The NCAA championships are lined up between March 21-23. Cornell University is one of the seven teams, which will have ten wrestlers from its team. This is the second time in which 9 or more wrestlers have qualified to dig into the NCAA championships from the University. Under Mike Grey’s coaching, the team is hoping for a fabulous display in all the weight classes. Among others, the spotlight is on last season’s wrestling star, Vito Arujau, who will be going for his consecutive NCAA title.

The championship is scheduled to be held at the T-Mobile Centre in Kansas City, Missouri. The surrounding excitement amped up as a recent Instagram post of Cornell Sports in collaboration with Big Red Wrestling, showcased the Day 1 routine of the Cornell wrestlers as they reached Kansas City.

A 2x PAN American gold medalist, Vito Arujau, is one of the best five wrestlers of the University to have earned the top-10 seeds in collegiate wrestling. A senior no.6 wrestler at 133 pounds from the team, he is a former NCAA champion who bagged the title the last season as the no.3 seed. The latest Instagram post of Cornellsports featuring him and others in the practice arena was captioned, “Day 1️⃣ in Kansas City.”

Last year, Vito Arujau took down No. 2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) in the semifinal and No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) in the championship en route to the title. If he manages to win this season’s title as well, he will be declared Cornell’s fourth 2x NCAA Champion. He might also become Cornell’s ninth 4x All-American with another run this season in the year 2024. Amid the upcoming championships, Vito is also set on his road to Paris.

The grand goal beyond NCAA championships

Being one of the best wrestlers of Cornell University, Vito Arujau had etched his name for the 2024 Olympic Trials back in September 2023. He picked up gold in the 2023 worlds in the 61kg weight class. 61kg is not an Olympic weight class. But the wrestlers who won a medal in those categories are supposed to receive a bye to the semifinals of the qualifiers at whichever weight they choose to compete. So where does Vito stand at present?

Read More: “No Piece of Medal Is My Goal”: World Wrestling Champion Vito Arujau Denounces the Olympics as His Ultimate Ambition

Vito will most likely be coming down to the 57kg category for the Olympics. This makes him a contender in one of the most fiercely contested weight classes. Among Vito’s probable opponents in the weight class are Zane Richards, Thomas Gilman, Nick Suriano & Spencer Lee. Interestingly, in the 2019 US National Championships, Arujau was placed third, defeating Nick Suriano. This made him qualify for the team trials for the 2020 Olympics. In the trials, Arujau settled for the second position after being defeated by Gilman. It remains to be seen if Vito can make it to the grand stage of Paris, navigating through the difficult weight category.

Read More: USA’s Reigning World Champion Vito Arujau Discloses the Main Secret Behind His Dominant 2023 Season