Listen to Scott Casber as he interviews Troy Nickerson, Cam Simaz, Angel Escobedo, Craig Brester, Daniel Cormier, Eric Keller, Kevin Bonilla, and Pat Pecora.

I’m back from Omaha and still riding a high from the weekend. Every wrestler wrestled well whether in victory or defeat. I am so honored to be a part of the greatest NCAA tournament performance in Cornell wrestling history.

With only days left before the opening round of the 2010 NCAA DI wrestling championships, wrestling fans across the nation are seething with anticipation of a donnybrook amongst the top teams in the nation challenging for the coveted team championship.

Rob Koll recaps the Big Red’s performance at the 2010 EIWA Championships.

Cornell earned All-Ivy accolades at a total of nine different weight classes. Eight earn first team honors for the 2009-2010 season. Lewnes and O’Connor named Co-Wrestlers of the year; Dake named rookie of the year.

What: #7 Cornell University vs. Hofstra
When: Saturday February 6th, 2010
Time: 5pm EST
Where: Ithaca, NY
Coverage: Live Video (Courtesy of Cornell Redcast)

After the Iowa State dual meet at the Newman Center on January 31, Lighthouse Wrestling sat with Cornell Head Coach Rob Koll, 3x All-American Troy Nickerson, and freshman standout, Kyle Dake for a brief interview.

What: #2 Iowa State vs. #7 Cornell University
When: Sunday January 31st, 2010
Time: 1pm EST
Where: Newman Arena
Coverage: Live Text (Courtesy of Light House Wrestling)/Live Video (Courtesy of Cornell Redcast)

Cornell had a full weekend of wrestling with Lehigh on Friday evening and the New York Intercollegiate Championships all day Saturday and Sunday. We tied #8 Lehigh 15-15 and won the NY States, crowning five champions.

Cornell head coach gives his mid term report on the Big Red Wrestling team with an in depth analysis of each weight class.

They practice scrambling at Cornell; this is a certainty. If the finals of the 2009 Southern Scuffle on the campus of UNC-Greensboro taught us nothing else, it is that Big Red wrestlers have made an art out of countering their opponents’ offensive attacks and utilizing their scrambling ability to remain in control of matches at [...]

So much has changed since I competed in high school during the 1970s. When I wrestled if you had 20 matches during the season, it was a lot. There are more opportunities to compete competitively all year today than in the 70s. Are the top wrestlers better today than in yesteryear? What’s your reasoning?

Obviously you’re a great coach as measured by the success of your athletes. What characteristics/traits do you feel makes a great wrestling coach? Can a coach make the difference in the success of these future champions, or have you been fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach talent that was destined to be great no matter who coached them? What difference can a coach make? What are you emphasizing in your practices to make a difference in the success of your athletes?

The No. 3 nationally ranked Cornell wrestling team has earned the top spot in EIWA Preseason rankings it was released this weekend. The Big Red has won the EIWA team title the past three seasons and will contend for its fourth-straight win in March. Seven Big Red wrestlers are ranked in the top six of their individual weight classes with four ranked first. Freshmen are not eligible to be ranked.

“Establish trust with your athletes, demand that they give you their best, and teach them to love the sport as much as you do.” – Scott Green, Owner and Coach of Shamrock AC

The top 25 NCAA Division I wrestlers eligible to compete in the 2010 season have been ranked across weight classes. A power ranking formula was created to compare performance. No subjective information was used to rank the wrestlers except for arriving at the power point system which was applied the same for each wrestler.

The summer has passed by all too quickly, and the entire team has returned to Ithaca. We had a productive summer, and I am ecstatic to have everyone back. Actually this comes as no surprise to me since we had plus or minus 20 wrestlers training in Ithaca for all or part of the entire summer.

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision.”

– Muhammad Ali

With the 125lbs championship match tied at 1 and with six seconds into the 2^nd overtime period, Troy Nickerson lay facedown on the mat in pain. It was the third time in the tournament that his injured shoulder dislocated.