RESULTS

MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's wrestlers took a liking to this season's new 3-point takedown rule Thursday night.
 
Coach Brent Hamm's Rams scored 29 of them against Simpson and rolled to an impressive 52-0 victory inside 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.
 
Coming up – Cornell competes at the Luther Hill Invitational Saturday in Indianola.