ITHACA, N.Y.--The Big Red wrestling team advances to the National Duals' Finals next weekend in Minnesota after defeating Nebraska and Hofstra on Sunday afternoon in Newman Arena. Cornell opened the day by blanking Hofstra, 42-0, before moving past the Cornhuskers by a score of 19-17. Nebraska advanced to the finals by defeating Virginia 28-8. The Cavaliers placed third after winning a 21-15 dual over the Pride.

The Big Red notched five pins on the day, including two by NCAA champion Kyle Dake. Dake now has 16 falls this season and is one shy of tying the school record of 17 that is held by Cam Simaz ’12 and Steve Anceravage ’09. Dake has 42 for his career.
 
Cornell’s day opened with No. 6 Nahshon Garrett taking on Steve Bonanno at 125 pounds. Garrett held a 7-1 lead after the first with two takedowns and three back points. The Big Red freshman added another takedown in the second and escaped from his opening down position in the third. With 21 seconds left in the bout, Bonanno took down Garrett. With 2:04 in riding time, Garrett won an 11-5 decision.  

At 133 pounds, Bricker Dixon was scoreless against Jamie Franco in the first period. Dixon reversed Franco to begin the second, and Franco escaped with 37 seconds left in the period. Franco quickly escaped to open the third, but Dixon would take him down once again to win a 4-3 decision.

Mike Nevinger was scoreless after the first period against Luke Vaith at 141 pounds. Nevinger escaped to open the second for the only point of the period. Vaith chose neutral to start the third. With eight seconds left in the bout, Nevinger countered a shot by Vaith to grab two more points with a takedown to win a 3-0 decision.

At 149 pounds, Chris Villalonga faced Cody Ruggirello. Midway through the first, Villalonga took a 2-0 lead with a takedown but with one second left on the clock, Ruggirello reversed him. The Pride wrestler chose to start the second down, and Villalonga grabbed three back points to lengthen his lead to 5-2. Villalonga chose neutral in the third and with 3:07 in riding time, won a 6-2 decision.

At 157 pounds, Jesse Shanaman faced Tyler Banks. After a scoreless first period, Banks escaped to open the second period. Banks’ one point advantage was the only time during the entire dual that a Hofstra wrestler held an advantage over Cornell. Shanaman took back the lead in the third with a reversal to win a 2-1 decision.

At 165 pounds, No. 1 ranked Dake squared off against Nick Terdick. Dake held a 4-1 lead before pinning Terdick in 1:57

Marshall Peppelman took on Jermain John at 174 pounds. With less than one minute left in the first period, Peppelman took down John to hold a 2-1 lead after one period. Peppelman quickly escaped to open the second. John escaped from his choice down position in the third for the only point of the period, and Peppelman won a 3-2 decision.

At 184 pounds, Steve Bosak wrestled David Heitman. With a little over 15 seconds off the clock, the Big Red senior took down the Pride wrestler and turned him to win by fall in 1:47.

Jace Bennett and Stryker Lane followed suit in their respective weight classes. Bennett pinned Tim Murphy in 1:51, while Lane won by fall over Zeal McGrew in 1:11.
 
After a short break, Cornell returned to the mat against Nebraska. Garrett once again opened the dual, this time facing Eric Coufall. Garrett held a 7-1 lead after the first period with two takedowns and three back points. Garrett quickly escaped to open the second and added another takedown. With one second left on the clock in the third, Coufal escaped from his opening down position. With 4:13 in riding time, Garrett won an 11-3 major decision.

At 133 pounds, Dixon got on the board a minute into the first with a takedown against Shawn Nagel. Dixon escaped from his
opening down position in the second to hold a 3-1 advantage. Nagel escaped to open the third period, but Dixon held on to win a 3-2 decision.

Nevinger wrestled his second match at 141 pounds against Ridge Kiley. Nevinger took down Kiley midway through the first. With 16 seconds left in the first, Kiley reversed him to tie the bout at 2-2. Kiley was unable to escape from his opening down position in the second period. Kiley chose an optional start in the third period to give Nevinger a one point escape. With 33 seconds left in the bout, Nevinger took him down again and added a riding time point to win a 6-2 decision.

At 149 pounds, Villalonga faced No. 10 Jake Sueflohn. The Cornhusker wrestler took a 2-0 advantage with a takedown in the first. Villalonga escaped to open the second, but with one second left on the clock Sueflohn took him down once again. Sueflohn reversed Villalonga from his opening down position in the third and added takedowns on his way to a 12-3 major decision.

Shanaman took on No. 6 James Green at 157 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Green reversed Shanaman to open the second. Shanaman escaped from his down choice in the third. With 15 seconds left in the bout, Green took him down once again to win a 5-2 decision.

Dake wrestled Tyler Koehn at 165 pounds. The Big Red senior held a 2-0 lead after the first period. Dake added three back points in second before winning by fall in 3:57.

