CEDAR FALLS – Cornell's men's wrestling team powered past Concordia Moorhead, 31-14, to finish a 1-1 opening day at the NWCA Duals Friday inside the UNI-Dome.
 
The Rams fell 23-16 in a preliminary dual against No. 19 nationally-ranked Wabash, moving Cornell to the 17-24 bracket for the rest of the tournament.
 
With the decisive win over Concordia Moorhead, Cornell advances to Saturday's 17-24 semifinals against 20th-ranked New York University at 9 a.m. No. 15 Baldwin Wallace and RIT meet in the other semifinal. The winners and losers from both matchups wrestle at 11 a.m. Saturday in the place rounds.
 
For the second consecutive year, the Rams (3-5) went down to the wire in the opening round with Wabash, which edged Cornell on tiebreaker criteria at the 2025 NWCA Duals.
 
The Rams trailed 17-16 going into Friday's heavyweight match, where Wabash sealed it with a first-period pin by 14th-ranked Titus Waters.
 
The Rams split the 10 contested bouts with Wabash, which included a 4-1 upset win from Cornell senior 184-pounder Austin Wilkins over ninth-ranked Mike Taheny.
 
Cornell's Jackson Brinker, ranked 14th at 197, earned bonus points with a 10-1 major decision. The Rams also received wins from Owen Adlfinger (10-4 at 149), 14th-ranked AJ Parrish (6-0 at 157) and 11th-ranked Brian Petry (10-6 at 165).
 
The Rams dominated Concordia Moorhead in the second dual with four bonus-point wins, starting with Jase Van Pelt's quick fall in 1:27 at 125. Landen Schemmel also pinned his opponent at 184, in 5:38.
 
Jayden Rael (16-1 at 141) and Petry (19-4 at 165) both registered technical falls. Sneed (7-0 at 133), Parrish (4-3 at 157) and Brinker (12-6 at 197) all won by decision.
 
Parrish, Petry and Brinker all went 2-0 on the day to lead the Rams.