Bucknell @ Cornell

Cornell defeated Bucknell 27-18 in a dual meet at the Friedman Wrestling Center in Ithaca, NY on February 22, 2025. The match featured an unusual number of bonus-point finishes, and Cornell’s pair of late bonus victories ultimately separated the teams by nine points.

Bucknell got big contributions from the middle weights. At 133 pounds Kurt Phipps dominated Joe Sciarrone, winning by technical fall, and Riley Bower delivered one of the night’s biggest swings with a fall at 157 pounds. Those bonus results gave the Bison momentum and kept the dual close, with Bucknell collecting multiple bonus points that kept pressure on the hosts.

Cornell answered with match-clinching work in the upper weights. Chris Foca put together a 16-1 technical fall at 184 pounds, and Michael Dellagatta closed things with a fall at 197 pounds. Those two bonus wins produced 11 team points and proved decisive in putting Cornell ahead for good. Josh Saunders’ major decision at 141 also factored into Cornell’s scoring, but the back-to-back bonus finishes from Foca and Dellagatta were the clear turning run that sealed the result.

In the end the meet was defined by bonus-point wrestling on both sides. Bucknell collected several emphatic wins, but Cornell’s late bonus surge in the heavier classes pushed the Big Red to the 27-18 victory.