The Big Red opened with senior Mike Mackie taking on Chris Musser at 165 pounds in his first dual match of the season. Musser took the lead with a little over a minute left in the period, but Mackie escaped allowing the Brown wrestler to take only a one point advantage into the second. Musser chose to start the second period in neutral, but neither wrestler was able to score. Mackie started the third period down, and with 15 seconds off the clock earned a reversal to take a 3-2 lead. The Big Red senior controlled Musser for the remainder of the match to give Cornell a 3-0 lead with the 3-2 decision.
At 174 pounds, No. 10 ranked Steve Anceravage took the mat to face Kasey McCurdy. Anceravage gave up a point for an illegal hold early in the first period, but quickly regained the lead with a takedown. The junior manhandled his opponent until he won by fall in 1:46. Anceravage has pinned his last five opponents and has 14 on the season.
No. 17 Josh Arnone wrestled against Matt Gevelinger at 184 pounds. The score was 2-1 after the first period with a takedown from Arnone and an escape from the Brown grappler. In the second period, Gevelinger chose to start in the down position and earned an escape 20 seconds later. Arnone made another takedown with 1:10 left on the clock but Gevelinger escaped to come within a point of Arnone going into the third. Arnone escaped quickly from Geverlinger's clutches in the final period and began to rack up points against the Brown wrestler. With two takedowns and 2:15 in riding time, Arnone won a 10-5 decision to give Cornell a 12-0 lead.
Freshman Justin Kerber continued his success at 197 pounds for Cornell. Kerber took a 2-1 advantage over Leo Saniuk into the second period. Kerber chose to start the second period down but was unable to escape Saniuk allowing him to accumulate 1:43 in riding time going into the third. Saniuk quickly escaped from his down position in the last period, but Kerber went ahead 4-2 with a takedown with 1:21 left in the match. Kerber held onto Saniuk long enough to dwindle his riding time advantage before the Bears' wrestler came within a point with an escape. Kerber held his lead to win a 4-3 decision to move to 5-0 in his new weight class.
Freshman Maciej Jochym faced Levon Mock in the heavyweight bout. The two wrestled to a scoreless first period. Mock started the second period in the down position and with a twist reversed Jochym. The Bears' wrestler caught Jochym with his back towards the mat and took full advantage. Mock put Brown on the board for the first time with six team points, pinning Jochym in 3:32.
At 125 pounds, senior Mike Rodriguez faced Mike Piccirillo. Rodriguez jumped out to a two point lead at 2:14 of the first period, and he nearly pinned Piccirillo to earn three backpoints to take a 5-0 advantage into the second period. Rodriguez chose to start the second period in the neutral position, but neither wrestler was able to score during the two minutes. Piccirillo escaped from the down position in the third, but with 4:04 in riding time, Rodriguez won a 6-1 decision.
No. 2 ranked Mike Grey met Jeff Schell at 133 pounds. Grey earned two points with a takedown with 46 seconds left in the first period and racked up riding time staying in control for the rest of the period. Grey started the second down and quickly escaped with only three seconds off the clock. The freshman took a 5-0 lead with another takedown. Schell escaped from Grey's clutches only to have the Big Red wrestler earn another takedown. Schell started the third period down, but Grey immediately let him up looking to earn more points. Grey notched two more takedowns, and with 1:58 in riding time, won a 12-3 major decision to put Cornell up 22-6 over the Bears.
In the 141 pound bout, Cornell senior Nick Bridge squared off against Mark Savino. Savino earned two points with a takedown with 40 seconds left in the first period, but in a little over 15 seconds, Bridge escaped. Savino chose to start the second down and earned the only point of the period with an escape. Bridge quickly escaped from his starting down position in the third, but Savino lengthened his lead with a takedown. Bridge escaped with 50 seconds left in the match, but was unable to catch Savino losing a 5-3 decision.
Freshman DJ Meagher faced Mark Bloom at 149 pounds. Meagher took a 4-1 lead into the second period with two takedowns and amassed 1:45 in riding time. Bloom chose to start the second period down and earned a point with an escape. With less than a minute left in the period, Meagher took control of Bloom earning two points with a takedown and also added two back points. In the third period, Meagher earned another point with a quick escape. With two more takedowns and 3:48 in riding time, Meagher earned four team points with a 14-3 major decision. Cornell took a 26-9 lead into the final bout of the night.
At 157 pounds, No. 8 Jordan Leen took on Tom Fazio. With three takedowns and three nearfalls, Leen took a 15-3 lead into the second period. Leen chose to start the second period in the down position and continued to rack up the points with a reversal after only four seconds had ticked off the clock. With another three-point nearfall, Leen went ahead 20-3 to win by tech fall in 3:49. With Leen's five team points, Cornell won the match, 31-9.
The Big Red will play host to Harvard and Bucknell in its final dual matches of the season on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Friedman Wrestling Center. Cornell will take on the Crimson at 1p.m., and square off against the Bison at 3 p.m. The Big Red will also honor its nine seniors.
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