Rutgers Claims New York

Rutgers took the floor of the most famous arena in the world with an intensity unmatched by any team there. It was the Grapple at the Garden, and Rutgers wanted to prove they were the team NY fans should be rooting for. They started the day with a 47-0 rout of George Mason and then followed it with taking six of the ten matches over #6 Cornell to give them a 21-13 victory. There was nothing fluke about the win. The Scarlet Knights took it to Cornell and won the matches they had a chance to win. It was really impressive for a program that is clearly on the rise. 

It was a rough day for Cornell as they also fell to #9 Nebraska 21-14. The loss to the Huskers shouldn't be a big shock as they are more built to be a dual team than them. It is worth pointing out though, Cornell was 2-12 in matches not wrestled by Nahshon Garrett, Brian Realbuto, and Gabe Dean. 

Nebraska was also able to beat a very game Princeton squad 21-12 in what was the best dual of the day. They were caught by two upsets when Anthony Abidin & Jake Sueflohn fell to Jordan Laster & Chris Perez, but the Huskers got two absolutely necessary wins with Micah Barnes & TJ Dudley taking out Jon Schleifer & Abe Ayala. 

You could say the first major upset of the season happened when Drexel's Matthew Cimato took out #1 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) 7-1. Cimato got the first takedown and never looked back in the match. Drexel ended up edging Northwestern after the 20-20 dual score forced criteria. A really nice win for the Dragons. 

The Grapple at the Garden was another great event and provided some awesome Sunday morning wrestling I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Wilkes defeated LIU Post 30-6.
Rutgers defeated George Mason 47-0.
Nebraska defeated Cornell 21-14.
Franklin & Marshall defeated Oswego 34-12.
Princeton defeated Hofstra 33-9.
Illinois defeated Maryland 34-9.
Drexel defeated Northwestern 21-20.
Stevens Institute defeated New York Univ. 28-12.
Pittsburgh-Johnstown defeated George Mason 21-19.
Rutgers defeated Cornell 21-13.
Nebraska defeated Princeton 21-12.
Maryland defeated Hofstra 24-13.
Illinois defeated Drexel 31-9.
Northwestern defeated Franklin & Marshall 30-18.
Oswego defeated Muhlenberg 31-13.