DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The 10th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team won a close match and defeated eighth-ranked Delaware Valley College 18-14 on Saturday afternoon. Ithaca is 8-2 in dual-matches this season and it is the highest-ranked opponent that Ithaca has defeated this season. The match came down to the final bout, where Ithaca's Jimmy Kaishian won a 5-1 decision over a nationally-ranked wrestler from Delaware Valley to clinch the Ithaca win.
 
The match started at 133 pounds and Ithaca built a 6-0 lead on back-to-back decision victories by Ithaca's nationally-ranked wrestlers. Alex Gomez started the proceedings with a 12-9 decision victory and Nick Wahba won by a 6-2 decision at 141. Gomez is ranked third and Wahba is ranked sixth in the latest NWCA individual rankings.
 
At 149 pounds, Delaware Valley's Vincent Fava, the number-one ranked wrestler in the nation at that weight class, was stretched to sudden-victory by Eamonn Gaffney of Ithaca. Gaffney got an escape in the third period to send the match to overtime tied 4-4. Fava got a takedown and a 6-4 win.
 
The 157-pound match resulted in another close decision. The match was tied 0-0 headed to the third period, but DelVal's Jeff Reimel had a riding-time point pending. Reimel scored an early escape in the third, but Ithaca's Kevin Collins got a takedown to lead 2-1. Collins nearly turned Reimel with a minute remaining in the bout, but the match was stopped for blood time. When the wrestlers returned to center, Reimel got an escape and tied the match 2-2. The riding-time point gave Reimel a 3-2 victory.
 
Nick Velez came back with a win for Ithaca at 165. After a scoreless first period, Velez started on bottom in the second period and got a reversal to lead 2-0. In the third period, Velez started with the advantage but Alec Horan of Delaware Valley got an escape and late takedown to lead 3-2. Velez was awarded a point by penalty for stalling by Horan, and a riding-time advantage for Velez gave the decision to Ithaca at 4-3.
 
Through the first five bouts, Ithaca led 9-6.
 
Jaison White of Ithaca got two first-period takedowns to build a 4-1 lead over Ben Schweiger. Schweiger came back in the second period to tie it, but an escape and late takedown for White gave the Ithaca wrestler a 7-4 lead headed to the third period. The third period started neutral and White got a takedown for a 9-4 lead, Schweiger got one more escape point and the bout finished on its feet for a 9-5 decision win for Ithaca's White.
 
Carlos Toribio earned a first-period takedown for Ithaca and rode out the remainder of the first period at 184 against Delaware Valley's Conner Gabriel. The second period started neutral and Toribio got another takedown for a 4-0 lead and rode out the second period and clinched a riding-time point after two periods. Toribio started with the advantage in the third period and couldn't turn his opponent, winning by 5-0 decision.
 
Ithaca led 15-6 headed to the final three matches, where Delaware Valley had a nationally-ranked wrestler in each of the three remaining contests. Aaron Karns, ranked second at 197 for DelVal, defeated Greg DuVall of Ithaca by 10-2 major decision. At heavyweight, fourth-ranked Zach Roseberry of Delaware Valley built an early lead with two first-period takedowns and went on to a major decision victory over Dan Glinko
 
That set up the final bout of the match, at 125 pounds between Ithaca's Jimmy Kaishian, an NCAA qualifier last year, and Del Val's Connor Kirkegard, who is ranked ninth by the NWCA. The bout was scoreless after the first period. Kaishian deferred in the second period and Kirkegard chose down. He got an early escape, but Kaishian answered with a takedown with 1:10 remaining in the period and rode out the second period to hold a potential riding-time point. Kaishian chose neutral for the third period and the match stayed on its feet until Kaishian closed it out with a takedown in the closing seconds to give Ithaca the win. With the riding time, Kaishian won by 5-1 decision.
 
#10 ITHACA 18, #8 DELAWARE VALLEY 14
125: Jimmy Kaishian (ITH) over Connor Kirkegard (DVC) (Dec 4-1)
** 133: Alex Gomez (ITH) over Zach Haynes (DVC) (Dec 12-9)
141: Nick Wahba (ITH) over Michael Caldwell (DVC) (Dec 6-2)
149: Vincent Fava (DVC) over Eamonn Gaffney (ITH) (SV-1 6-4)
157: Jeff Reimel (DVC) over Kevin Collins (ITH) (Dec 3-2)
165: Nick Velez (ITH) over Alec Horan (DVC) (Dec 4-3)
174: Jaison White (ITH) over Benjamin Schweiger (DVC) (Dec 9-5)
184: Carlos Toribio (ITH) over Conner Gabriel (DVC) (Dec 5-0)
197: Aaron Karns (DVC) over Greg Duvall (ITH) MAJ 10-2
285: Zach Roseberry (DVC) over Dan Glinko (ITH) MAJ 10-2