After a disappointing loss against the University of Maryland last weekend, the Columbia wrestling team anxiously awaits its first Ivy League meet of the season against Cornell. The Big Red (2-5) is a wrestling powerhouse that is ranked 15th in the nation and is coming off a win last weekend against Hofstra.

Head Coach Brendan Buckley is optimistic yet hesitant about the upcoming meet. The match against Cornell will be tough, but Buckley thinks the Lions can put up a good fight. “We need a strong performance,” he said. “Every time we step on the mat, we’re going out there to win.”

Since Cornell is one of the top teams in the league, the Light Blue will be looking to Anthony Constantino, Matt Dunn, Travis Creagan, and Jed Wade—the only Lions who won their matches last weekend against Maryland—to score points. The Light Blue got off to a bad start at the beginning of the match, but were able to earn some points toward the middle. The highlight of the meet was certainly the 157-pound weight class event, in which Dunn defeated Maryland’s Brian Letters by a mere one point, 7-6.

Another exciting and close call was Creagan’s one-point win over Bradley Nielson in the 174-weight class (10-9). Heavyweight Wade had the largest-margin win over Patrick Gilmore, with a final score of 19-12. Unfortunately for Columbia, there was not enough time to catch up to the Terrapins, who were victorious with a score of 22-12.

Their biggest contenders from Cornell this weekend will be Zach Hammond, DJ Meagher, and Jordan Leen, all of whom soundly defeated their Hofstra opponents. Hammond pinned the Pride’s Tom Daddino with just 16 seconds left to take the victory. Meagher, a 149-pound freshman, started out strong, taking down Jeff Rotella within the first 10 seconds of the match. Meagher continued to dominate and claimed the win by fall in 4:27. Returning All-American Leen pinned the Pride’s Johnny Bonilla-Bowman in the first 20 seconds and went on to claim a decisive 12-4 win. The Big Red won the contest 28-14.

Despite injuries this winter and a rough start to the season, “the team is looking good,” Buckley said. Columbia’s wrestlers have been working hard in practice and are ready to overcome their setbacks in order to score a victory as the underdogs.

The Lions take on the Big Red on Saturday, Feb. 9 in Ithaca, NY, at 1 p.m.