The Northern Iowa wrestling team traveled more than 900 miles to square off against Cornell — that is, the Ivy League Cornell, in Ithaca, New York. The Cornell that also happens to routinely field some dang-good wrestlers each year.
The 10th-ranked Panthers learned that lesson firsthand. Cornell, ranked 21st by Trackwrestling, downed Northern Iowa, 30-10, on Friday to open the 2017-18 season.
The Big Red (1-0) took seven of the 10 bouts against Northern Iowa (0-1) and won three of them by fall. Chaz Tucker stuck Jack Wagner at 133 to open the dual, then Jon Jay Chavez and Ben Darmstadt followed with pins at 165 (over Dan Kelly) and 197 (over Izaak Shedenhem), respectively.