Cornell has one of the toughest dual schedules in the nation this year — a schedule that has the potential to feature seven ranked non-Ivy League foes, including five in the top 10.

The Big Red are currently in the middle of five straight duals against top-20 foes, including two top-10 matchups this weekend. Sixth-ranked Cornell will first travel to #7 Ohio State Friday night, then make the quick turnaround to come back to Ithaca to host #10 Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon.

“We are ready for this busy weekend,” Cornell head coach Mike Grey said. “We are excited to see our guys compete at a high level.”

Cornell last competed in Nashville at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals on December 18. The event started out with routine wins over Little Rock and #13 Pitt, but the night dual against #6 Iowa State had much of the wrestling world talking.

Cornell was forced to sit some of its starters in the loss to the Cyclones, a move that many fans and media didn’t seem to agree with. But Grey was adamant it’s his job to have his squad in top competition form for March. 

“My job is to protect our guys,” Grey said. “I’m not going to hurt our guy’s chances (in a December dual) for their run in March. We had some bumps and bruises going into that event, and got some further throughout the day. So that is why I made the decision I made.”

After the recent loss, and a holiday break, Cornell is eager to get back to competition.

“We gave the guys some time off after Nashville for a break, and everybody was back on December 27,” Grey said. “We have been training a ton on the skills and areas we need to become sharper. 

“It was important for the guys to get away and have some family time, but it was equally important to have a week of acclimation in the room leading up to these two duals.”

Last year, Cornell had a similar schedule for the opening week in January. It turned out to be a very successful week of action coming back from the holiday break. 

First was a trip to Austin and a 19-12 win over #3 Arizona State on a Wednesday night, then Cornell hopped on a plane and claimed a 22-12 win over #8 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on a Friday.

“I thought mirroring last year’s schedule was a good thing for us,” Grey said. “Last year (that stretch) was very good for us. We overcame some adversity and we got to compete against some really good teams.

One advantage this year, a lot less travel in a two-day period. Cornell will take a sleep bus to Columbus for the Friday night dual, then head out right after to return early Saturday to prepare for the Hokies trip to Ithaca on Sunday.

“Travel is going to be a lot easier for us this year,” Grey said. “We aren’t flying to Texas, we will just pack into the sleeper bus and come right back home.

“Our guys are ready to scrap and excited for the opportunity to wrestle two high-quality programs.”

Arujau to Miss This Weekend

One member of the Big Red who will be unavailable this weekend is returning national champion Vito Arujau. He returned to action in Nashville after missing a month and scored a pair of ranked wins over Little Rock and Pitt. But he missed the Iowa State dual, and will not be in action this weekend against Ohio State or Virginia Tech. He has been limited to five matches thus far.

“We are still a few weeks away for Vito, which is OK,” Grey said. “He came back and tested the waters, but he is still a few weeks away. He will be ready to rock mid-to-late January hopefully.”

Cornella Flying Under the Radar

Despite being ranked #10 in the country at 141 pounds going into this weekend, Vince Cornella is one of the Cornell starters who has flown under the radar the first two months of the season. Cornella was the EIWA champion last year, as well as the EIWA and Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

“He is as consistent as they come,” Grey said. “He has taken some losses this year, but they are all to top-eight guys. He is great on top, gets to the leg often, and wrestles hard. 

“He does everything we want out of our athletes. He just goes about his business with a workman-like mentality, he is very disciplined both on and off the mat.”

He gets a rematch with Ohio State’s #3 Jesse Mendez (Mendez won at the Cliff Keen) and will then face #16 Tom Crook, who is coming out of redshirt and was recently inserted into the Hokies’ starting lineup.

“I know he is excited for this weekend, a pair of really good opportunities for him,” Grey said. “Those are just the start of some marquee matches he has upcoming. Just a great chance to put himself in position to make a run in March.”

Different Styles Await Freshman Shapiro

Freshman Meyer Shapiro will have a pair of ranked opponents this weekend, but the two foes are very different in style. 

First, he will face #11 Paddy Gallagher at Ohio State, a bruising, match-controller of a wrestler. Then a rematch (Shapiro won by major decision at Cliff Keen) with the ever-dangerous, high-flying #8 Bryce Andonian awaits in Sunday’s dual.

Grey is looking forward to seeing the adjustments his freshman makes in the back-to-back battles.

“Good opportunity for him to get in there and see those ranked guys,” Grey said. “He had a really entertaining scrap with Andonian in Las Vegas, and Gallagher is obviously a much different wrestler than Andonian. It will be fun for Meyer to test his skills and face two different types of competitors.”