MOUNT VERNON – A snowy night on campus got real heated inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center as Wednesday's Top 25 Cornell-Coe men's wrestling dual boiled down to the final moments of an intense heavyweight match.
 
Cornell junior Jackson Brinker delivered the go-ahead takedown with 23 seconds left, setting off a home-crowd eruption as the 21st-ranked Rams claimed a 19-18 comeback victory over 10th-ranked Coe.
 
Brinker, who trailed 9-7 with less than one minute to go, tacked on four near-fall points late to complete his 14-9 decision over Damari Dancy that tied the team score at 18-18 after the 10th and final match.
 
With both teams winning five matches apiece, the outcome was decided by the second tiebreaker criteria – greater number of falls. Cornell had one, Coe none.
 
Cornell sophomore Brian Petry provided the pin (1:46 over Kael Scranton) in the 165-pound bout that ultimately was the difference in the Rams' first series win over the Kohawks since Feb. 2, 2017. The Rams beat Coe in Mount Vernon for the first time since the 1997-98 season.
 
Coach Brent Hamm's Rams (14-5) also secured one point in the 2024-25 Bremner Cup All-Sports Series, which Coe now leads 5-4 with six head-to-head competitions remaining.
 
Trailing 10-0 through three matches, Landon Card put the Rams on the scoreboard with a 4-2 decision over Dresden Grimm at 149 pounds, marking the 99th career victory for the Cornell senior.
 
At 157, Cornell sophomore AJ Parrish scored the decisive takedown with 20 seconds left in his 8-7 decision over Ty Koedam. Petry continued momentum with his quick first-period fall at 165, pushing the Rams ahead 12-10.
 
The Kohawks (9-5) forged back in front with a 17-0 technical fall from fourth-ranked 174-pounder LJ Richardson over Jace Nelson-Brown. At 184, Coe's sixth-ranked Jared Voss earned a 9-2 win over eighth-ranked Cael McLaren, giving the Kohawks an 18-12 advantage with two bouts to go.
 
Fifth-year 197-pounder Treyten Steffen gave Cornell a chance with a hard-fought 6-5 decision over Mathieu Arsenault. The 10th-ranked Steffen recorded the go-ahead takedown in the final period, bringing the Rams within 18-15 and setting the stage for Brinker's heroics at heavyweight.
 
 Coe picked up consecutive wins early in the meet from 14th-ranked Brayden Parke at 125 (8-0 over Jase Van Pelt, 11th-ranked Bryce Parke at 133 (11-5 over Eli Sneed) and Kael Kurtz at 141 (8-1 over Elliot Cooney).  
 
Coming up – The Rams turn their attention to the Lower Midwest Region Championships, held Feb. 28-March 1 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids.