CEDAR FALLS – Cornell's men's wrestling team knocked off two Top 25 opponents Saturday to win the 17-24 place bracket at the NWCA Division III National Duals in the UNI-Dome.
Coach
Brent Hamm's No. 24 Rams earned a 24-17 semifinal victory over No. 17 Millikin. Cornell edged No. 18 Central, 19-18, in the championship dual of the bracket.
Cornell finished 3-1 over the two-day event, which included a 32-6 rout of Adrian on Friday. The team's lone blemish was a 21-20 loss to No. 21 Wabash in Friday's preliminary round. That dual was decided by tiebreaker criteria.
Cornell's three wins tied a program record for the most ever at the NWCA Duals. The Rams improved their season record to 12-5.
The Rams had three individuals finish 4-0 over the weekend in
Landon Card (149 pounds), sixth-ranked
Cael McLaren (184) and 13th-ranked
Treyten Steffen (197).
Card (17-4) posted bonus points in all four of his matches, outscoring his opponents by a whopping 59-8 margin. He scored a 17-1 technical fall over Millikin's Chase Mirelez, followed by a 13-4 major decision against Central.
McLaren (21-1), who eclipsed the 100-win mark on Friday, cruised to a 15-0 technical fall against Millikin. He then earned a 2-0 decision over Central's 14th-ranked Sam West.
Steffen (17-3) notched dual-clinching wins in both meets Saturday. With the Rams leading 20-13 against Millikin, Steffen put the dual out of reach with a 9-1 major decision. He earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over Austin Roos that gave Cornell the dual with Central.
Jase Van Pelt (8-4 decision at 125),
AJ Parrish (10-2 major decision at 157) and
Brian Petry (8-5 decision at 165) provided key wins against Millikin (12-2).
The Rams won five matches by three points or less in the tight dual with Central (6-3). Cornell received pivotal early wins from Van Pelt (5-4 at 125) and
Eli Sneed (2-1 at 133).
Jace Nelson-Brown prevailed 4-2 at 174.
Coming up – The Rams host the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational next Saturday, Jan. 18, in the arena of the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
