Cornell had six wrestlers record top-eight finishes in a tough Elite Division at Saturday’s Luther Invitational.
Colin Honderd led the Rams with a strong third-place showing in the 184-pound bracket. The senior went 4-1 with three falls, bumping his team-high pin total to six on the season. Honderd won by medical forfeit in the third-place bout.
Casey Allen placed fourth in a rugged 165-pound division, his lone setbacks coming against University of Iowa wrestlers Alex Marinelli (25-10) and Joe Kelly (9-6 in third-place match).
Cornell 133-pounder Evan Husko took seventh with a 3-2 record. He beat Upper Iowa’s Phillip Ihde in the place match, 5-4.
Zachary Finn was seventh at heavyweight, Cristian Dixon eighth at 149 and Jacob Sherzer eighth at 174.
The Rams fielded four placewinners in the Silver Division, highlighted by a runner-up performance from freshman Cael McLaren at 184. McLaren earned a major decision (12-4) and two decisions (8-2 and 13-6) before falling 6-2 to Wartburg’s David Papach in the championship match.
Dahson went 4-2 to finish fourth at 174, recording a technical fall and pin. Landon Card split four matches and took fourth at 149.
Heavyweight Quinn Wilcoxen was eighth.
Earlier in the week, the Rams had three individual winners in a 27-13 dual loss to UW-Platteville.
The host Pioneers (1-0) took the first four matches of the night in building a 16-0 lead, proving to be the difference in the meet. The Rams (1-1) closed strong by splitting the final six bouts.
Honderd recorded a quick fall in 1:11 over Brandon Tessau at 184 pounds. Honderd raised his season record to 4-1.
Returning all-American Killian Perrigon put Cornell’s first team points on the board with a dominant 12-4 major decision at 157. The senior handled David Cushman with five takedowns and a reversal, improving his record to 5-1.
Finn earned a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Brett Schoenherr. Finn (3-2) scored the go-ahead points on a takedown in the final period.
The Rams battled in tight losses at 133 (Caleb Radtke 3-2 over Husko), 149 (Brock Parker 4-2 over Dixon) and 174 (Nick Dado 5-2 over Sherzer).
Husko took a 1-0 lead into the third period of his match. Dixon and Sherzer both hung tough the entire way against opponents listed in the D3wrestle.com rankings.
Cornell’s Nathan Bednarczyk (11-3 at 125) and Treyten Steffen (12-1 at 197) both dropped major decisions in their respective matches. Cornell 141-pounder Grant Harbour lost by fall in the second period (3:31) to Zach Licht.
Coming up – The Rams are in action next Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Coe Invitational in Cedar Rapids.
Cornell wrestlers place third at Luther Invitational
November 25, 2021