PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Sophomores Yianni Diakomihalis (141 pounds) and Max Dean (184 pounds) and freshman Vitali Arujau (125 pounds) all advanced to the quarterfinals and are one win away from clinching All-America status after day one at the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championship at PPG Paints Arena. Cornell is 15th in the team standings and enters Friday morning's Session III with six grapplers still alive.

In addition to the three second round winners, Brandon Womack dropped a competitive contest against Penn State's top-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds and both senior Ben Honis (197) and junior Chas Tucker (133) stayed alive with wins in their first consolation matches.

Arujau had an impressive 12-2 win over No. 9 seed RayVon Foley of Michigan State and advances into the quarterfinals where he'll get a shot at Northwestern's top-ranked Sebastian Rivera for a spot in the semis. He'll also attempt to clinch All-America honors with the upset. He used a takedown and two nearfall points in the first 45 seconds to take the lead for good and dominated the match on his feet and on the mat to continue in the championship bracket.

Diakomihalis led 6-1 in the third against 16th-seeded Chad Red of Nebraska, but surrendered a reversal and ultimately held off Red 7-3. Now 26-0 on the season and 63-1 for his career, Diakomihals will square up with No. 9 Dom Demas of Oklahoma on Friday morning.

Dean needed a takedown in sudden victory to down Iowa's Cash Wilcke, rallying from a third period deficit and drawing a pair of stall calls for points in the final two minutes to send the match into the extra session. He'll face No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt for a chance to reach the semis and capture his second straight All-America honor.

Top-seeded Mark Hall of Penn State shook off Womack for an 8-3 triumph in the winner's bracket, sending Womack into Friday morning's consolation. Hall used an errant shot by Womack in the final seconds of the first to put points on the board and came out on top of a scramble in the second to build a 7-0 lead that the Big Red junior couldn't recover from. He'll look to continue in the back draw when he meets Campbell's Andrew Morgan, the No. 18 seed at 174.

Both Tucker and Honis rebounded from first round upsets to get their berrings back, surviving tight contests to advance to Friday. Tucker held off Buffalo's Derek Spann, 5-3, while Honis earned the go-ahead takedown with six seconds remaining in regulation for an 8-6 triumph over Clarion's Greg Bulsak.

Senior Jeramy Sweany's career came to a close after a 12-7 defeat to Brown's Ian Butterbrodt. After trailing 9-0, he rallied with three takedowns in the final minute, but ran out of time. Sweany, a three-time NCAA qualifier and three-time All-Ivy pick, closes his career with a 70-45 mark at heavyweight.

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Cornell's three returning All-Americans got the job done and freshman Vitali Arujau was impressive in his NCAA debut as the Big Red advanced four wrestlers through the championship bracket during Session I of the 2019 NCAA Championships on Thursday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. Three more grapplers will need to fight their way back through the consolation bracket to earn All-America status. As a team, Cornell sits 17th with six team points in the early standings.

Defending national champion earned a hard-fought 10-5 victory over Pete Lipari of Rutgers at 141 pounds, leading 6-2 after the first period and cruising to the win. He allowed a reversal in the second that likely prevented additional bonus points, but had the only four takedowns in the victory. He improved to 25-0 on the season and will face 16th-seeded Chad Red of Nebraska in round two with a spot to the quarterfinals on the line.

Senior Brandon Womack, an All-American at 165 pounds in 2017, started his tournament at 174 with an 11-10 win over Neal Richards of VMI in tiebreakers. Richards led 4-2 in the first, Womack turned the tables to go up 7-4 in the third and watched as the VMI wrestler used a last-second takedown to send the match to overtime. After a scoreless minute, Womack was able to ride Richards out in the first 30 second tiebreaker. The Big Red senior went under in the second and quickly escaped, then held off a hard-charging Richards to snap his 21-match win streak. His reward is getting a shot at top-seeded Mark Hall of Penn State in round two.

