Kyle Dake of Cornell receives the Bill Farrell Outstanding Wrestler Award from the late Bill Farrell's daughter at the Grapple At The Garden in New York City. Lindsey Mechalik photo

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Three-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake won both of his matches against ranked opponents at 165 pounds and received the Bill Farrell Outstanding Wrestler Award at the inaugural Grapple At The Garden in world-famous Madison Square Garden.

The event featured 14 Div. I college programs competing in 12 dual meets, featuring numerous All-Americans and ranked athletes, including five dual meets between teams with national rankings. There were thousands of fans in attendance, filling the lower bowl of the Garden and providing a great atmosphere for wrestling.

Dake had a great day, opening with a victory over Zach Toal of Missouri, 4-0. In his second match, Dake defeated No. 3 ranked Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State, 4-1. Caldwell was a 2011 NCAA runner-up competing for Oklahoma.

“I wrestled all right. I didn’t get to my takedowns. I have to keep working on that. If I get more offense going on my feet and I keep wrestling tough, I will do a lot better. But I dominated today and overall it was a good performance,” said Dake.

Dake’s Cornell team had a tough day, dropping two highly competitive dual meets. In their first dual, No. 7 Missouri stopped No. 8 Cornell, 22-12. In a dual meet which was close throughout the early weights, the Tigers won three of the last four matches for the victory. The biggest win for Missouri came at 197 pounds, when Brent Haynes scored a pin in 4:42 over Jace Bennett to clinch the win.

The Big Red gave a tough match in the second round to No. 2 Oklahoma State. The score was 17-16 in favor of Oklahoma State after 197, and the Cowboys closed out the dual meet with a major decision victory at heavyweight by Alan Gelogaev over Stryker Lane, 12-3. This gave the favored Cowboys a 21-16 victory, although both teams had five victories. The difference was that Oklahoma State scored bonus points in four matches, including a big pin by No. 1 ranked  Chris Perry over Duke Pickett at 5:56 at 174 pounds.

“The team, I wish we did a little better, but we have to take what we can get and learn from it,” said Dake.

Dake was among five past NCAA champions in the field, all who won their matches. His teammate, 2012 NCAA champion Steve Bosak, made his return to the Big Red for the first time this year. Bosak’s two victories included a 6-0 victory over Mike Larson of Missouri, then a razor tight 4-3 win over Chris Chionuma of Oklahoma State.

The other three past NCAA champions to win all of their bouts were two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough of Iowa at 125 pounds, 2012 NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State at 133 pounds and 2011 NCAA champion Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State at 149 pounds.

McDonough helped lead his No. 5 Hawkeyes to a victory over Hofstra. He opened with a strong 10-2 major decision over nationally ranked Steve Bonanno, and the team won the Hofstra match, 42-0. McDonough did not compete in the second Iowa match against Bucknell, which his team also won handily without him, beating Bucknell, 34-9.

Stieber had a strong day for No. 4 Ohio State. He pinned Paul O`Neill of Maryland in 1:26, then in his second bout, stopped Jamie Franco of Hofstra with a 16-0 technical fall. It was a great day for the No. 4 Buckeyes, who defeated No. 18 Maryland, 34-3, then hammered Hofstra, 38-3.

Oliver was also key in both of the victories by Oklahoma State. Oliver pinned Jared Presley of Chattanooga in 3:12 in the opening bout, leading the Cowboys to a 41-9 team win. In OSU’s win over Cornell, Oliver added a major decision over Chris Villalonga,11-3.

In an upset among ranked teams, No. 18 Maryland stopped No. 14 Nebraska, 18-17. Nebraska had the lead 17-9 after 174 pounds, when Robert Kokesh pinned Aaron Norris in 1:38. Maryland won the final three bouts for the victory. The first big win was in a battle of two ranked wrestlers, when Jimmy Sheptock of the Terrapins went overtime to defeat Josh Ihnen, 6-4 with a sudden victory takedown. After a win by Christian Boley at 197 pounds, it all went down to heavyweight. Again in overtime, Carl Buccholz stopped Donny Longendyke, 3-2 on a tiebreaker, scoring the winning escape.

