MOUNT VERNON – Thursday's strong turnout for Youth Night showed the future is bright for the up-and-coming youngsters in local club wrestling.
 
The same can be said about Cornell's emerging men's wrestling team, which scored its second decisive dual win of the season with a 45-5 triumph over NAIA's St. Ambrose inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
Coach Brent Hamm's Rams moved to 2-0 with a young starting lineup that included six sophomores and a freshman against the Fighting Bees (0-4).
 
Cornell recorded bonus points in all of its eight match victories, capped by a flurry of three pins and a technical fall to finish the meet. The Rams accumulated 26 total takedowns and 22 near-fall points.
 
In the marquee match of the night at 184 pounds, Cornell junior 12th-ranked Cael McLaren rallied late to secure a pin over 24th-ranked Dylan Meiners in 6:47. Trailing 14-9 early in the third period, McLaren scored an escape, a takedown and then threw Meiners to his back for the clinching fall.
 
The Rams also picked up pins from junior Landon Card at 149 (2:48), sophomore Gabriel Smith at 157 (2:56), freshman Brian Petry at 174 (3:43) and senior Treyten Steffen at 197 (2:34).
 
Cornell opened the dual with consecutive technical falls by sophomores Jayden Rael at 125 (19-1) and Eli Sneed at 133 (19-3). Sophomore heavyweight Jackson Brinker also dominated his match with a 17-1 technical fall.
 
St. Ambrose's Guiseppe Guerra prevailed 8-3 over Elliot Cooney at 141. Cornell sophomore Scotty Scheidecker dropped a 10-7 battle with Diego Machado at 165.
 
The Rams were the aggressors throughout, registering 17 of their takedowns in the first period.  
 
Coming up – Cornell draws a stern test Saturday with a 2 p.m. neutral-site dual against fifth-ranked UW-La Crosse (1-0) in Kenosha, Wis.