Rams win IIAC opener; Rosen claims Turkey title

Head coach Mike Duroe's fifth-ranked Cornell wrestling team rallied for a 28-16 Iowa Conference dual win Tuesday at Simpson, and then landed eight placewinners at the Coe Turkey Open, led by sophomore Ben Rosen's title at 125 pounds Saturday in Cedar Rapids.

The Rams (1-0 overall, 1-0 IIAC) got a boost from their middle and upper weights to beat Simpson in the team's first dual competition of the season. Trailing 13-4 through four bouts, Cornell won five of the final six matches to complete the comeback.

Senior third-ranked Nicholas Loughlin got the Rams going with a 12-3 major decision at 157. Joe Hambleton, ranked third at 165, tied the score with a 21-5 technical fall.

After Simpson (0-1, 0-1 IIAC) regained the lead at 16-13, the Rams evened the meet with a 6-1 decision from eighth-ranked Andrew Roberts at 184 and then closed it out with back-to-back pins from sophomore 197-pounder Alex Coolidge (1:08) and junior heavyweight Wyatt Bauman (4:50).

Senior Timothy Hood started off the dual with a 10-2 major decision at 125 for the Rams.

"We did not perform at Simpson they way we hoped, but the positive thing is we got good performances from our upper weights," Duroe said. "It took a team effort. Our upper weights did what they had to do. We're going to have to perform a lot better this weekend (at the University of Iowa Duals Nov. 25) if we want the same results."

Rosen headlined Cornell's individual performances at the Turkey Open, an event which Duroe held out most of the team's regular starters. Rosen, a backup at 125, capped a perfect 5-0 tournament with a 7-6 victory over eighth-ranked Jimmy Gotto of host Coe in the championship match.

Rosen recorded a technical fall (22-6), decision (9-5), pin (3:32) and major decision (10-2) on his path to the finals. He improved his season record to 7-2.

"Rosen was a bright spot in the tournament," Duroe said. "He beat a tough, hard-nosed kid from Coe in the finals.

"Some of our guys are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the pack on our team. We've competed in three tournaments and have wrestled a lot of matches. I thought (Saturday) was a pretty good performance overall, knowing that we held back a majority of our starters."

Rosen was one of three Cornell placewinners at 125. Freshman Mitch Hood, who fell 10-2 to Rosen in the semifinals, battled back to take fourth with a 3-2 mark. Hood posted a pair of falls. Freshman Dane Norris finished fifth after an 8-3 win in his place match.

The Rams entered six wrestlers in the 149-pound bracket, led by freshman Nicholas Drendel's fourth-place showing. Drendel finished 5-2 and recorded three falls (0:23, 1:43, 6:21) on his way through the consolation bracket. Senior Jacob Schwebke pinned two of his opponents, including a fall in 1:40 to take the fifth-place match.

Junior Andrew Anderson went 3-2 and placed fourth at 197. Sophomore heavyweight Carl Gaul posted three pins (1:37, 0:45, 4:55) on the consolation side and wound up fifth. Sophomore Jacob Brown was sixth at 184.

Coming up - Cornell returns to the mat on Friday, Nov. 25 at the University of Iowa Duals in Iowa City. The Rams open competition against NJCAA's top-ranked Iowa Central Community College at 3 p.m. Cornell meets the NCAA Division I top-ranked Hawkeyes, who own a 77-match unbeaten streak, at 5 p.m., and then finishes the day against NAIA's 15th-ranked Baker at 7 p.m.

"It's important how our guys perform in a hostile and pressure-packed environment like Carver-Hawkeye Arena," Duroe said. "We can do one of two things… we can be intimidated and underperform, or we can be stimulated and represent ourselves.

"To compete in the Iowa Duals is exciting for our coaches and athletes. We appreciate the opportunity to go there and wrestle."