HILTON, N.Y. (WHEC) – The Diakomihalis family have made their mark on Hilton and Cornell wrestling. Elijah Diakomihalis is the next brother on line to join the Big Red program.

“It’s all I’ve known since I was little. I feel like Yianni and Greg did it while I was growing up and I’ve just been around it. It’s another thing my dad wanted us to get into, not just the sport, but the other things, hard work, toughness, all that stuff,” said Diakomihalis.

He’s learned from the best. Greg is a senior with a 28-9 overall record. Yianni won FOUR NCAA titles and is one of the top wrestler in Cornell history. Now it’s Elijah’s turn.

“I’ve seen all of it happen so I kind of know what it takes and what it’s like but it’s a challenge, so keep putting the best work through every day and we’ll see what that gets me,” said Diakomihalis. “I definitely had to work a little harder. There’s times where, not lazy, but I was the youngest so I kind of got away with stuff. As I got older, I kind of started figuring out what it took more, so I just had to start putting more effort in and the results came through from then.”

And hard work is the story of his life – becoming a D1 wrestler is one thing. Getting into Cornell is another.

“It’s hard, I mean balancing out. You kind of figure it out as time goes on. School, my parents, was a big thing for me, they wanted me to have good grades and my brothers obviously went to Cornell, so they wanted me to,” said Diakomihalis.

Elijah Diakomihalis is injured right now so he’s not able to physically put in the work and you could say he’s anxious to get back on the mat.

“I don’t even know what to do, I’m bored all day, I don’t even know what I would do without it,” said Diakomihalis.

Congrats to Elijah Diakomihalis on being named our latest Scholar Athlete of the Week!