Cornell Wrestling had a season to remember last year.

Another national champion — Vito Arujau became the sixth multiple-time NCAA champion in Big Red history winning the 133-pound crown for the second straight year.

Another batch of All-Americans — three earned the honor last year.

Another team trophy at the NCAAs — the Big Red secured second place at the NCAAs for the third time in program history, following up a third-place showing the previous year.

Another conference championship — Cornell claimed the EIWL title for the third straight year.

Collecting trophies in March has become the expectation for the Big Red under head coach Mike Grey, who enters his fourth season with all three previous campaigns ending with a top-10 finish at the NCAAs.

Over the summer and leading up to the start of a new campaign, Grey and his staff have kept the momentum going with the wrestlers who are back from last year’s successful campaign and those waiting in the wings for their turn at cracking the lineup.

“We focused a lot on technical advancement over the summer as opposed to physical training,” Grey said. “We did have the guys in the weight room, but we really tried to improve on areas that we could improve technically. 

“I thought we got a lot better for example in hand fighting, moving guys a bit more, top series, getting off bottom.”

Grey is very quick to point out last year is last year. This year is different, and his squad will look different this year.

“I think this team is gritty and I think this team understands that what this program has done in the past is in the past,” Grey said. “I think we have a great bunch, and we could have five new starters. 

“This group wants to put their stamp on Cornell wrestling, which as a staff, is what we want to see. This will be a different group from last year obviously, but they are hungry and show everybody what they can do.”

A slew of Cornell wrestlers were in action this past weekend at the Journeymen Classic, a round-robin event where wrestlers were divided into different pools. Eight went undefeated overall.

The Big Red will host Buffalo for the first dual this weekend on Saturday and host the annual Big Red Invitational on Sunday. The following weekend will be the Mat Town Open before taking 10 wrestlers to the Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas in early December.

“I’m looking for guys to separate themselves, especially at weight classes where there are some freshmen who are strong or weight classes where guys have moved up into,” Grey said. “I want to see guys take that starting spot and run with it and solidify themselves in the rankings.”

A New Conference

This will be the first year the Ivy League schools will compete in their own conference, and no longer in the EIWA. The Big Red is leaving the EIWA having won the last three conference championships, 14 since 2007 and 28 overall.

“The big thing for our league is working for (NCAA) allocations,” Grey said. “I feel confident about our squad, and schools need to do our part and recognize that yes there is a lot of competition and everybody wants to win the conference, but similar to the ACC, everybody has to work and do their part in creating those allocations. 

“Everybody is excited to have a one-day championship and have quality teams and match-ups. Hopefully as the season goes along, and we see some good results, it will build more excitement.”

As far as duals, Cornell will once again face all of its fellow Ivy League schools. It was important for Grey to keep the rivalry with Lehigh on the schedule, and NC State and Missouri are repeat opponents from last year. A mid-February trip to Arizona State is a new dual foe for Cornell this season. 

New Staff

A sign of any good program is to see its assistant coaches go on and become head coaches themselves. In the offseason, Donnie Vinson left the Cornell program and earned his first D1 head coaching job at Buffalo. Volunteer assistant coach, and two-time World Medalist, Nick Gwiazdowski also exited the program.

Grey filled the roles with a pair of up-and-coming coaches who have brought a different level of excitement and skill to the program. 

Scottie Boykin was Cornell’s greyshirt coach and has had extensive experience already with the upperclassmen on the Big Red roster. David McFadden was a three-time All-American at Virginia Tech, and then spent time at the Penn RTC and on the Drexel coaching staff the last two seasons.

“It is always tough to lose good coaches from your staff, but that is just part of it,” Grey said. “You then bring in the next group of guys that will hopefully become great coaches. We have a lot of confidence that these guys are going to go that route. 

“They mesh with the guys really well, and have hit the ground running in developing strong relationships. Both guys are extremely capable.”

In addition to Boykin and McFadden, Kellen Russell has added the title of associate head coach after he was on staff the previous four campaigns.

“I really like the fact Coach Russell has more responsibility now as associate head coach,” Grey said. “A little bit of different roles for everybody, but I know we are still poised to have a great season.”

New Upper Weights

Cornell will have to find new starters at both 197 pounds and heavyweight. Last year, Jacob Cardenas earned All-American honors with a fourth-place finish at 197, while Lewis Fernandes was the #15 seed at NCAAs at heavyweight.

Both have moved on, Cardenas had to transfer to Michigan for his final campaign as he was out of eligibility at Cornell. But the Big Red coaching staff is excited about the potential for their replacements.

Michael Dellagatta was in the same signing class as Meyer Shapiro and Simon Ruiz, and was the #63 overall recruit coming out of high school. He was a greyshirt last year at Cornell, and looks to be the front-runner at 197 pounds.

This will be Ashton Davis’ third year in the Cornell program, as he was a greyshirt in 2022-23 and the backup at heavyweight last year going 13-4.

“Dellagatta gives us a different feel at 197, he is a very unique wrestler,” Grey said. “I’d like to see him continue to develop as the season goes on. Hopefully, he will get that freshman snowball effect of confidence where you win some big matches and continue that so you can get to where you need to be at the end of the year.

“Davis is a sophomore and has been here for three years. He has a great skill set, around 250 pounds up at heavyweight. He just needs to get matches and build momentum.”

Both Dellagatta and Davis had a successful first weekend of action as they combined to go 6-0 at the Journeymen Classic.

“197 and heavyweight we are very similar,” Grey said. “We know we have very good skill and talent at each, we just need those guys to get out there and compete and show everybody what they are made of.”