Congrats to Cornell

[Mr. PeanutButter]

2nd place without any transfer portal BS.

Hey, my team does it, but that doesn't mean I have to be ecstatic about it. That's the game now, though. Much respect to Cornell for getting it done with original recruits (and with a new coach!).

[Hammerlock3]

the portal is terrible and needs to go away now.

[poorwrestler]

the portal is terrible and needs to go away now.

It’s going to continue to get worse wayyy before it gets better.


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[JuanMogen]

That is really impressive and well deserved. Cornell is cool. Lehigh is cool. Little Rock is cool too. Cornell is in good company being cool with those other teams. 

[Caveira]

Portal is terrible.   Way worse for Ivy level schools.  The pool of kids they can get is much smaller than the rest of the colleges.  

[silver-medal]

They're Ivies.  They should have plenty of money for NIL.  

[Caveira]

3 minutes ago, silver-medal said:

They're Ivies.  They should have plenty of money for NIL.  

The pool of limited smart people limits the wrestling pool then can recruit from.  No?

also.  The ivys themself aren’t putting up the $.  Nor are the colleges ( non ivy ones ) its external parties.  Right ?

[silver-medal]

These programs typically have plenty of smart graduates who earn a lot of money.  Technically, you're correct but one would expect that wealthy Ivy wrestling alums could figure out how to put together some NIL in a way that's within the rules.  

[lu_alum]

22 minutes ago, silver-medal said:

They're Ivies.  They should have plenty of money for NIL.  

but most of them don't take transfers.

[TylerDurden]

Why should a kid not be able to go wherever he wants? 

If you think you can improve your situation, you do it. 

I have zero problems with the transfer portal. 

[AgaveMaria]

No one stops the musician, chemistry and physics prodigies from transferring when and where they want. Why should athletes be any different?

This is especially important for those whose Coach bails on the  team for greener pastures.

[wrestle87]

That's amazing for Cornell.  What a year.  Definitely would not have picked that they would place this high, especially for only having 3 placewinners.  Having a few very serious savages can take a team a long way. 

Re the portal, I think it's great that colleges no longer have Dean Wormer unlimited power over athletes.  I have come across too many self-serving coaches who flippantly play god with kids dreams to think otherwise.  It will definitely drive the evolution of the sport, but in a good way.  

Is it good for smaller programs? Not necessarily, but being realistic, look at a kid like Cayden Henschel.  He's a D2 wrestler, and he's one of the most famous people in wrestling media AS A COLLEGE KID.  He wouldn't be allowed to do any of what he's doing under old rules.  The NCAA would find a way to disallow it guaranteed.

Smaller schools can get marketing smart, help wrestlers build social media profiles, eyeballs = dollars in that game, and it's about building a platform.  Schools that develop smart athlete profile development offices will thrive.  

Just like before, small schools will always be fighting an uphill battle, but if you have a reputation for getting your kids what they are looking for...the school will succeed. 

[1032004]

6 hours ago, silver-medal said:

These programs typically have plenty of smart graduates who earn a lot of money.  Technically, you're correct but one would expect that wealthy Ivy wrestling alums could figure out how to put together some NIL in a way that's within the rules.  

I’m sure Cornell guys do get NIL.  They can also seemingly get scholarships for people that aren’t rich.  They just can’t get transfers.

I’m not a fan of Cornell, but impressive performance.  They also did it after having to withdraw Cornella

[Dark Energy]

A bit torn here.  2nd place!!  Yes!!  Only 3 AAs!! Crap!  

[Doublehalf]

The whole tournament I was thinking Cornell was way under performing and was frustrated by it... for them to underperform as much as they did and still place 2nd is pretty insane... 

[BIGTENFANBOY]

6 hours ago, wrestle87 said:

That's amazing for Cornell.  What a year.  Definitely would not have picked that they would place this high, especially for only having 3 placewinners.  Having a few very serious savages can take a team a long way. 

