Cornell’s Diakomihalis wins third NCAA title

On Saturday night, Cornell University junior Yianni Diakomihalis made history by winning his third NCAA Wrestling Championship, becoming only the second Cornell wrestler ever to do so. The other, of course, was Lansing’s Kyle Dake, who won four during his time on the East Hill. Diakomihalis closed out his junior season with a perfect 28-0 record and is now just two wins away from breaking Dake’s record of a 77-match win streak.

Diakomihalis, who is originally from Rochester, ran through Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett in the finals with an aggressive approach full of takedown attempts. Lovett was the 10-seed in the 32-wrestler bracket at 149 pounds, defeating the second seed on his way to the finals. Diakomihalis dispatched him with an 11-5 score and broke down what made him so effective in the finals.

“I think when I was wrestling well, my feet were moving,” Diakomihalis said. “If you watch my finals match, you can see the other guy is kind of stuttering the whole time. I’m throwing fakes, pulling, snapping and creating a lot of motion, a lot of confusion for him so he can never get his footing. I think when I can keep a guy off balance and keep them from getting their feet set and getting comfortable, it’s going to make it really hard for them to get anything going on.”

This third championship was a long time coming for the junior, who had not claimed a national title since his sophomore year in 2019. Since then, he made a run at an Olympic roster spot, not using a year of athletic eligibility, and the 2020-21 Cornell wrestling season was subsequently canceled due to COVID-19, helping Diakomihalis maintain his junior status this year.

“It felt like this one was not even just for myself but for the whole team,” Diakomihalis said. “It was a reminder to everyone else. I feel like there are people who forgot about us, and there were a lot of guys who had opportunities taken away from them because of what was going on with COVID. I think that my national title and our team’s finish — we had two other All-Americans too — I think that’s all a testament to our team and just telling people we’re back and we’re here to stay.”

Owning a 94-1 career record and three national titles, Diakomihalis is not just one of the best Cornell wrestlers ever but one of the best collegiate wrestlers to ever do it. For now, his focus is building that legacy rather than thinking about it.

“It’s the kind of thing that I’m sure when I’m older, I’ll look back on and be really proud of,” he said. “But in the moment, I try my best not to live within the glory of my previous accomplishments. You want to look for the next thing to think about: what I can do to improve, what I could have done better and just keep building off that, use the confidence I have. I try not to really get caught up in the history and what my legacy is going to be.”

Given the success that Diakomihalis has had in his career, there was a massive spotlight on him this past weekend in Detroit. He talked about handling the pressure.

“It took me some time to understand this, but pressure affects people in different ways,” Diakomihalis said. “I noticed that this weekend. I felt this really deep need that I had to dominate and control everyone and win every match 15-2. But then, I was getting ready for my finals match, and it kind of clicked in my head — if you just let yourself enjoy what you’re doing when you’re out there competing and when you’re in the moment, you’ll get the best from yourself.”

There were nine Cornell wrestlers competing at the national championships this year, highlighted by four freshmen and two sophomores. The youth of Cornell wrestling was on display, and Diakomihalis is excited for the future.

“Everyone wrestled with a lot of pride and a lot of passion,” Diakomihalis said. “You could tell that our guys were prepared. We wrestled well. That’s not to say we couldn’t have done better, but for what we had and for how young our team is, I think we did great. We have a really young team and we’re going to be around for a while. In the next two or three years, those guys who were right on the fringe of being an All-American, you’re going to see them breakout in the top five or top three.”

Up next for Diakomihalis and standout teammate Vito Arujau will be a run at the World Championships. The Cornell pair will be wrestling at the U.S. World Team Trials in Iowa on May 21 and 22. If they advance through that phase, a final match to secure a spot on the World Team will take place on June 8 before the World Championships in Serbia occur on Sept. 12.

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