No. 9 Cornell dropped a 24-9 decision to No. 8 North Carolina State on Friday night. (Dari Zehr photo courtesy Cornell University Athletics)
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 16, 2024 – No. 8 North Carolina State, with three former Danbury wrestlers in the starting lineup, beat No. 9 Cornell on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum, 24-9.
North Carolina State (14-2) snapped Cornell’s six-match winning streak by winning the first four bouts of the match and the last three. No. 23 Jakob Camacho (Danbury) opened the match at 125 pounds with a 5-1 win over No. 15 Brett Ungar, a 2023 NCAA qualifier.
After No. 5 Kai Orine (133) won with a technical fall, No. 4 Ryan Jack (Danbury) beat Josh Saunders, 7-4 to give the Wolfpack an 11-0 lead. North Carolina State led 15-0 after four matches.
At 165, Danbury’s A.J. Kovacs dropped a 9-4 decision to Cornell’s Julian Ramierez, who is ranked No. 3 in the country and a two-time NCAA qualifier. The Big Red (10-4) won three consecutive matches to cut the lead to six, 15-9, with three matches remaining.
But North Carolina State won the final three bouts to secure the win and improve to 14-2 on the year.
No. 8 North Carolina State 24, No. 9 Cornell 9
At Raleigh, N.C.
125: No. 23 Jakob Camacho (NC) dec. No. 15 Brett Ungar 5-1
133: No. 5 Kai Orine (NC) tech fall Ethan Qureshi 15-0
141: No. 4 Ryan Jack (NC) dec. Josh Saunders 7-4
149: No. 4 Jackson Arrington (NC) dec. No. 20 Ethan Fernandez 12-2
157: No. 7 Meyer Shapiro (C) dec. No. 14 Ed Scott 7-2
165: No. 3 Julian Ramirez (C) dec. AJ Kovacs 9-4
174: Benny Baker (C) dec. No. 31 Alex Faison 8-4
184: No. 8 Dylan Fishback (NC) dec. No. 6 Chris Foca 6-4
197: No. 2 Trent Hidlay (NC) dec. No. 7 Jacob Cardenas 8-2
285: No. 12 Owen Trephan (NC) dec. No. 16 Lewis Fernandes 1-0
Records: Cornell 10-4, NC State 14-2