Re the portal, I think it's great that colleges no longer have Dean Wormer unlimited power over athletes.  I have come across too many self-serving coaches who flippantly play god with kids dreams to think otherwise.  It will definitely drive the evolution of the sport, but in a good way.  

Is it good for smaller programs? Not necessarily, but being realistic, look at a kid like Cayden Henschel.  He's a D2 wrestler, and he's one of the most famous people in wrestling media AS A COLLEGE KID.  He wouldn't be allowed to do any of what he's doing under old rules.  The NCAA would find a way to disallow it guaranteed.

Smaller schools can get marketing smart, help wrestlers build social media profiles, eyeballs = dollars in that game, and it's about building a platform.  Schools that develop smart athlete profile development offices will thrive.  

Just like before, small schools will always be fighting an uphill battle, but if you have a reputation for getting your kids what they are looking for...the school will succeed. 

Love Cayden Henschel. He shows a more relatable side to the sport. Wrestling Media like Flo only focuses on the best of the best which for most people is unrelatable. Cayden shows the high school/youth wrestling community, that you dont have to be all world in this sport to still compete at the collegiate level. I never really followed D2 wrestling unless it was a specific kid i personally knew. With Cayden i found myself regualrly checking in on Parkside, a school i knew nothing about before he came in the scene. 

[Red Blades]

1 hour ago, Doublehalf said:

The whole tournament I was thinking Cornell was way under performing and was frustrated by it... for them to underperform as much as they did and still place 2nd is pretty insane... 

I think a lot of teams underperfomed a bit, which is why Cornell as able to slip in at 2nd place; Cornell actually scored more team points at third place last year.  Here is the top 5 from the 2023 tournament:

1 Penn State  137.5

2 Iowa  82.5

3 Cornell  76.5

4 Ohio State  70.5

5 Missouri  64.5

This year's race for second was much closer.  That said - as a Cornell fan, I'm pleased they put themselves into a position where they could finish so high.  I think it says a lot about the contribution from the entire team - every point counts!

[Hammerlock3]

Cornell taking second again is probably the lost headline in all this.

[BigRedFan]

6 minutes ago, Red Blades said:

I think a lot of teams underperfomed a bit, which is why Cornell as able to slip in at 2nd place; Cornell actually scored more team points at third place last year.  Here is the top 5 from the 2023 tournament:

1 Penn State  137.5

2 Iowa  82.5

3 Cornell  76.5

4 Ohio State  70.5

5 Missouri  64.5

This year's race for second was much closer.  That said - as a Cornell fan, I'm pleased they put themselves into a position where they could finish so high.  I think it says a lot about the contribution from the entire team - every point counts!

Shapiro scored only one fewer points than Yianni did last year.  Vito scored two more than last year, so these two outscored Vito/Yianni from last year.  Foca was 12 points lower, and Cardenas was 9 points higher this year.

[Dark Energy]

2 pins by Shapiro and Cardenas Saturday morning were huge as the race for second came down to wire.  
 

Cornell owes VT … Andonian seems to pin or be pinned … he did then semi slid in a brutal way … 3 straight pins.  And then Henson takes out Gomez from Michigan.  
 

There are many points that all contributed but these particular events stand out as the team race came to a finish.

[Doublehalf]

One thing to remember is they also had the late scratch with Cornella who seemingly would have scored some amount of points. 
 

I just think for lack of transfer portal options, lack of traditional athletic scholarships, academic standards etc... It's amazing what they do there. They may never be on a list behind the likes of Penn state, Iowa, Ok St, Ohio state etc. for national titles but to always be right at the top in the mix is really something. Then you could go on about the international success the RTC has had as well.
 

Its entirely possible although somewhat unlikely (assuming all weights are qualified) that half of the olympic team could be occupied by former Cornell wrestlers. 

[Elevator]

16 hours ago, Caveira said:

Portal is terrible.   Way worse for Ivy level schools.  The pool of kids they can get is much smaller than the rest of the colleges.  

sure - even putting aside academics, Ivies cannot take a grad transfer.  Only undergrads can compete.