Fayzullaev pin lifts Arizona State to 18-17 win at Cornell
Azizbek Fayzullaev’s fall at 184 produced six bonus points and proved the decisive swing in Arizona State’s 18-17 road victory in Ithaca on Jan. 31, 2026.
Ithaca, N.Y. — Arizona State edged Cornell 18-17 on Jan. 31, 2026, after Azizbek Fayzullaev pinned Matthew Furman at 184 pounds to deliver the bonus points that decided the dual.
Fayzullaev trailed early after Furman opened with a 3-0 takedown, but he answered with an escape and a takedown before finishing by fall. The pin generated six team points and produced the final margin in a dual that swung on bonus scoring and several ranked matchups.
Cornell’s No. 2 Jaxon Joy delivered one of the day’s most decisive results at 149 pounds, beating Daniel Miranda by technical fall, 18-1. Joy built a first-period edge with multiple nearfalls and added a second-period takedown plus a riding-time point to end the bout by technical fall.
The middle weights provided a critical momentum shift when No. 7 Meyer Shapiro pulled an upset at 157, turning a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 victory over No. 3 Kaleb Larkin. Shapiro’s takedown at 0:44 of the third and a 3-point nearfall at 0:37 produced the decisive swing that kept Cornell within striking distance.
Arizona State began its rally at 165 when Nicco Ruiz, rated No. 12 at the weight, topped Louie Cerchio 10-4. Ruiz’s second-period scoring and two third-period takedowns narrowed the gap and helped set up Fayzullaev’s bonus-point finish.
Earlier in the dual, Arizona State opened the scoring at 125 when Anecito Vigil beat No. 26 Greg Diakomihalis 7-2. Cornell responded with tight overtime decisions at 133 and 141, where No. 19 Tyler Ferrara and No. 6 Vince Cornella each won 4-1 in sudden-death overtime to keep the Big Red in contention.
With the dual hanging in the balance after the 184 pin, Arizona State closed with late decisions at 197 and 285. No. 28 Colton Hawks earned a 3-1 win at 197, and No. 18 David Szuba secured a 7-2 decision at heavyweight; those matches supplied the final points that preserved the one-point margin for the Sun Devils.
Between Joy’s technical fall, Shapiro’s upset of a top-ranked opponent, Ruiz’s momentum at 165 and Fayzullaev’s match-ending pin, bonus scoring and a handful of ranked decisions determined an outcome that ended with Arizona State one point ahead.