The starting 10 Cornell puts out on the mat this first semester could look a lot different than the Big Red squad that suits up for the Ivy League Championships and the NCAA Championships in March.

Two-time All-American Meyer Shapiro is not enrolled in school and will not see action until late December.

“Meyer was a little banged up right before the U23s, and then he didn’t really get a chance to train like we want to over the summer,” Grey said. “So giving him a training period like that is essential. This allows him to get that time back and just focus on training.”

Greg Diakomihalis at 125 pounds and Vince Cornella at 141 pounds will also be held out this first portion of the year. Diakomihalis was limited to just nine matches last year and Cornella missed the entire season. Brett Ungar (133 pounds) could see limited action until he is back full-time.

Despite missing all that firepower early, Cornell has experienced wrestlers at all the lower weight classes. In fact, of the six that will be competing for the three spots at 125-141 once everybody is back to action, five have competed at the NCAA Championships.

“A big thing for us is that we talk about having humility, really recognizing that you can’t go at it alone,” Grey said. “You need your teammates to help get you to where you want to be, we need that competition within our own program.”    

Cornell went through injury issues last year that forced a reshuffling of the lineup for the postseason. But what might have been growing pains last year, has led to great depth this year.

“Marcello (Milani) developed a ton and was a national qualifier last year (at 125 pounds),” Grey said. “Up at 133, Tyler (Ferrara) also developed from being in the lineup and was another national qualifier. (Josh) Sanders was also in the lineup full-time and went to NCAAs.

“We have really embodied that next man up mentality, especially navigating what we were forced to go through last year. Now I’m excited to watch these guys continue to build their confidence and build their experience as they move through the season.”

Once the second semester rolls around, Grey and staff will have to see who wins battles at a few different weight classes. Those out for the first semester will miss the Cliff Keen Invitational, but Cornell has added a lot of competition around the holidays — the Journeyman Duals (Dec. 21) and Southern Scuffle (Jan. 3-4).

“We will definitely once again have a lot of guys in our lineup throughout the year,” Grey said. “That is only going to help this program now and, in the future, to have that level of competition in our own room. I like to let the competition figure it out.”

One returning starter Cornell has ruled out this year is Mikey Dellagatta. As a freshman last year, he was an NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds. The plan was for him to move down to take over at 184 pounds for two-time All-American Chris Foca.

“He had shoulder surgery, so (he’s) out for this year but will have three years left.” Grey said. 

Ruiz’s Time To Shine

One very important member of the Big Red squad Grey will be relying on this entire season: Sophomore Simon Ruiz at 174 pounds.

In his freshman season last year, Ruiz earned All-American honors with a fifth-place showing at his first trip to the NCAA Championships. That result led him to a third-place finish at the 2025 U.S. Open on the Senior-level, where his only loss was to Evan Wick and he scored a pair of victories over Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla.

“His first year he gets fifth and then goes on and has a great freestyle summer,” Grey said. “He's just oozing with confidence, and I think that's such a huge thing. He continues to get better, which is great. He's able to train with some high-quality guys.”

It is very hard to find a better training environment in the country for Ruiz then at Cornell. Assistant coach Darren McFadden is heavily involved in his training, along with a bevy of athletes who come to train at the RTC.

“We've had some really great Japanese athletes in here,” Grey said. “He's been able to train with them, which is really, really good. Yianni (Diakomihalis) is bigger now. He's wrestling 70 kg now so he's sizable and big enough to wrestle with Simon. That's really good for Simon.

“Just giving him quality training partners and watching him just continue to progress. I think the confidence comes from his training. His ability to have great training partners. He has all the tools to be super successful and then going out there and doing it.”

Ruiz started with a 9-6 win over Lenny Pinto of Rutgers at the All-Star Classic. After giving up a pair of takedowns in the first period, Ruiz stormed back by scoring the final eight points of the exhibition match in New Jersey.

The results continued during this past weekend’s National Duals with a pair of ranked wins. First it was 2-0 over #10 Alex Facundo of Oklahoma State before going for bonus with an 18-4 major decision over #20 Jared Simma of Northern Iowa.

Ruiz has been ranked #3 at 174 pounds each week this season thus far. 

“The more you win, the better you're going to feel,” Grey said. “We saw that obviously at the NCAAs and that springboarded into him doing well at the U.S. Open. 

“Then the culmination of the summer was him beating the Ukrainian. That was a two-time world medalist. You couldn't write it better. He has all that confidence moving into this year's season, and I'm really excited for him.”

That victory Grey was referring to came over Vasyl Mykhailov in early August in the final of the Poland Open. Ruiz took the 7-6 victory over the 30-year-old, who won bronze at both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships at 79 kg.