Yianni Diakomihalis

Diakomihalis attended Hilton High School in Hilton, New York along with his brother Greg, who's a five-time NYSPHSAA champion.[3] He made the varsity team in eighth grade (2013) and won the Division I state championship that same year at 99 pounds, defeating future Cornell teammate Vito Arujau in the finals. As a freshman, he also won the state title now at 113 pounds and that was repeated at 120 pounds as a sophomore.[4] As a junior, he became one of the eight four-time NYSPHSAA champions in the history of the New York when he walked through the competition at 138 pounds.[5] As a senior, he found himself unable to compete at the state championships after he suffered an injury that led him out of the tournament. He graduated in 2017 as a four-time NYSPHSAA champion with a 243-3 record on a win streak of 210 victories.[6]

As a high school sophomore (2014), Diakomihalis committed to Cornell University.[7] He has been the starter at 141 pounds for both of the seasons he has competed in.

As a freshman, Diakomihalis won the Bearcat Open, New York State Intercollegiate, and the Cliff Keen Invitational and compiled a record of 28-1 during the regular season.[2] Post-regular-season, he won the EIWA championships and later went on to win the NCAA championship, joining Kyle Dake as the only Big Reds to do so in their "true freshman" year of competition and earning notable victories over top-ranked Bryce Meredith, #2 Jaydin Eierman, and #6 Dean Heil.[8][9] Diakomihalis suffered a torn ACL during his quarterfinal matchup against Heil, who won the tournament the previous two years.[10]

As a sophomore, Diakomihalis won the Mat Town Open I and the South Beach Individual and capped a perfect 13-0 record in dual matches, ending the regular season unbeaten.[11] He went on to win his second EIWA championship and earned the Outstanding Wrestler award in the process.[12] At the NCAA championships, he most notably defeated the #2, #3 and #5 ranked wrestlers in Jaydin Eierman, Joseph McKenna and Dominick Demas to claim the national title.[13] Post-season, Diakomihalis was named EIWA Top Wrestler and was a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy.[14]

Diakomihalis did not compete at the NCAA level in 2019-20, as he took an Olympic redshirt year and focused on freestyle.[15]

After taking an Olympic redshirt year, Diakomihalis was expected to compete in this season and was added to the rankings, in where he was ranked #2 pound for pound and #1 at 141-pounds.[16][17][18] However, it was announced on November 13, 2020, that the Ivy League had cancelled all winter sports.[19]

Diakomihalis was an accomplished cadet freestyle wrestler, he was a two-time World champion and two-time UWW National champion.[20][21] As a junior, he placed third at the 2016 UWW Nationals.[1]

After opting for the Olympic redshirt, Diakomihalis attended his first senior level tournament in the US Open. He went 6-0 (three technical falls) with notable wins over Frank Molinaro, Jordan Oliver and Zain Retherford at the finals.[22]

Not long after, he competed in an exhibition match against three-time World medalist Bajrang Punia. He won the match on points (10-8).[23]

After he won the US Open championship, Diakomihalis sat out of the World Team Trials Challenge and earned himself a spot on Final X: Rutgers to face Zain Retherford.[24] In the first match, he was beaten 4-10 and the second match ended with a lot on controversy; Retherford was down 4-6 when he got a takedown for two points, Diakomihalis ended up earning two more to apparently win the match 8-6, however, there were problems with the scoring and that led to the match being scored 6-6 with an advantage to Retherford, winning the match and the Final X series.[25][26]

A month later, Diakomihalis competed at the prestigious Yasar Dogu Grand Prix. He defeated four opponents such as his Final X opponent Zain Retherford, Ali Rahimzade and Ismail Musukaev to claim the championship.[27]

Two weeks later he went on to compete in the Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial at Warsaw, Poland. He defeated four opponents (two technical falls) including Ismail Musukaev (by forfeit) to claim the championship.[28]

Due to Final X' controversy, a rematch between Zain Retherford and Diakomihalis took place in a special event called Final X: Yianni vs. Zain. He lost the bout on points, losing his chance to represent the United States at the World Championships.[25]

On December, he competed at the US Nationals. He defeated three opponents before getting heavily upset by Joseph McKenna in the semifinals. He advanced to the finals of the consolation brackets but forfeited his final match.[29]

In his first tournament of the year, Diakomihalis competed at the Pan American Championships. He defeated four opponents including Agustín Destribats and NCAA Division II champion Jose Rodriguez to claim the championship.[30]

Diakomihalis was scheduled to compete at the US Olympic Team Trials on April 4–5 at State College, Pennsylvania.[29] However, the event and the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving him and all the qualifiers unable to compete.[31]

After more than half a year without stepping on the mats, Diakomihalis wrestled at the annual Beat The Streets event against the heavily accomplished Vladimer Khinchegashvili on September 17.[32] He lost the competitive and close match by criteria.[33]

Diakomihalis represented the Spartan Combat Wrestling Club at 65 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup on December 4–5.[34] He tech'd '20 Big Ten Championship runner-up Sammy Sasso (Ohio) in the first round, followed up with two criteria victories over '17 World Championship runner-up James Green (New Jersey) and got a final TF over '18 NCAA All-American Tariq Wilson to help the team reach the third-place.[35]

To start off the year, Diakomihalis wrestled two-time and reigning Pan American champion (70kg) Anthony Ashnault on January 8, at the SCRTC I.[36] After scoring two two-point takedowns and a step-out, he scored a five-point slam, driving Ashnault to a technical fall.[37] Diakomihalis then competed at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix of France on January 16.[38] After advancing to the semifinals with two wins, Diakomihalis faced World and Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili in a rematch from their BTS match, and was able to avenge his lone 2020 loss when he dominantly tech'd the Geogian, advancing to the finals, where he flawlessly defeated James Green, in a rubber match from their series at the RTC Cup, to claim gold.[39]

Junior level

Junior freestyle results
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2016 US Nationals at 60 kg
Win	11-1	Jaydin Eierman	TF 19-8	April 27–30, 2016	2016 UWW Junior US National Wrestling Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Yes	10-1	Joshua Terao	TF 10-0
Yes	9-1	Kaden Gfeller	Fall
Win	8-1	Benjamin Lamantia	TF 11-0
Win	7-1	Parker Nein	TF 11-0
Loss	6-1	Jaydin Eierman	11-12
Win	6-0	Michael McDaniel	TF 10-0
2015 Phil Portuese NE Regional at 132 lb
Win	5-0	Jonathan Gabriel	TF 10-0	May 1–3, 2015	2015 Phil Portuese NE Regional	East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Win	4-0	Jacob Wasser	TF 10-0
Win	3-0	Zack Trampe	TF 11-0
Win	2-0	Alex Joya	TF 11-0
Win	1-0	Ezekiel Beatty	TF 12-1