When the calendar turns to February, it’s hard in college wrestling not to look ahead to March. At this point in the season, wrestlers have been training non-stop and have gone through the grind of the first few months.

For Cornell, there are two weekends left before the postseason. Three duals before the Big Red will defend their Ivy League title and look for another top-10 NCAA finish, along with individual accolades from some highly ranked wrestlers. 

But the Big Red will take the time to embrace what this upcoming weekend means when Binghamton visits Ithaca. Saturday is Senior Day and Cornell’s last home dual this season. It is a time to honor the seniors on the roster who have been with the program and helped it reach new heights.

“Wrestling is the vehicle,” Cornell coach Mike Grey said. “I love wrestling more than anybody, but for us and for our institution, it means a lot to graduate because you’re going to graduate with a world-class degree and put yourself in a great position immediately out of college.

“Graduation is something to be celebrated, especially at a school like Cornell. I think it’s great for our kids to stay in this program. We’re graduating 13 seniors, and that shows our retention. We’re trying to have kids enjoy their experience, help them through those challenges, and for them to learn a ton about themselves. Our goal is to prepare them to go out, be great leaders and become great husbands and fathers.” 

Lineup Change At 184 Pounds

Unfortunately for Cornell, there was a forced change at 184 pounds recently that also affected the lineup at 165 pounds.

Senior Christian Hansen suffered an injury in the Columbia dual on Jan. 31 and was forced to injury default. It turned out to be a season-ending injury for Hansen.

At the time of his injury, Hansen was ranked #15 in the country at 184 pounds and was in the starting lineup for the first time since his freshman season of 2023.

“Unfortunately, Hansen tore his ACL and is done for the year,” Grey said. “It was a tough situation in that Columbia dual that ended his season.

“So, this past weekend we juggled our lineup, because we needed to see where we were at trying to replace him.”

In wins at Princeton (31-5) and at Penn (19-13), freshman Louie Cerchio bumped up from his normal starting spot at 165 pounds and was sent out at 184 pounds for both conference matches. He picked up a major decision at Princeton and followed up with a 4-1 decision at Penn.

“Louie was cutting a lot of weight to make 165 pounds, so he looks so much better already,” Grey said. “He is a really strong kid. But going down to 165 pounds, it just took size off him and some of his strength. He also has a huge gas tank, and not having to cut that weight, we should be able to see that, and he will use that to his benefit.”

Cerchio was the #37 overall recruit in the Class of 2024 and took a grayshirt last season. He fit a need in the Cornell lineup at 165 pounds to start the season but is now penciled in to take over 184 pounds the rest of the way.

“We learned a good bit about how Louie can fare in the Ivy League tournament at (184 pounds),” Grey said. “I think he can win the tournament and qualify for NCAAs.

“I think it's a good ending for him in the sense that he gets to compete to the best of his ability and really show himself, and the college wrestling world, that he is a talent and he's going to have a bright future.”

Junior Benny Rogers then bumped up and came into the lineup at 165 pounds. He saw significant action earlier this year at 157 pounds while Meyer Shapiro missed the first semester.

Ruiz Gaining Momentum

Cornell enters the final stretch of the season with four wrestlers ranked in the top-10 of their weight class, three of whom are currently undefeated.

One of those is Simon Ruiz. Last year, as a freshman, Ruiz was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and placed fifth at the NCAA Championships. This year has been even better, off to a perfect 11-0 start and ranked #2 at 174 pounds.

“I think he’s a lot more confident at this point in the season than he was last year,” Grey said. “He has become more of a vocal leader. And he had a really good summer wrestling freestyle, and I think that success really springboarded him into success this year.”

Ruiz concurs with his head coach. Though he had success right away last year in his first year in the lineup, he is a different wrestler at this point of the season compared to a year ago.

“Last year, as a freshman, I think we were still trying to figure things out — like what works best for me, what I need to do to improve on certain things,” Ruiz said. “Now I have a better sense of how it works. My confidence is higher in terms of that because I know what I need to succeed at this point.”

After coming off All-American honors, he was thrown into freestyle on short notice, but had a successful run at the U.S. Open. He was able to travel more and train in different environments, which set him up to hit the ground running in his second year.

Unfortunately, he suffered an injury before the Cliff Keen and was forced to miss that event and the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in late December. He missed about a month of action in the Cornell lineup.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Ruiz said. “I had this momentum going, and then I got hurt. I love this sport, so it might have been good I was forced to take some time off, just to get some rest for where we are today.”

But he returned and proved that he deserves to sit up near the top of the national rankings at 174 pounds. Even before the postseason arrives, he will be challenged in the final three duals of the season, all against ranked foes, including one against fellow returning All-American Matty Singleton of NC State in a non-conference dual in Raleigh next weekend.

“Hopefully this stretch will help me to continue to build my confidence as we get closer to the postseason,” Ruiz said. “Those guys are going to come at me, so it will be good to have all of those tough battles to get me even more prepared for March.”

Grey is eager to see the run Ruiz will put together this postseason.

“He is ramping up nicely, gaining back that momentum,” Grey said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish, him finding that next gear.”