Ram Review: Cornell freshman Nick Nothern (Salina, Kan./Salina South) advanced to the 133-pound championship at the Dick Walker Invitational on Dec. 9 in Cedar Falls before falling to top-seeded Jake Helvey of Wartburg, 7-3. Nothern is 12-5 on the season.

The Rams fielded a partial squad at the Dick Walker Invitational and still compiled a 26-26 record with five placewinners. Junior Pat McAuley (Austin, Texas/Lanier), who has a team-leading 14 wins, placed fourth at 157 pounds. Sophomore David Boussios (Hillsboro, Ore./Century) and sophomore Christian Coffey (Houston, Texas/Westside) were fifth at 141 and 165 pounds. Junior Josh Pastor (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) was sixth at 197.

“I was disappointed with our lack of consistency and effort in some matches,” Duroe said. “We had good individual performances from Nothern and Coffey. Coffey had a couple of good, dominating wins.”

Boussios, Coffey and McAuley were all 4-2 on the day. McAuley won three matches by fall and Pastor pinned two opponents. The Rams held advantages over their opponents in near-fall points (44-35) and reversals (15-12).

“Our team had a heart-to-heart talk after the tournament,” Duroe said. “We’re looking for a renewed commitment by the entire team to get better.”

Dick Walker Invitational
Dec. 9, Cedar Falls

Final Team Standings — 1. Wartburg 140 ½, 2. Iowa Central 129 ½, 3. Coe 123 ½, 4. Loras 82, 5. Cornell 65, 6. UW-Whitewater 61, 7. Augustana (Ill.) 47 ½, 8. UW-Platteville 46, 9. Ellsworth 26, 10. Knox 20 ½, 11. Augsburg 9 ½.

Cornell Results
133 — Nick Nothern (runner-up): dec. Sean White (Wartburg) 11-6; dec. Kalen Lenz (Wartburg) 5-3; lost dec. to Jake Helvey (Wartburg) 7-3.
141 — David Boussios (fifth): maj. dec. Tyler Everson (Wartburg) 12-4; lost maj. dec. to Jo Soto (Iowa Central) 17-6; dec. Boomer Mears (Loras) 3-2; dec. Kurt Simon (Ellsworth) 8-6; lost dec. to Zach Chambers (UW-Platteville) 10-5; dec. Austin Bautista (UW-Whitewater) 7-6.
149 — Alex Riniker: dec. Beau Bielecki (Augustana) 5-0; lost tech. fall to Matt Burns

Way to go Nick!

Where is this college at and is it d2 or what?

Cornell College is in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, NCAA Division III, Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). There are a few more Kansas wrestlers visiting there this year as well.

nick its darcy and if you see this..... i love you

Yo Adrian ... I love you!!!!

Ram Review: No. 16 Cornell (5-2 overall) turned in one of its most dominant performances in years with a 41-9 thumping of Augustana on Dec. 14 in Rock Island, Ill. The Rams won five of 10 matches by fall and another by technical fall. They had the first takedown in 9 of 10 bouts and held huge advantages in nearfall points (48-5) and total match points (95-34).

“Our guys got themselves ready to compete and we were very aggressive on our feet,” Cornell Coach Mike Duroe said. “Sometimes when you go on the road your focus is better. We didn’t have any distractions and I was pleased with our performance.”

The win snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Vikings. Winning by fall for the Rams were juniors Chris Heilman (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary’s) at 125 pounds and Pat McAuley (Austin, Texas/Lanier) at 157, sophomore David Boussios (Hillsboro, Ore./Century) at 141, and freshmen Nick Nothern (Salina, Kan./Salina South) at 133 and Jason Edlund (Goshen, Ind./Goshen) at 285. Sophomore Aron Kindelsperger (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) won by technical fall at 149.

“Our aggressiveness resulted in a lot of first takedowns, nearfall points and falls,” Duroe said.

The Rams bolted to an 11-3 lead after three bouts, but couldn’t keep the momentum going during a 25-14 loss to No. 9 North Central on Dec. 16 in Mount Vernon. Heilman opened the dual with a fall in 2-minutes, 13-seconds. Nothern trailed 4-2 after the first period before hustling back and nearly knocking off No. 2 Adam Johnson at 133. A riding time point gave Johnson a 6-5 victory. At 141, Boussios destroyed North Central’s Ed Domich with a 17-2 technical fall in 6:19. Boussios compiled 12 nearfall points.

North Central scored the next 22 points before Edlund stopped the skid with a 7-2 win at 285 pounds over the Cardinals’ Jim Looper.

“We let an opportunity to beat a top 10 team in front of our home crowd slip away, and that was disappointing,” Duroe said. “We’re still learning to step it up when things get tough in a match. We’re still improving our mental toughness.”

No. 9 North Central 25, No. 16 Cornell 14
Dec. 16, Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon

125 — Chris Heilman (Cor) pinned Joey Norton 2:13; 133 — Adam Johnson (NC) dec. Nick Nothern 6-5; 141 — David Boussios (Cor) tech. fall over Ed Domich 17-2, 6:19; 149 — Noah Fitzenreider (NC) tech. fall over Aron Kindelsperger 20-5, 7:00; 157 — Bobby Gingerich (NC) dec. Pat McAuley 8-6; 165 — Ben Youel (NC) maj. dec. Christian Coffey 8-0; 174 — Timmy Miller (NC) dec. Kyle Kehrli 11-6; 184 — Gabe Youel (NC) maj. dec. Andrew Smith 14-5; 197 — Vinny Sapienza (NC) dec. Josh Pastor 11-7; 285 — Jason Edlund (Cor) dec. Jim Looper 7-2.

Takedowns — North Central 22, Cornell 8; Reversals — North Central 3, Cornell 2; Escapes — North Central 7, Cornell 21; Nearfall points — North Central 17, Cornell 15; Penalty points — North Central 2, Cornell 6; Riding time points — North Central 6, Cornell 1; Total match points — North Central 82, Cornell 63.

Cornell 41, Augustana (Ill.) 9
Dec. 14, Rock Island, Ill.

157 — McAuley (Cor) pinned Jim Caputo 2:00; 165 — Mike Kerr (Aug) dec. Coffey 8-5; 174 — Reuben Zacharakis-Jutz (Cor) dec. Nick Iftner 14-8; 184 — Smith (Cor) dec. Brian Kerr (Aug) 12-9; 197 — John Parkhurst (Aug) pinned Pastor 6:37; 285 — Edlund (Cor) pinned Nathan Vulgamott 2:13; 125 — Heilman (Cor) pinned George Gogonas 3:33; 133 — Nothern (Cor) pinned Kyle Brodwater 3:57; 141 — Boussios (Cor) pinned Ron Moravec 4:27; 149 — Kindelsperger (Cor) tech. fall over Beau Bielecki 19-3, 6:19.
Takedowns — Cornell 16, Augustana 6; Reversals — Cornell 3, Augustana 3; Escapes — Cornell 8, Augustana 10; Nearfall points — Cornell 48, Augustana 5; Penalty points — Cornell 0, Augustana 1; Riding time points — Cornell 1, Augustana 0; Total match points — Cornell 95, Augustana 34.