Mike Grey Named Open Mat Coach of the Year

[Mountain Hawk]

But Tanelli……

[Oracle]

Yup, that would have been my vote!!!

[Spladle1989]

I liked Damion Hahn at SDSU personally.....Tanelli for EIWA though

[mookie]

Hahn would be a terrific head coach at Lehigh. He's a great recruiter and he's connected throughout N.J., PA., & Ohio. He has the energy to program build and he wins every place he goes.

He's on everyone's shortlist.

[Mountain Hawk]

I liked Damion Hahn at SDSU personally.....Tanelli for EIWA though

It was a joke because newsletter folks were throwing shade on Grey and Cornell as the choice for EIWA in favor of Tanelli. Not even close. Grey has out recruited everyone and his teams have been dominant from our conference. He deserved it this year as was recognized by the league and now the whole country.

[Spladle1989]

I see your point on Grey, though not in complete agreement, think he was basically handed the keys to a program he could only screw up....as long as Yianni (and Vito) were there recruits were going to keep coming, plus the pull of the Ivies.....if you spend any time on twitter or Instagram you see the pull that Yianni has with young wrestlers........Yianni has 127K followers on instagram, compare that to a guy like Darian Cruz (10K), Mason Parris (22K), Austin O'Connor (12K) or even Vito (22K)......the only college wrestlers who have similar high numbers are Penn State wrestlers or Spencer Lee (179K)......I know eye roll, but unfortunately this stuff matters......

I think Hahn has done a fantastic job with much less, as has Tanelli

Cael would win the award every year if you go by wins and high end recruits coming in

[Chico]

I liked Damion Hahn at SDSU personally.....Tanelli for EIWA though

It was a joke because newsletter folks were throwing shade on Grey and Cornell as the choice for EIWA in favor of Tanelli. Not even close. Grey has out recruited everyone and his teams have been dominant from our conference. He deserved it this year as was recognized by the league and now the whole country.

Agreed. Grey was the guy this year.
I also was happy that the whole EIWA did as well as they did.

[NothingMeaningful]

I see your point on Grey, though not in complete agreement, think he was basically handed the keys to a program he could only screw up

Somehow after Koll left, Vito went from 3rd at NCAAs to Outstanding Wrestler. Foca went from NQ to 3rd (beating Mekhi Lewis). Cardenas went from R12 to AA. Ungar came within a toenail of being AA. Team took 3rd at NCAA despite losing four projected starters (including one AA) during the season, having started the season ranked 8th (Flo). Appears to be keeping Yianni in Ithaca post-graduation. Managed to keep one of the best 2023 recruiting classes in the country intact (and the best in the EIWA), despite Koll's pull at Stanford:

Cornell Meyer Shapiro 1 Wyoming Seminary PA 149
Cornell Michael Dellagatta 51 St. Joe Regional NJ 184
Cornell Marcello Milani 52 St. Mary's MI 125
Cornell Simon Ruiz 68 Delbarton NJ 149
Cornell Matt Furrman Canon-McMillan PA 184
Cornell Tyler Ferrara Chenango Forks NY 133/141

Seems like he did more than not lose the keys.

[Spladle1989]

You think they started recruiting Shapiro or most of those guys for that matter last year? Do you understand how recruiting works? They were hooked early, which goes back to to my Yianni comments….they were coming to Cornell even if Pat Downey took over…..

And if you know half as much as you claim about Cornell Wrestling you would know Yianni wasn’t going anywhere his love for Mike Grey or not.

[NothingMeaningful]

You think they started recruiting Shapiro or most of those guys for that matter last year? Do you understand how recruiting works? They were hooked early, which goes back to to my Yianni comments….they were coming to Cornell even if Pat Downey took over…..

And if you know half as much as you claim about Cornell Wrestling you would know Yianni wasn’t going anywhere his love for Mike Grey or not.

Yet some of those who committed to Cornell left for Stanford the year before. I guess they were not as "hooked" as the others.

And Vito's improvement? Foca's? Ungar's? Cardenas'? Team race?

FWIW, Meyer Shapiro committed to Cornell on 4/12/22, when <checks notes> Mike Grey was coach.