The scores of the other four dual meets not mentioned above were:
Drexel 24, George Mason 19
Nebraska 22, Rutgers 10
Rutgers 28, Chattanooga 12
Missouri 22, Bloomsburg 9

The finals of the PSAL Holiday Tournament, a top high school event featuring teams from surrounding states and from New York City, were held on two mats during the college action. Champions were crowned in the women’s division and men’s division. Long Branch of New Jersey captured the team title.

Organizers were pleased with the crowd turnout and the atmosphere at the Garden. Many involved will be working to bring college wrestling back to Madison Square Garden, after its first big dual meet event was considered a major success.

Prior to the start of the event, a moment of silence was held for two Hall of Fame leaders from New York who passed away this year, Bill Farrell and Jeff Blatnick.

GRAPPLE AT THE GARDEN
At Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y., Dec. 16

ROUND ONE

Drexel 24, George Mason 19  
125 Jacob Goodwin (Drexel) over Rich Carroll-Lavorato (George Mason) Pin 1:05 
133 Zachary Isenhour (George Mason) over Clayton Lutzow (Drexel) Pin 1:56 
141 Frank Cimato (Drexel) over Sahid Kargbo (George Mason) Dec 5-1 
149 Gregory Flournoy (George Mason) over Nicholas Maccini (Drexel) Maj 10-2 
157 Jaaziah Bethea (George Mason) over Noel Blanco (Drexel) Dec 7-5  
165 Connor Moran (Drexel) over Ty Knepp (George Mason) Dec 9-8 
174 Kevin Matyas (Drexel) over Ryan Hembury (George Mason) Dec 5-0 
184 Bryan Sternlieb (Drexel) over Coriston Smith (George Mason) Pin 4:56 
197 Brandon Palik (Drexel) over Matt Meadows (George Mason) Dec 4-3
285 Jacob Kettler (George Mason) over Jon Wright (Drexel) Pin 4:11 

No. 14 Nebraska 22, Rutgers 10 
125 Joe Langel (Rutgers) over Skylar Wood (Nebraska) Maj 9-1 
133 Vinny Dellafave (Rutgers) over Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) Dec 9-3
141 Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) over Trevor Melde (Rutgers) Dec 3-0 
149 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) over Kenny Theobold (Rutgers) Dec 7-2 
157 Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska) over Scott Winston (Rutgers) Maj 13-2  
165 Austin Wilson (Nebraska) over Nick Visicaro (Rutgers) overtime
174 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) over Greg Zannetti (Rutgers) Dec 6-2 
184 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) over Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers) Dec 4-0 
197 Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) over Dan Seidenberg (Rutgers) Dec 1-0 
285 Billy Smith (Rutgers) over Donny Longendyke (Nebraska) Dec 4-2  

No. 5 Iowa 42, Hofstra  0
125 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) Maj 10-2 
133 Tony Ramos (Iowa) over Jamie Franco (Hofstra) Maj 14-4 
141 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) over Luke Vaith (Hofstra) Dec 3-2 
149 Mike Kelly (Iowa) over Matt Spataro (Hofstra) Maj 14-2  
157 Derek St John (Iowa) over Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) Maj 16-4  
165 Nick Moore (Iowa) over Nick Terdick (Hofstra) Maj 12-4 
174 Mike Evans (Iowa) over Jermaine John (Hofstra) Maj 8-0 
184 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) over Victor Pozsonyi (Hofstra) Pin 2:39 
197 Nathan Burak (Iowa) over Tim Murphy (Hofstra) Dec 10-3 
285 Bobby Telford (Iowa) over Paul Snyder (Hofstra) Pin 4:35  