Returning All-American Max Dean was dominant on top in a 13-2 win over Noah Stewart of Army West Point. Dean ended with 4:20 of riding time and six total takedowns while being in total control throughout. He will be tested in round two by Iowa's 12th-seeded Cash Wilcke.

Arujau got the tournament started the right way with a 12-2 bonus point win over Ohio State's Malik Heinselman. A takedown and four back points nearly led to a pin by Arujau in the third, but he settled for the major decision victory to advanced to meet No. 9 seed RayVon Foley of Michigan State in a highly-anticipated second round matchup.

A pair of top 10 seeds gave up four swipes and couldn't recover, as 133-pounder Chas Tucker and 197-pounder Ben Honis both dropped decisions. Tucker, who won an EIWA title and was seeded No. 9, fell to Lock Haven's DJ Fehlman by a 7-2 margin, while Honis lost to Lehigh's Jake Jakobsen 8-5. Both will need to win their next five matches to earn a spot on the podium, as will senior Jeramy Sweany at heavyweight. Sweany, an at-large selection to the tournament, fell to Maryland's 10th-seeded Youssif Hemida in round one and will open his consolation competition against EIWA foe Ian Butterbrodt of Brown.

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125 - Vitali Arujau
First Round: #8 Vitali Arujau (Cornell) won by major decision over #25 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), 12-2
Second Round: #8 Vitali Arujau (Cornell) won by major decision over #9 RayVon Foley (Michigan State), 12-2
Quarterfinal: #1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) won by decision over #8 Vitali Arujau (Cornell), 6-2
Consolation Fourth Round: #8 Vitali Arujau (Cornell) vs. #21 Jay Schwarm (Northern Iowa)/#14 Sean Feausz (NC State)

133 - Chas Tucker
First Round: #24 DJ Fehlman (Lock Haven) won by decision over #9 Chas Tucker (Cornell), 7-2
Consolation First Round: #9 Chas Tucker (Cornell) won by decision over #25 Derek Spann (Buffalo), 5-3
Consolation Second Round: #10 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) won by decision over #9 Chas Tucker (Cornell), 6-3

141 - Yianni Diakomihalis
First Round: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #33 Pete Lipari (Rutgers), 10-5
Second Round: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #16 Chad Red (Nebraska), 7-3
Quarterfinal: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) won by decision over #9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 5-1
Semifinal: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. #5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)

174 - Brandon Womack
First Round: #16 Brandon Womack (Cornell) won by decision over #17 Neal Richards (VMI), 11-10 (tb2)
Second Round: #1 Mark Hall (Penn State) won by decision over #16 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 8-3
Consolation Second Round: #16 Brandon Womack (Cornell) won by decision over #18 Andrew Morgan (Campbell), 9-5
Consolation Third Round: #9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) won by decison over #16 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 11-7

184 - Max Dean
First Round: #5 Max Dean (Cornell) won by major decision over #28 Noah Stewart (Army West Point), 13-2
Second Round: #5 Max Dean (Cornell) won by decision over #12 Cash Wilcke (Iowa), 6-4 (sv1)
Quarterfinal: #5 Max Dean (Cornell) won by decision over #13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt), 6-0
Semifinal: #5 Max Dean (Cornell) vs. #1 Myles Martin (Ohio State)

197 - Ben Honis
First Round: #24 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) won by decision over #9 Ben Honis (Cornell), 8-5
Consolation First Round: #9 Ben Honis (Cornell) won by decision over #25 Greg Bulsak (Clarion), 8-6
Consolation Second Round: #9 Ben Honis (Cornell) won by decision over #7 Jay Aiello (Virginia), 9-7 (sv1)
Consolation Third Round: #9 Ben Honis (Cornell) won by decision over #32 Ethan Laird (Rider), 10-5
Consolation Fourth Round: #9 Ben Honis (Cornell) vs. #21 Thomas Lane (Cal Poly)

285 - Jeramy Sweany
First Round: #10 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) won by decision over #23 Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 7-1
Consolation First Round: #26 Ian Butterbrodt (Brown) won by decision over  #23 Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 12-7