LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Freshman Yianni Diakomihalis became the 19th Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion in Cornell history, remaining unbeaten on the season with a pair of wins over ranked wrestlers on Saturday. His heroics allowed the Big Red to finish eighth in the team race with three placewinners and 62 team points. It's the 10th consecutive year the Big Red has crowned at least one champion at the event and finished in the top eight.
Diakomihalis was joined on the podium by juniors Jon Jay Chavez (165) and Jeramy Sweany (285), both eighth-place finishers.
The rookie won a wild sudden victory decision over Wyoming All-American Bryce Meredith, then controlled Northern Iowa's Josh Alber from start to finish to claim his second victory of the season over the Panther grappler, this time 8-2.
Diakomihalis and Meredith wrestled a scoreless first two minutes with the freshman finally earning a takedown with 35 seconds remaining. He ended on top to go into the second with a 2-0 lead. Diakomihalis went underneath to start, but the Wyoming All-American was able to ride him out to reverse the clock and bring a 1:24 advantage into the third. Meredith escaped to get back within 2-1 in the third. Diakomihalis appeared to get the go-ahead takedown with 38 seconds left, but the was overturned after review sending the match into sudden victory. The freshman ended it right there, advancing to the finals with 22 seconds remaining, finishing the last of a number of exciting scrambles to advance to the championship match.
In the finals, the freshman ripped through for a takedown 36 seconds in, but Alber got a quick escape to cut the lead in half, and that's where it stayed heading into the second. An escape and a late takedown ran Diakomihalis' lead to 5-1 in the third. Alber chose bottom, earning an escape, but the Big Red grappler almost immediately took him back down. As the riding clock climbed over a minute, Diakomihalis looked for a turn, but instead rode tough to close out his first Las Vegas title with an 8-2 decision.
Both Chavez and Sweany picked up victories to start the day before flaling twice to take eighth, while freshman Max Dean fell a match short of the podium with a 9-5 loss to Northern Iowa's seventh-ranked Drew Foster.
Chavez punched his ticket to the podium with an 8-2 win over Binghamton's Vincent Deprez, but dropped a one-point matchup with NO. 11 Isaiah Wright of Nebraska before losing to eighth-ranked Anthony Valencia of Arizona State by major decision in the seventh-place match.
Sweany closed out a strong tournament with a dominant 6-1 victory over Cory Daniel of North Carolina to make the podium, before consecutive losses to No. 8 Ryan Solomon of Pitt and to Andrew Dunn of Virginia Tech.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Freshman Yianni Diakomihalis earned a spot in the semifinals and three more Big Red wrestlers will attempt to earn a spot on the podium on Saturday morning after a solid first day at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday. The Big Red sits in ninth place overall with 45 team points.
Diakomihalis got stronger as the day went on, winning all three matches comfortably, including major decision victories in his seocnd round and quarterfinal victories. His 9-1 triumph over Pitt's Nick Zanetta sets up a much-anticipated matchup with third-ranked and top-seeded Bryce Meredith of Wyoming for a spot in Saturday's finals.
Two other Big Red wrestlers advanced to the quarters, with Jon Jay Chavez (165) and Max Dean (184) falling into the back draw after narrow losses. Chanvez won two matches by fall on his way to the final eight, then dropped a tight 6-2 decision to fifth-ranked David McFadden of Virginia Tech. Dean, meanwhile earned a second round fall and won a 6-2 decision over Navy's 17th-ranked Michael Coleman to reach the quarters where he dropped a 9-5 contest to Michigan's Zack Zavatsky. Dean was looking for a match-tying takedown late in the third when Zavatsky was able to clinch the match.
Besides Diakomihalis, the top Big Red performance of the day may have come from junior heavyweight Jeramy Sweany. After a 4-0 loss to sixth-ranked Jacob Kasper of Duke in the opening round, Sweany came back with four straight victories, outscoring the next three by a 25-4 margin, then earning a first period fall over Central Michigan's Matt Stencel to reach Saturday's blood round.
Three Big Red wrestlers went 2-2 on the day with wins over top 20 grapplers, starting with the opening match of Cornell's tournament. Michael Russo topped 15th-ranked Louie Hayes of Virginia 7-3 in the first round and won his second round match by major decision before being topped by Jacob Schwarm of Northern Iowa, who avenged his dual meet loss from earlier this season. Chaz Tucker dropped a one-point match to seventh-ranked Jack Mueller of Virginia in round two, but bounced back in the wrestlebacks to defeat 16th-ranked Cam Sykora before suffering a 3-2 loss to No. 12 Dennis Gustafson of Virginia Tech. Ben Honis was the third, falling by a narrow 5-3 margin to top-ranked Kollin Moore of Ohio State before nearly majoring No. 15 Christian Brunner of Purdue (9-2). He was eliminated in rideouts by Amry West Point's Rocco Caywood, 2-1.