No. 4 Ohio State 34, No. 18 Maryland 3
125 Nikko Triggas (Ohio State) over Shane Gentry (Maryland) Dec 7-1 
133 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over Paul O`Neill (Maryland) Pin 1:26 
141 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) over Frank Goodwin (Maryland) Maj 14-3
149 Ian Paddock (Ohio State) over Danny O`Malley (Maryland) Maj 13-2 
157 Josh Demas (Ohio State) over Anthony Guidice (Maryland) Dec 6-1
165 Mark Martin (Ohio State) over Josh Snook (Maryland) Maj 12-4 
174 Craig Thomas (Ohio State) over Aaron Norris (Maryland) Maj 11-2 
184 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) over Kenny Courts (Ohio State) Dec 9-3  
197 Andrew Campolattano (Ohio State) over Christian Boley (Maryland) Dec 6-3  
285 Peter Capone (Ohio State) over Carl Buchholz (Maryland) Dec 3-0 

No. 7 Missouri  22, No. 8 Cornell 12 
125 Alan Waters (Missouri) over Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) Dec 8-5
133 Nathan McCormick (Missouri) over Naryman Arujau (Cornell) Maj 11-3
141 Nicholas Hucke (Missouri) over Michael Nevinger (Cornell) Dec 9-7
149 Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) over Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) overtime
157 Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) over Kyle Bradley (Missouri) Dec 3-2 
165 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over Zach Toal (Missouri) Dec 4-0 
174 Todd Porter (Missouri) over Marshall Peppelman (Cornell) Dec 4-3 
184 Steve Bosak (Cornell) over Mike Larson (Missouri) Dec 6-0 3
197 Brent Haynes (Missouri) over Jace Bennett (Cornell) Pin 4:42 
285 Dominque Bradley (Missouri) over Stryker Lane (Cornell) Dec 7-1

No. 2 Oklahoma State 41, Chattanooga  9
125 Nick Soto (Chattanooga) over Edward Klimara (Oklahoma State) Pin 6:29 
133 Jonathon Morrison (Oklahoma State) over Marvin Lopez (Chattanooga) Maj 12-0 
141 Julian Feikert (Oklahoma State) over Dean Pavlou (Chattanooga) Dec 5-3 
149 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over Jared Presley (Chattanooga) Pin 3:12 
157 Dallas Bailey (Oklahoma State) over Trey Stavrum (Chattanooga) Pin 0:25 
165 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) over Josh Condon (Chattanooga) Pin 6:15 
174 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) over Jake Young (Chattanooga) Pin 3:49 
184 Christopher Chionuma (Oklahoma State) over John Shrader (Chattanooga) Maj 18-9  
197 Nikolas Brown (Chattanooga) over Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) Dec 5-4 
285 Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) by forfeit

ROUND TWO

No. 5 Iowa 34, Bucknell 9
125 Matt Gurule (Iowa) over Austin Miller (Bucknell) Dec 6-5 
133 Tony Ramos (Iowa) over Paul Petrov (Bucknell) Maj 23-9 
141 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) over Derrick Russell (Bucknell) Maj 12-3
149 Mike Kelly (Iowa) over Adam Healey (Bucknell) Maj 14-5
157 Derek St John (Iowa) over Vincent Favia (Bucknell) Pin 4:53 
165 Corey Lear (Bucknell) over Nick Moore (Iowa) Dec 5-2 
174 Mike Evans (Iowa) over Stephen McPeek (Bucknell) Pin 2:54  
184 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) over Robert Marchese (Bucknell) Maj 14-3 
197 Tyler Lyster (Bucknell) over Nathan Burak (Iowa) Pin 3:34 
285 Bobby Telford (Iowa) over Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) Dec 6-1  

Rutgers 28, Chattanooga 12
125 Nick Soto (Chattanooga) over Joe Langel (Rutgers) Dec 10-4 
133 Marvin Lopez (Chattanooga) over Vinny Dellafave (Rutgers) Pin 5:36  
141 Trevor Melde (Rutgers) over Dean Pavlou (Chattanooga) Pin 1:17 
149 Kenny Theobold (Rutgers) over Alex Hudson (Chattanooga) Pin 2:52 
157 Scott Winston (Rutgers) over Trey Stavrum (Chattanooga) Dec 9-4 
165 Nick Visicaro (Rutgers) over Josh Condon (Chattanooga) Dec 11-8 
174 Greg Zannetti (Rutgers) over John Lampe (Chattanooga) Dec 4-0 
184 Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers) over Robert Prigmore (Chattanooga) Maj 8-0 
197 Nikolas Brown (Chattanooga) over Dan Seidenberg (Rutgers) Dec 3-1 
285 Billy Smith (Rutgers) over Kevin Malone (Chattanooga) Dec 4-0 

