Wrestling Hosts No. 10 Cornell in Ivy League Tilt Saturday

NEW YORK - The Columbia wrestling team will begin Ivy League competition on Saturday, Feb. 2 when it hosts No. 10 Cornell. The first match inside University (Blue) Gym is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The Lions went 1-1 last weekend and carry a 4-5 overall mark heading into their Ivy League opener against the Big Red. Columbia hosted American in its first home dual of the season last Saturday, downing the visiting Eagles, 24-13. The victory was buoyed by major decisions from Josh Houldsworth (165 pounds), Stephen West (174 pounds) and Jake O'Hara (157 pounds), as well as a pin from Nick Mills (197 pounds).

Cornell hadits five-match win streak snapped last Sunday, dropping a 23-20 decision to Oregon State in Ithaca, N.Y.  The loss brought the Big Red to 9-3 on the year. Cornell also has four Ivy League matches under their belt, going 4-0 against Princeton, Brown, Harvard and Penn. Saturday evening's match against Columbia will be the second of the day for the Big Red as they take on Hofstra at 1 p.m. on Long Island.

Cornell vs. Columbia Probable Lineups -Rankings are AWN/Intermat
125 - Penn Gottfried (5-11) vs. No. 5/6 Nahshon Garrett (29-3)
Gottfried dropped a pair of tough decisions last weekend to American's David Terao and Hofstra's Steve Bonanno to fall to 5-11 on the year. Garrett is in the midst of an eight match win streak that includes four technical falls and three major decisions. Garrett's last lost came at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. against No. 2 Nico Megadulis, 3-1.

133 - Robert Dyar (7-5) vs. Bricker Dixon (15-10)
Dyar moved up to the 133-pound weight class last weekend for the first time this season. The senior dropped matches to Esteban Gomez-Rivera from American and Jamie Franco from Hofstra. Despite his 15-10 overall mark, Dixon has lost two of his last three matches. In the Big Red's loss to Oregon State, Dixon fell to Drew Van Anrooy in a 6-1 decision.

141 - Alec Mooradian (3-2) vs. No. 9/10 Mike Nevinger (27-8)
Mooradian, a first-year at Columbia, went 1-1 wrestling for the first time at 141 pounds last weekend. Mooradian provided a thrilling 3-1 sudden victory decision for the home crowd Saturday against American's John Boyle, but went down Sunday to Hofstra's Luke Vaith on Sunday. Nevinger had a 10-match winning streak broken last weekend, dropping a pair of decisions to top-10 foes. No. 8/9 C.J. Cobb and No. 3/4 Michael Mangrum from Oregon State each captured decisions from Nevinger last weekend.

149 - No. 6/6 Steve Santos (18-2) vs. No. -/14 Chris Villalonga (16-8)
Santos came away with a pair of decisions over the weekend to improve to a team-best 18-2 on the year. Wins over American's Kevin Tao and Hofstra's Cody Ruggirello moved Santos up two spots in this week's AWN and Intermat polls. No. 10/9 Scott Sakaguchi scored a major decision over Villalonga last Sunday. Prior to the loss, Villalonga had won four straight matches.

157 - No. -/17 Jake O'Hara (15-4) vs. Jesse Shanaman (8-3)
O'Hara capped Columbia's win over American last Saturday with a 12-3 major decision over Mark Cirello. O'Hara now has five major decisions in favor this season, tied for the team lead. Shanaman has run into some staunch competition in his recent matches, losing to No. 11/8 Walter Peppelman from Harvard and No. 8/10 R.J. Pena from Oregon State. In between those two defeats, Shanaman scored a 2-1 tiebreaker victory over Penn's Troy Hernandez.

165 - Josh Houldsworth (15-4) vs. No. 1/1 Kyle Dake (22-0)
Houldsworth ran his win streak to six matches last weekend, knocking off American's Phillip Barriero and Hofstra's Nick Terdick. Houldsworth will face arguably the toughest opponent in his career Saturday, going up against three-time national champion Kyle Dake. Dake, who has won each of his titles in a different weight class, is 22-0 this year. He beat the second-ranked David Taylor from Penn State, 3-2, on Jan. 2.

174 - Stephen West (17-5) vs. Duke Pickett (18-13) or Marshall Peppelman (13-11)
West recorded his second major decision of the year last week, beating American's Keithen Cast, 11-2. West leads the team with 22 matches wrestled this season. Cornell went 1-1 at 174 pounds last weekend. Picket went 1-1 last weekend, including a major decision over Austin Morehead. Peppelman's last three matches have been against Ivy League opponents, going 2-1 with wins over Princeton's Grayson Shepperd and Brown's Ricky McDonald.

184 - Drew Rebling (8-12) vs. No. 4/4 Steve Bosak (11-2)
Rebling split a pair of matches last weekend by decision. After losing to American's Thomas Barriero Saturday, Rebling bounced back with a 7-3 win over Hofstra's Victor Pozsonyi. Bosak, the 2012 national champion at 184 pounds, has won his last five matches. The last time out, Bosak pinned Oregon State's Brian Engdahl in 2:24.

197 - Nick Mills (12-9) vs. Jace Bennett (20-12)
Mills notched his third fall of the season last Saturday, pinning American's Devon Bradley in 3:12. Mills is second on the team with 21 matches wrestled. Bennett has lost three consecutive matches, going down twice by fall. Bennett's last win was a pin of Princeton's Dan Santoro on Jan. 12.

285 - Chris Manna (5-11) vs. Jacob Aiken-Phillips (12-6) or Stryker Lane (15-9)
Manna will look to regroup after three straight losses. His last time out, the senior dropped a major decision to Blake Herrin from American. Aiken-Phillips last two matches were against Penn's Steven Graziano. Graziano got the better of Aiken-Phillips on Jan. 20 with a 5-2 decision, but the roles reversed Jan. 26 with Aiken-Phillips scoring a 5-3 victory. Lane has won his last three bouts, picking up decisions over opponents from Lehigh, Brown and Harvard.