Knox probably wasn't going to get accepted at Cornell.  Vega probably got offered a shit-ton of money.  Are there others of note (not counting Shapiro) that I'm missing?  Very, very few with remaining Ivy eligibility (Cornell and elsewhere) transfer.

We'll see what happens with the 2026 recruiting class, which also includes five Flo Big Board wrestlers.  

And the "Finger Lakes CC" hasn't been around for what, five years?

[MPhillips]

1 hour ago, BigRedFan said:

Isaiah Cortez, Elijah Cortez, Cornella, Joy, Rogers, Perentin, Ruiz, Cerchio (or maybe Diakomihalis or Mikey Dellagatta), Correa, Rocco Dellagatta (maybe).

Jeez...

[1032004]

2 hours ago, Nak21 said:

5for5 is a no go unless the Ivy League changes their rules otherwise you get 4 and you’re done or you transfer for your 5th, no more fun and games at Finger Lakes CC.

I think they can still grayshirt and be eligible for the 5th year somewhere else as long as they were not a holdback (or maybe it’s as long as they were not a double holdback?).  But looks like they can’t do the community college thing without losing the 5th year.

Although I guess the same applies everywhere, so I’m assuming we will see even more grayshirting from PSU…

[WrestlingRash]

Koll was the secret sauce and he is gone. Koll was the one who recruited all those Stanford guys who just got 6th as a program at NCAAs. He was their secret sauce and now he is gone. UNC will be really good in a year or two. He is just that good at being a program builder. 

[MoveCountermove]

On 8/18/2026 at 7:45 PM, MPhillips said:

I'm excited to see Correa!

Same. Need to see how much better he performs than Sahakian so I can remain mad at Bormet and co for pissing Correa off

[MoveCountermove]

On 8/18/2026 at 9:22 PM, BruceyB said:

I really think you have to wait for this season to draw any real conclusions. I listened to the Bader Show with Meyer Shapiro, and all I will say is that I'm not going to make any judgment against the coaching staff for how that whole thing played out. Grey and Cornell are still recruiting well and they could have a very good showing this year. They had an absolutely disastrous NCAA tournament with two 2 seeds not placing and a 3 seed taking 8th. If something like that repeats itself, then I think it's time to start asking questions.

I also would think that recruiting at an Ivy has become substantially more difficult when trying to sell the promise of future earnings vs some of the money being offered to recruits at other schools.

Except Nebraska! #builtNOTbought

[MoveCountermove]

On 8/18/2026 at 10:22 PM, BigRedFan said:

Posted last month:

"Two years ago, I accepted my offer with KPMG US. In a little more than a week, I’ll officially begin my full-time career in portfolio Valuation."

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7476678151969013760/

Just a guess, but I think he was offered more by KPMG than, say, Iowa...

 

Portfolio Valuation? Scratch my eyes out…

[BruceyB]

3 hours ago, MoveCountermove said:

Except Nebraska! #builtNOTbought

Everyone builds until they have the means to buy.

[Voice of the Quakers]

IMO, here is what's going to happen in the Ivy League:

1) Moving forward, almost all ivy League wrestlers will delay enrollment until the academic year they turn 20 - not dissimilar to what's been already happening in Ithaca and Philly.

2) Eligibility for the 5th year is still being debated by the Ivy League but will likely be denied in the short term. (The Ivy League will not budge on limiting intercollegiate athletics to undergraduate students.) Students who have five year undergraduate programs, suffer injuries or are working around roster management issues will likely continue to work the system as they have before to wrestle 4 years out of 5.

3) For the most elite wrestlers, coaches will encourage their kids to wrestle the first 4 years, get their degree, and then cash in with a Power 4 program for their 5th year. In the meantime, Ivy League athletes will still able to make individual NIL deals as before - the schools cannot collectivize NIL fundraising or payments.

Long story short, I'm not sure much changes. The basic Ivy League sports offering remains unchanged: a great education at reduced tuition, leading to above average future earnings potential. Won't blame kids for accepting 6-figure cash/NIL offers straight out of high school, but I'm guessing the truly big offers for high school recruits from Power 4 conferences will be reduced over time as athletic departments learn to better manage transfers and funnel more money back to their football programs.

[juniorvarsity]

Cornell has a young team with potential. Even if they have bad results in 2027, I will withhold judgement until 2028. 

If you're a Cornell fan, you can be bothered by recent performance, but they Grey literally did what you want a head coach to do after being down, rebuild.

[GimJustafan]

On 8/18/2026 at 10:25 PM, BruceyB said:

I have two thoughts here..

1. Why would anyone offer Ethan Fernandez a noteworthy amount of money? He's a solid D1 wrestler, but the schools with money aren't typically looking to pay a 5th year guy whose best finish is R16, especially at a weight as stacked as 149 will be this year.

 

nailed it 

you are only worth what someone is willing to pay you 

I am not surprised that a  ivy league grad was offered more in salary than a rd of 16 wrestler as you stated in a stacked 149 class next season 

 

 

[tgsp93]

Cornell was built by a master, Rob Koll.  Everything Grey has achieved has been on the back of what Koll did.  Grey's recruits have done very little to mention.  The program will remain relevant, but drop out of the top 10 in the years to come.  Not having Rob Koll is the #1 reason and the whole 5-5 will also cost Cornell the "greyshirt" year that allows the coaches to get kids into Cornell academically.  If anyone doubts Coach Koll's impact, just look at what happened to the recruits he brought into Stanford.  Once Koll's recruits graduate or leave Stanford, they will also fall back to the pack.  For whatever reason we are not seeing the full Rob Koll effect in NC yet, but it most likely is coming soon.  