No. 4 Ohio State 38, Hofstra  3
125 Nikko Triggas (Ohio State) over Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) Dec 1-0 
133 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over Jamie Franco (Hofstra) TF 16-0  
141 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) over Luke Vaith (Hofstra) Maj 17-7  
149 Ian Paddock (Ohio State) over Matt Spataro (Hofstra) Pin 4:47  
157 Josh Demas (Ohio State) over Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) Maj 8-0  
165 Mark Martin (Ohio State) over Nick Terdick (Hofstra) Dec 6-2 
174 Jermaine John (Hofstra) over Craig Thomas (Ohio State) overtime
184 Kenny Courts (Ohio State) over Victor Pozsonyi (Hofstra) Maj 13-1 
197 Andrew Campolattano (Ohio State) over Tim Murphy (Hofstra) Pin 0:47 
285 Peter Capone (Ohio State) over Paul Snyder (Hofstra) Dec 7-3 

No. 18 Maryland 18, No. 14 Nebraska 17
125 Shane Gentry (Maryland) over Skylar Wood (Nebraska) Dec 5-1 
133 Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) over Josh Polacek (Maryland) Maj 12-4 
141 Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) over Frank Goodwin (Maryland) Dec 4-0
149 Shane Arechiga (Maryland) over Skylar Galloway (Nebraska) Dec 8-3 
157 Danny Orem (Maryland) over Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska) Dec 2-1 
165 Tyler Koehn (Nebraska) over Anthony Guidice (Maryland) Maj 13-2 
174 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) over Aaron Norris (Maryland) Pin 1:38 
184 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) over Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) Dec 6-4 sv   
197 Christian Boley (Maryland) over Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) Dec 3-1 
285 Carl Buchholz (Maryland) over Donny Longendyke (Nebraska) Dec 3-2, tb 

No. 2 Oklahoma State  21, No. 8 Cornell 16
125 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Edward Klimara (Oklahoma State) Dec 9-3 3.00 0 
133 Jonathon Morrison (Oklahoma State) over Naryman Arujau (Cornell) Dec 5-0 0 3.00 
141 Michael Nevinger (Cornell) over Julian Feikert (Oklahoma State) Maj 16-6 4.00 0 
149 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) Maj 11-3 0 4.00 
157 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) over Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) Maj 10-2 0 4.00 
165 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) Dec 4-1 3.00 0 
174 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) over George Pickett (Cornell) Pin 5:56 0 6.00 
184 Steve Bosak (Cornell) over Christopher Chionuma (Oklahoma State) Dec 4-3 3.00 0 
197 Jace Bennett (Cornell) over Zach White (Oklahoma State) Dec 10-3 3.00 0 
285 Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) over Stryker Lane (Cornell) Maj 12-3 0 4.00 

No. 7 Missouri 22, Bloomsburg 9
125 Alan Waters (Missouri) over Sean Boylan (Bloomsburg) Dec 1-0 
133 Nathan McCormick (Missouri) over Nick Wilcox (Bloomsburg) Dec 5-2  
141 Matthew Rappo (Bloomsburg) over Nicholas Hucke (Missouri) Dec 7-5 
149 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) over Simon Kitzis (Bloomsburg) Maj 17-5  
157 Kyle Bradley (Missouri) over Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg) Dec 3-2 
165 Josh Veltre (Bloomsburg) over Zach Toal (Missouri) Dec 7-4 
174 Todd Porter (Missouri) over Christopher Smith (Bloomsburg) Dec 5-2  
184 Mike Larson (Missouri) over Andre Petroski (Bloomsburg) Dec 6-1 
197 Richard Perry (Bloomsburg) over John Eblen (Missouri) Dec 4-2 
285 Dominque Bradley (Missouri) over Justin Grant (Bloomsburg) Dec 10-6