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The Cornell Club of Minnesota hosted Cornell's annual, global, mixer at St. Paul's Dixie's on Grand on Thurday (Zinck's is always on Thursday) October 21st. 
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Friday, October 29, 2010
Cornell Club of Minnesota: Upcoming events & Volunteer Opportunities
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Cornell Preseason #1 in Wrestling Polls
By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY Besides being No. 2 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll in football, Boise State also is No. 2 this week in the first college wrestling coaches poll of the season. So who's No. 1 on the mats? That's Cornell, an Ivy League school without athletic scholarships that has demonstrated it's in a league with the top wrestling schools in the land. PRESEASON WRESTLING POLL: Cornell starts No. 1 Some coaches might be cautious about a No. 1 ranking. Not Cornell's Rob Koll, coach since 1993 at the school in Ithaca, N.Y. "It's nice. I've been on the other side of it. And let me tell you, the only people that don't care about polls are those who aren't ranked very high," says Koll. Koll, an NCAA wrestling champion at North Carolina in 1988, grew up around the college sport. His late father, Wrestling Hall of Fame member Bill Koll, coached Penn State. So Koll welcomes the boost the ranking brings to recruiting. "It's just hard to get into kids' doors if you're not in the polls," he says. "And to be No. 1, now people who in the old days wouldn't even return our calls are calling us." Never mind extra pressure on the team. "The kids are going to put a lot of pressure on themselves regardless of what the team is ranked," says Koll. Cornell was a unanimous choice for the top spot this week in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA TODAY poll of 11 Division I coaches. But unlike football, polls and computer rankings don't figure into whether a college wrestling team gets a chance to compete for a national title at the end of the season. Individual wrestlers will compete in qualifying tournaments for spots at the Division I championships March 17-19 in Philadelphia. The results they deliver there will determine the final team standings at nationals. Last season, Cornell was second behind Iowa at nationals. Iowa, No. 7 in the preseason poll and riding a streak of 61 dual-match victories, has won that team title 23 times, including the last three. But Cornell has placed in the top 10 at nationals six times in the past eight seasons. It will attempt to become the first Ivy League team to win that title. Among its top returning wrestlers: • Sophomore Kyle Dake, NCAA champion as a freshman last season at 141 pounds. Wrestling in his hometown of Ithaca, he's moving up to 149 this season. • Senior Mack Lewnes of Annapolis, Md., 174 pounds, NCAA runner-up last season. • Junior Cam Simaz of Allegan, Mich., 197 pounds, third at the NCAAs last season. As an Ivy League school, Cornell does not give athletic scholarships. Aid is based on financial need. But Cornell obviously has been able to recruit top wrestlers. It can offer an Ivy League education and winning wrestling tradition. Its wrestlers train, compete and do school work at the Friedman Wrestling Center, opened in 2002 and described on Cornell's athletics website as "the nation's only stand-alone facility devoted solely to collegiate wrestling." The lead gift for the $3.5 million facility was made by financier Stephen Friedman, a Cornell wrestling star in the 1950s, and his wife, Barbara Benioff Friedman. Among the features: a floor specially designed to be less rigid than a basketball court and offer more give when wrestling mats are laid over it. "You've got to have a very supportive administration and, in our case, very supportive alumni because we raise an awful lot of our budget," says Koll. "We're not like basketball and football, where they're fully funded and then some. We've got to raise a lot of money every year just to pay the bills. And if we didn't do that … we would certainly not be where we are today." Cornell athletics director Andy Noel was the school's wrestling coach in the 1970s and '80s. "He's not just supportive of Cornell wrestling. Our women's hockey team was No. 1 in the country and … our men's lacrosse team's great and obviously our basketball team is great," says Koll. "So, it's not that he gives us more than other teams. He's done an amazing job." Cornell's success this season will be determined on that mats. The same applies to Boise State, 11th at nationals last season. Boise returns two All-Americans from last season. Boise might get shut out of the BCS football championship. But it and Cornell have a shot to win the team title at nationals in Philadelphia. "That's all the enchiladas right there. That the whole enchilada," says Koll, whose team opens at home Nov. 19 against ninth-ranked Central Michigan. | |||||||||
Monday, October 25, 2010
Message from the Cornell Club of Minnesota
Dear Cornell Club of Minnesota,
Welcome to our new newsletter design/layout. We are still in the process of making some adjustments, but we felt you would appreciate receiving fewer e-mails with more information every three to six weeks. Please let us know what you think.
The past six weeks have been very busy with numerous events and activities taking place throughout the Twin Cities.
The past six weeks have been very busy with numerous events and activities taking place throughout the Twin Cities.
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| One of the groups from The Cornell Club of Minnesota sitting in the visitor's dugout at Target Field. |
- A group of Alumni participated on a Habitat for Humanity House
- A group of over 70 took a tour of Target Field/Twins Stadium. A special thanks to Dimitri Hatzigeorgiou, from Starbucks, who supplied the whole group free Starbuck's giftcards before the event.
- We celebrated Zinck's Night
- The book club continues to meet monthly
- We continue to increase our Facebook fans making it easier and faster to communicate with everyone
- November 9: Book club. Contact Sheyna Horowitz for more info.
- November 19: Kobe Bryant and the Lakers come to town to take on the Timberwolves. Members save $25 per ticket
- December 4: Cornell University men's basketball team is traveling to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. Members save $10 per ticket
- December 14: Book club
- We are also looking at a Minnesota Swarm (pro lacrosse) event in January or February. The Swarm's #1 draft choice this past year was from Cornell (and from Minnesota).
If you like to host an event, would like to volunteer or have ideas for the club, please feel free to contact me, or any other board member, directly.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Go Big Red!
Nick Halverson
612.819.8154
nick@solpropertygroup.com
What the heck is the International Spirit of Zinck's Night?
Ever wondered who "Zinck" was and why Cornell has a global get-together every year in his name? Here's your answer:
Theodore Zinck was a saloonkeeper in Ithaca, and his pub, the Hotel Brunswick, was a popular gathering place for Cornellians in the 1890's. After his death in 1903, several bars using his name continued to provide a haven for students. When the last Zinck's closed in the mid-1960's, celebrating the spirit of Zinck's became a favorite Thursday night collegetown tradition for undergraduates. It wasn't long afterward that Cornellians began to continue the tradition in their hometowns.
In other words, a lot of alums wanted to relive their time in Ithaca and memorable (most of them anyway) events so a group from the 1960's started it.
Editor's note: Given today's environment and crackdown on drinking at Cornell I don't think this is something that could be done today and have Cornell in Ithaca support it. Therefore, let's make sure we continue to celebrate this event.
In other words, a lot of alums wanted to relive their time in Ithaca and memorable (most of them anyway) events so a group from the 1960's started it.
Editor's note: Given today's environment and crackdown on drinking at Cornell I don't think this is something that could be done today and have Cornell in Ithaca support it. Therefore, let's make sure we continue to celebrate this event.
What is CAAAN?
CAAAN is the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, a group of over 8,000 alumni volunteers who assist the Cornell admissions community in recruiting superior undergraduate applicants. CAAAN members are involved in a variety of activities, the biggest of which is contacting local candidates who have submitted their application, to answer questions, provide a positive perspective on the University, and accumulate additional information about the applicant. Other activities often include helping staff college fairs and hosting receptions.
We are looking for volunteers. Please contact us via our website for more information.
We are looking for volunteers. Please contact us via our website for more information.
Welcome to the Cornell Club of Minnesota Blog!
We will be updating information throughout the year here. Please be sure to check back often or link to our feed for immediate updates.
If you have any questions send us an e-mail and we will get back to you soon.
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