Sophomore Jackson Brinker and senior Nick DeMunno secured first place to be among the six wrestlers of the Cornell men’s wrestling team to place at the Luther Hill Invitational held in Indianola on Saturday.
Jackson Brinker wrestled at 285 pounds and won his quarterfinal match in a 6-3 decision over Kazz Hyson of Southeast Community College. He went on to pin Dawson Schwerdtfeger of Nebraska Wesleyan in one minute 45 seconds to move to the first-place match against Miguel Perez Diaz of Southeast Community College.
He pinned Perez Diaz in 33 seconds to take first place on an undefeated day.
Nick DeMunno captured first place at 197 pounds after he pinned three consecutive wrestlers to go undefeated on the day. After a bye and then two consecutive pins under a minute (Teegan Tschampel of Concordia (Neb.) in 52 seconds and Treviante Thomas of Graceland University in 36 seconds), he faced John Schuttler in the finals pinning him in 2:34 to secure first place.
Jayden Rael and Jase Van Pelt each garnered second place in the open 125 for the Rams. They both defaulted in the first-place match as they were set to face each other.
Van Pelt’s first two matches were won by a bye and major decision, 10-1 over Isaiah Graves of Nebraska Wesleyan. Rael’s won in sudden victory in his quarterfinal match against Kanin Hable of Simpson 6-3 and then pinned Denias Johnson of Graceland University in 1:40 in the semifinal.
Callum McAllister lost by fall at 149 pounds before moving through to the consolation rounds. He had a bye in round one and a 17-1 tech fall win in round two. In round three, McAllister fell in a competitive 9-6 decision to Zack Wicks of Graceland University.
Another Ram place winner was Drew Deer who placed third at 174 pounds. He received a bye in the quarterfinals, to move on to face Isaac White of Southeast CC. He fell in a decision 11-5, to move on to face Randry Mugisha of Waldolf for third place. He pinned Mugisha in 5:45 to claim third.
Quinn Wilcoxen wrestled for his sixth place at 285 after forfeiting both matches.
Many Ram wrestlers competed in the Freshman/Sophomore division of the Luther Hill Invitational which produced seven place-winners.
Brian Petry took second at 174 after going dropping 4-1 in sudden victory. He went 4-1 overall on the day with three major decisions and one decision.
Andrew Parrish won five straight matches in consolations at 141 to place fourth due to a default in the third-place match.
Clay Schemmel (165) and Braydon Hoffman (197) placed fifth. Austin Wilkins (174), Jayden Walker (184), and Brandon Bray (285) placed sixth.
Earlier in the week, Cornell rolled out to a 52-0 victory at the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
Cornell (1-0) recorded bonus points in nine matches and racked up 25 total near-fall points in a dominant 2023-24 debut. Only two of the contested matches went the entire seven minutes.
The Rams poured it on in the last half of the meet with four consecutive falls, followed by a forfeit win. Sophomore Scotty Scheidecker at 165 (6:24), first-year Brian Petry at 174 (3:23), junior 12th-ranked Cael McLaren at 184 (3:47) and senior Treyten Steffen at 197 (3:51) all pinned their opponents in succession.
McLaren tallied six first-period takedowns in his quick fall. Petry threw Caden Elliott to his back with a big second-period move.
Cornell received technical falls from sophomore Eli Sneed at 133 (19-3 in 2:46), junior Landon Card at 149 (17-2 in 4:47) and sophomore Gabriel Smith at 157 (19-4 in 3:59).
Sophomore 125-pounder Jase Van Pelt went down to the wire with Kanin Hable, breaking a 3-3 tie with a clinching takedown with eight seconds remaining for a 7-3 victory.
First-year AJ Parrish scored 10 first-period points and cruised to an 18-5 major decision in his Ram debut.
Heavyweight Jackson Brinker won by forfeit to conclude the night.