[ionel]

5 minutes ago, tgsp93 said:

the whole 5-5 will also cost Cornell the "greyshirt" year that allows the coaches to get kids into Cornell academically. 

How did greyshirt help with academic admission?  

[MPhillips]

4 minutes ago, ionel said:

How did greyshirt help with academic admission?  

Didn't they spend it at the, "community college" making grades?  I feel like you know this...

[ionel]

15 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

Didn't they spend it at the, "community college" making grades?  I feel like you know this...

I thought they were greyshirting in the wrestling room like gap year.  93 didnt say anything about JC.  

[BigRedFan]

1 hour ago, juniorvarsity said:

If you're a Cornell fan, you can be bothered by recent performance, but they Grey literally did what you want a head coach to do after being down, rebuild.

The 2026-27 year was locked in before the disappointing NCAA tournament in March.  Everyone knew who was going to be on the roster (except for Shapiro, of course.  Always "except Shapiro"...).  Nothing Coach Grey did changed.

[BigRedFan]

41 minutes ago, tgsp93 said:

Cornell was built by a master, Rob Koll.  Everything Grey has achieved has been on the back of what Koll did.  Grey's recruits have done very little to mention.

IIRC, Shapiro, Ruiz, and Joy were all Grey recruits.  I think what they've done deserves *some* mention, right?  Grey's 2025 recruiting class are now freshmen and look pretty solid, as do his 2026 class and even the 2027 class.

One could look at Koll's recruiting class of Foca, Ramirez, Cardenas, and Fernandes as underperforming, with four AAs among them.

[BigRedFan]

19 minutes ago, ionel said:

I thought they were greyshirting in the wrestling room like gap year.  93 didnt say anything about JC.  

Ask Anthony Knox.  Greyshirts at Cornell are not all yet accepted at Cornell, for a number of reasons.  They might not have the grades (yet) to get accepted.  Dylan Palacio said that he was told he needed to get a 4.0 in his classes at TCCC.  There might not be a place for them in the lineup their true freshman year.  A gap year training might help them prepare for the D1 grind.

The admission rate for a school like Cornell is ridiculously low as an incoming freshmen even for blue-chip wrestlers, unless you are a whale like Yianni, Vito, or Shapiro.  However, these greyshirts are then considered *transfers*, and IIRC the admission rate for transfers is much higher.  Elite schools guard their admission rates seriously, but not so much for transfer admission rates.

[Elevator]

59 minutes ago, tgsp93 said:

Cornell was built by a master, Rob Koll.  Everything Grey has achieved has been on the back of what Koll did.  Grey's recruits have done very little to mention.  The program will remain relevant, but drop out of the top 10 in the years to come.  Not having Rob Koll is the #1 reason and the whole 5-5 will also cost Cornell the "greyshirt" year that allows the coaches to get kids into Cornell academically.  If anyone doubts Coach Koll's impact, just look at what happened to the recruits he brought into Stanford.  Once Koll's recruits graduate or leave Stanford, they will also fall back to the pack.  For whatever reason we are not seeing the full Rob Koll effect in NC yet, but it most likely is coming soon.  

Koll deserves big credit with what was built and the levels achieved - a very tough act to follow.  Really very little chance for Grey or others to have more success with the Ivy/Cornell limitations. Still a very strong program and probably a great source of pride in the Cornell AD's office - notwithstanding some recent challenges.  Just a guess, but I would assume that Cornell wrestling alums and donors overall remain very happy with the team leadership and program (because they are smart).

[1032004]

2 hours ago, ionel said:

I thought they were greyshirting in the wrestling room like gap year.  93 didnt say anything about JC.  

I’m guessing he was referring to going to the community college and that’s why he put quotation marks around “grayshirt”

[Ricketycricket]

2 hours ago, tgsp93 said:

Cornell was built by a master, Rob Koll.  Everything Grey has achieved has been on the back of what Koll did.  Grey's recruits have done very little to mention.  The program will remain relevant, but drop out of the top 10 in the years to come.  Not having Rob Koll is the #1 reason and the whole 5-5 will also cost Cornell the "greyshirt" year that allows the coaches to get kids into Cornell academically.  If anyone doubts Coach Koll's impact, just look at what happened to the recruits he brought into Stanford.  Once Koll's recruits graduate or leave Stanford, they will also fall back to the pack.  For whatever reason we are not seeing the full Rob Koll effect in NC yet, but it most likely is coming soon.  

The greyshirt isn't really affected, the majority of graduating seniors will be 18. 

[1032004]

30 minutes ago, Ricketycricket said:

The greyshirt isn't really affected, the majority of graduating seniors will be 18. 

I believe going to community college would start the 5for5 clock though.

[Ricketycricket]

47 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

I believe going to community college would start the 5for5 clock though.

That's a good point. But the apparent workaround there is to go to CC "part-time". 

Edited August 20 by Ricketycricket