Matt Azevedo Joins Cornell Wrestling Staff for 2009-10 Season
ITHACA, N.Y.--Three-time NCAA qualifier Matt Azevedo joins the Cornell Wrestling staff for his first season as a volunteer assistant coach, after spending the last seven campaigns as an assistant coach for Cal Poly.
Azevedo opened his collegiate career competing for two years for Arizona State, where he advanced to the NCAA tournament. For his final two seasons, Azevedo wrestled for Iowa State and qualified for the NCAAs each campaign.
ìWe are very excited to add Matt to our coaching staff,î Rob Koll the David R. Dunlop í59 Head Coach of Wrestling said. ìHe will bring a wealth of knowledge to our entire team, and Matt adds a great deal of experience from both national and international levels.î
After graduating with a bachelorís degree in education from Iowa State in 2002, Azevedo continued his wrestling career and went on to be a seven-time US National place winner. He won the 2008 U.S. Open National Championship, where he beat out eventual Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and was selected Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. The Las Vegas native took second at the U.S. Freestyle World Team Trials in the summer of 2007. He finished second at the U.S. Freestyle Nationals in 2005 and 2006, and Azevedo also placed third at the World Team Trials in 2006.
Azevedo and his wife Brooke reside in Ithaca. He is the nephew of Cal Poly head coach John Azevedo.
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Lindsey M. Mechalik
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y. 14853
office: 607.255.3753
cell/home: 607.229.4879
fax: 607.255.9791
http://www.cornellbigred.com
Cornell Wrestling to Send Nine Wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament After Receving Two At-Large Bids
ITHACA, N.Y.˜The Big Red wrestling team received two at-large bids to the
NCAA Championships it was announced on Thursday. At 149 pounds sophomore
DJ Meagher will wrestle at his first national tournament, while at
heavyweight, senior Zach Hammond will compete in his second NCAAs. With
the addition of the two bids, the Big Red will send nine wrestlers to St.
Louis.
Hammond and Meagher will join Troy Nickerson (125), Mike Grey (133),
Jordan Leen (157), Mack Lewnes (165), Steve Anceravage (174), Justin
Kerber (184) and Cam Simaz (197) as the Big Red‚s qualifiers for the NCAA
tournament. This marks the third time in school history that the Big Red
has sent nine wrestlers to the championships.
Six schools have qualified nine wrestlers for the tournament, while Iowa
State is sending a grappler at all 10 weight classes.
There were 52 at-large selections for the 2009 NCAA wrestling
championships to make up a total field of 330 wrestlers. The EIWA received
11 at large bids. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I
Wrestling Committee using the selection criteria without priority order,
which consists of head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement,
quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating
percentage index, coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that
weight class.
Meagher went 1-2 at the EIWA Tournament and is 14-10 overall this season.
At the 2008 EIWAs, he placed sixth and narrowly missed qualifying as a
rookie. Meagher was named second-team All-Ivy this season, and was
honorable mention as a freshman.
Hammond placed fifth at the EIWAs last weekend when he pinned Penn‚s Trey
McLean in 1:54. The Big Red senior went 4-2 in the tournament and has an
18-12 overall record. In 2007 Hammond placed second at the conference
championships to qualify for his first NCAA tournament.
The Big Red will wrestle at the NCAA championships on March 19-21 in St.
Louis, Mo. at the ScottTrade Center.