After finishing fifth in the nation last year, the Cornell wrestling team is preparing for the 2015-’16 season. The team begins competition on Nov. 8 with a tournament hosted by Binghamton University.
“I always use the expression, with people who ask me how you get the kids motivated: you recruit motivated kids,” Koll said.
Cornell was ranked eighth in the USA Today/NWCA preseason coaches poll. The team holds a 13-year winning streak for the Ivy League Championships. Koll said, however, winning that tournament isn’t the team’s goal for the season.
“It’s an expectation at this point in time, as is winning the Eastern [Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament],” Koll said. “We won the Eastern nine times. We’ve been Top 5 [in the nation] six out of the last seven years, so we kind of have an expectation of being right there. Our goal isn’t to be there. We want to win the whole thing.”
A digital clock inside Cornell’s Friedman Wrestling Center counts down the days until the NCAA Championship tournament, set for March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden.
That tournament is over 130 days away and, in the meantime, the team is preparing for the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open in Vestal, New York. Because of the tournament’s “open” status, all wrestlers enter individually and the event is not NCAA sanctioned.
“It’s a lot of fun because we can’t coach the kids,” Koll said. “So [the coaches] sit back in the crowd and see them from a different angle.”
The open will be the first time wrestlers are expected to make weight this season. The Ivy League begins their season later than most.
“The Ivy League doesn’t let us get going until Oct. 15, so we don’t really have a lot of competition that early,” Koll said. “The other teams, it’s the same as other sports. You know, hockey, most teams have a month on them. We try not to schedule too heavy in early November when all the other teams are a couple weeks ahead of us as far as training.”
The tournament serves as preparation for the team, which has its first dual meet on Nov. 21 against Drexel University.
“You’ll find guys who will, when they wrestle poorly, it’s usually that first or second time down,” Koll said.
Junior wrestler Gabe Dean said the Binghamton open is a good way to jumpstart the year because it offers the opportunity to wrestle new opponents.
“You’re down in here with the same guys everyday, so it’s exciting to get your hands on some different kinds of guys,” Dean said.
Cornell wrestling has a squad limit of 36, but Koll said about 30 athletes are wrestling on any given day, due to injuries.
The team has been successful because the coaches and wrestlers know that Cornell is “a high pressure academic institution,” Koll said.
“There’s times when we know that we need to pull back, whereas our competition is working really hard, but it doesn’t matter if your kids are worn out, they’re not sleeping,” Koll said. “If you try to push through it, there’s diminishing returns. We try to work a little bit smarter than our competition.”
As the semester hits full swing, freshman wrestler Dalton Macri said balancing practice and schoolwork has made him become more focused.
“It’s a lot tougher,” Macri said. “You’ve just got to have really great time management.”
Dean, a National Champion at the 184 pound division, agreed that a successful wrestling season is all about balance.
“What I’ve learned in previous years is to not get too high or too low,” Dean said. “Wrestling season is a long season and it’s very personal because it’s only you out there.”