At 174 pounds, Peppelman faced No. 4 Robert Kokesh. Kokesh held a 2-0 advantage after the first with a takedown. Peppelman escaped to open the second period, but the Cornhusker wrestler took him down once again. Kokesh racked up takedowns in the third to win a 14-3 major decision.

Bosak took on No. 8 Josh Ihnen at 184. After a scoreless first period, Ihnen was unable to escape from his choice down position in the second. Bosak held a 1-0 advantage after Ihnen was hit with his second stalling warning. Bosak quickly escaped to open the third and with 2:00 in riding time won a 3-0 decision.

At 197 pounds, Bennett wrestled against Caleb Kolb. Bennett held a 4-2 lead after the first with two takedowns. Kolb escaped 30 seconds into the second period, and with one second left on the clock took the lead with a takedown. Bennett escaped to open the third, but Kolb would take him down once again to win a 7-5 decision.

At heavyweight, Lane faced Spencer Johnson. After a scoreless first period, Johnson chose to start the second period down. Johnson quickly escaped after Lane had to call an injury time out. Johnson escaped from his choice down position after the timeout. The crowd rallied behind the injured Lane as he continued through match to keep Nebraska from winning the dual on bonus points. Lane escaped to open the third, but Johnson would take him down. With 1:30 in riding time, Johnson won a 5-2 decision.

Cornell will travel to Minnesota next weekend for the National Dual finals on Friday and Saturday.

Attendance: 2,132

Cornell 42, Hofstra 0
125: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) Dec 11-5 
133: Bricker Dixon (Cornell) over Jamie Franco (Hofstra) Dec 4-3               
141: Michael Nevinger (Cornell) over Luke Vaith (Hofstra) Dec 3-0           
149: Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) over Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) Dec 6-2
157: Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) over Tyler Banks (Hofstra) Dec 2-1            
165: Kyle Dake (Cornell) over Nick Terdick (Hofstra) Pin 1:57       
174: Marshall Peppelman (Cornell) over Jermaine John (Hofstra) Dec 3-2
184: Steve Bosak (Cornell) over David Heitman (Hofstra) Pin 1:47             
197: Jace Bennett (Cornell) over Tim Murphy (Hofstra) Pin 1:51 
285: Stryker Lane (Cornell) over Zeal McGrew (Hofstra) Pin 1:11

Nebraska 28, Virginia 8
125: Matthew Snyder (Virginia) over Eric Coufal (Nebraska) TF 16-0         
133: George DiCamillo (Virginia) over Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) Dec 8-2  
141: Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) over Joseph Spisak (Virginia) Dec 5-0             
149: Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) over Derek Valenti (Virginia) Dec 2-0       
157: Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf    
165: James Green (Nebraska) over Nicholas Sulzer (Virginia) Dec 5-2      
174: Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) over Jonathan Fausey (Virginia) Dec 7-4               
184: Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) over Stephen Doty (Virginia) Maj 11-3           
197: Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) over Michael Salopek (Virginia) Dec 8-2         
285: Spencer Johnson (Nebraska) over Derek Papagianopoulos (Virginia) Dec 8-2

Cornell 19, Nebraska 17
125: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Eric Coufal (Nebraska) Maj 11-3      
133: Bricker Dixon (Cornell) over Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) Dec 3-2           
141: Michael Nevinger (Cornell) over Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) Dec 6-2      
149: Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) over Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) Maj 12-3     
157: James Green (Nebraska) over Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) Dec 5-2    
165: Kyle Dake (Cornell) over Tyler Koehn (Nebraska) Pin 3:57   
174: Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) over Marshall Peppelman (Cornell) Maj 13-3      
184: Steve Bosak (Cornell) over Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) Dec 3-0 
197: Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) over Jace Bennett (Cornell) Dec 7-5
HWT: Spencer Johnson (Nebraska) over Stryker Lane (Cornell) Dec 5-2
 
Virginia 21, Hofstra 15
125: Matthew Snyder (Virginia) over Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) Dec 5-2  
133: Jamie Franco (Hofstra) over George DiCamillo (Virginia) Dec 6-2      
141: Luke Vaith (Hofstra) over Jimmy Nehls (Virginia) Dec 5-2     
149: Derek Valenti (Virginia) over Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) Dec 5-3         
157: Tyler Banks (Hofstra) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf      
165: Nicholas Sulzer (Virginia) over Nick Terdick (Hofstra) Dec 13-6           
174: Jonathan Fausey (Virginia) over Jermaine John (Hofstra) Dec 3-2    
184: Stephen Doty (Virginia) over David Heitman (Hofstra) Pin
197: Zach Nye (Virginia) over Tim Murphy (Hofstra) Dec 4-0        
285: Zeal McGrew (Hofstra) over Patrick Gillen (Virginia) Dec 3-1