Adam Santoro earned a first round win by tech fall before losing two straight at 157, while Jonathan Furnas advanced through his first consolation round before falling in a tight 5-3 contest to Binghamton's Frank Garcia. Returning All-American Brandon Womack dropped a pair of one-point decisions after claiming a first round victory at 174.
125
First Round: Michael Russo (Cornell) won by decision over #15 Louie Hayes (Virginia), 7-3
Second Round: Michael Russo (Cornell) won by major decision over Jaxon Cole (Western Wyoming), 11-2
Third Round: Jacob Schwarm (Northern Iowa) won by decision over Michael Russo (Cornell), 8-4
Consolation Second Round: Trent Olson (Wyoming) won by fall over Michael Russo (Cornell), 2:53
133
Second Round: Chaz Tucker (Cornell) won by decision over Gabe Townsell (Stanford), 3-1 (sv1)
Third Round: #7 Jack Mueller (Virginia) won by decision over Chaz Tucker (Cornell), 4-3
Consolation Second Round: Chaz Tucker (Cornell) won by decision over #16 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State), 3-2
Consoaltion Third Round: #12 Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech) won by decision over Chaz Tucker (Cornell), 3-2
141
Second Round: #12 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), 11-2
Third Round: #12 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over Sal Profaci (Michigan), 10-4
Quarterfinals: #12 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by major decision over Nick Zanetta (Pitt), 9-1
Semifinals: #12 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #3 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 4-2 (sv1)
Finals: #12 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #13 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), 8-2
149
First Round: #9 Troy Heilmann (North Carolina) won by major decision over Jonathan Furnas (Cornell), 10-2
Consolation First Round: Jonathan Furnas (Cornell) won by medical forfeit over Austin Thompson (Michigan State)
Consolation Second Round: Frank Garcia (Binghamton) won by decison over Jonathan Furnas (Cornell), 5-3
157
First Round: Adam Santoro (Cornell) won by technical fall over Ky Webb (Western Wyoming), 17-2
Second Round: #18 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin) won by decision over Adam Santoro (Cornell), 12-6
Consolation First Round: #15 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) won by decision over Adam Santoro (Cornell), 9-4
165
First Round: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by fall over Logan Ritchie (Michigan State), 1:40
Second Round: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over Dawaylon Barnes (Oklahoma), 5-3
Third Round: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by fall over Zac Carson (Eastern Michigan), 6:20
Quarterfinal: #5 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) won by decision over #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), 6-2
Consolation Fourth Round: #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) won by decision over Vincent Deprez (Binghamton), 8-2
Consolation Quarterfinal: #11 Isaiah Wright (Nebraska) won by decision over #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), 6-5
Seventh Place Match: #8 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) won by major decision over #18 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell), 16-7
174
Second Round: #9 Brandon Womack (Cornell) won by decision over Matt Wilhelm (Cal Poly), 8-5
Third Round: #16 C.J. Brucki (Central Michigan) won by decision over #9 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 9-8
Consolation Third Round: Nolan Kistler (California Baptist) won by decision over #9 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 7-6
184
Second Round: #10 Max Dean (Cornell) won by technical fall over Michael Battista (Virginia), 17-0
Third Round: #10 Max Dean (Cornell) won by decision over #17 Michael Coleman (Navy), 6-2
Quarterfinal: #6 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) won by decision over #10 Max Dean (Cornell), 9-5
Consolation Fourth Round: #7 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) won by decision over #10 Max Dean (Cornell), 9-5
197
Second Round: Ben Honis (Cornell) won by decision over Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan), 9-7 (sv1)
Third Round: #1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) won by decision over Ben Honis (Cornell), 5-3
Consolation Third Round: Ben Honis (Cornell) won by decision over #15 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 9-2
Consolation Fourth Round: Rocco Caywood (Army West Point) won by decision over Ben Honis (Cornell), 2-1 (tb2)
285
Second Round: #6 Jacob Kasper (Duke) won by decision over Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 4-0
Consolation First Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by major decision over David Rupp (Embry-Riddle), 9-0
Consolation Second Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by decision over Connor Calkins (Binghamton), 6-2
Consolation Third Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by major decision over David Jensen (Nebraska), 10-2
Consolation Fourth Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by fall over Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 1:39
Consolation Fifth Round: Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) won by decision over Cory Daniel (North Carolina), 6-1
Consolation Quarterfinal: #8 Ryan Solomon (Pitt) won by decision over Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 8-1
Seventh Place Match: Andrew Dunn (Virginia Tech) won by major decision over Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 14-6
