2019 NCAA All-American Vito Arujau (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
Next is…
Vito Arujau (Cornell)
Weight: 125/133 lbs
Year: Sophomore
Career Record: 31-4
Hometown: Syosset, New York
College Accomplishments: 2019 NCAA 4th Place, 2019 EIWA Runner-Up
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #3 at 125 lbs
Back in 2017, Vito Arujau was named InterMat's High School Wrestling of the Year after winning his fourth New York state title. A year earlier, Arujau had gone to Tbilisi, Georgia and returned with a silver medal from the Cadet World Championships. Arujau decided to stay in-state and wrestle for Cornell, but first, he took a grayshirt year.
While grayshirting, Arujau only competed in ten matches at 133 lbs, but he was able to notch some really strong wins. The first of which came over future teammate Chas Tucker, who went on to make the EIWA finals later that year. Arujau finished the year with a tournament title at the Cleveland State Open, which featured an 11-5 win over Micky Phillipi (Pittsburgh). His only loss during that year came at the hands of Ohio's Cameron Kelly.
Arujau's first year at Cornell started at 133 lbs. He won three of four bouts at the season-opening Bearcat Open. The only loss came to Tucker. The remainder of the season saw Arujau compete at 125 lbs. That proved to be a wise decision, as Arujau did not lose another bout during the regular season.
The first big win for the Big Red freshman came against returning national qualifier Jay Schwarm (Northern Iowa) in mid-December. Two months later, Arujau had a massive showdown with another super-freshman at an Ivy League school, Patrick Glory (Princeton). In the midst of a back-and-forth affair, Arujau pinned Glory. Two weeks later, he ended the regular season with a 6-0 shutout of Ohio State's freshman Malik Heinselman.
An undefeated record (at 125) was good enough to warrant the top seed for Arujau in the 2019 EIWA Championships. Arujau piled up bonus points in two of his three wins on the way to the conference championship match. For the EIWA title, Glory was able to get his revenge in a 10-8 shootout. Arujau's runner-up finish at EIWA's gave him the #8 seed at his first NCAA Tournament.
The first round of the NCAA Tournament saw Arujau tangle with a familiar opponent, Heinselman. This time, Vito was able to flex his offensive muscles even more with a 12-2 major decision. It was more of the same in the Round of 16 as he posted an identical score against #9 Rayvon Foley (Michigan State).
That was put Arujau into the quarterfinals opposite top-seeded Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern). The Big Ten champion, Rivera, prevailed in a 6-2 match. Arujau was able to get back on track in the Round of 12 as he majored #14 Sean Fausz (NC State), to lock up All-American honors. Following the win over Fausz was victories over #4 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) and #2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State). He would then settle with fourth place after a second loss to Rivera.
After the 2018-19 season, Arujau claimed a spot on the Junior World Team at 57 kg. Arujau had an excellent showing in Tallinn, Estonia, defeating three-time Cadet world medalist Giorgi Gegelashvili (Georgia) and Akhmed Idrisov (Russia) on the way to the finals. Arujau would fall there and settled for a silver medal.
Arujau did not enroll at Cornell in 2019-20 as he intended on pursuing a spot on the 2020 Olympic Team. With the postponement of the Olympic Games, Arujau had to wait until April of 2021 for the Trials. Before then, Arujau captured a title at 2020 Senior Nationals and was unbeaten at the RTC Cup.
At the Olympic Trials, Arujau downed eventual third-place finisher Nate Tomasello in the opening round, before taking out 2019 World Team member Daton Fix in the semis. For the Olympic Team berth, Arujau was defeated in two consecutive bouts by Thomas Gilman.
Strengths: Arujau has a very diverse and unique set of skills from his feet. He can bang in close and bully opponents or strike from space in the blink of an eye. Arujau doesn't necessarily have a “go-to†attack; he can do a little bit of everything. No matter what the shot, Arujau tends to finish decisively and minimize the potential for a scramble from his opponent. His athleticism and good hips help in scrambles and make him a threat from the bottom. For someone with such as strong freestyle pedigree, Arujau is a strong rider too. He can punish the opposition with his leg riding skills.
2021-22 Outlook: It's still sort of up-in-the-air as to which weight Arujau will go this year, 125 or 133. Both weight classes feature returning national champions, so Arujau won't be considered a favorite, initially. He does have enough offense to pull an upset and win at either weight class.
2019 NCAA All-American Vito Arujau (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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