ITHACA, N.Y. – The third-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team put quite the exclamation point on its dual-meet schedule on Wednesday evening, posting a 46-0 shutout over Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) rival SUNY Cortland in front of a packed house a Ben Light Gymnasium. With the victory, the Bombers improved to 14-2 in duals on the year, while it served as an emphatic statement heading into next week's NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.
 
The hype level on South Hill had reached a fever pitch over recent days, as Wednesday marked the first time that Ben Light Gymnasium was to play host to the Rumble & Tumble Meet, a side-by-side simultaneous meet in conjunction with both Ithaca's and SUNY Cortland's varsity gymnastics teams. Once things got underway, the action did not disappoint, as IC's grapplers stormed past Cortland, while IC Gymnastics also continued its red-hot run with a 190.825-to-185.800 triumph over the Red Dragons. Ithaca took home an 18-4 margin of victory in the overall meet scoring, a modified system that factored in team points for wrestling bout victories and Top-3 finishers in the four gymnastics events.
 
Powering Ithaca's healthy overall victory in the modified score of the meet was a clean sweep in the wrestling portion of the event. The Bombers took home all 10 team points on the mats, scoring victories in all 10 bouts in possibly the first-ever shutout of its heated local rival in program history. Not only did Ithaca score wins in all 10 bouts, the home team did it in style, racking up bonus points in six of 10 wrestled bouts on the evening, which included three victories by fall.
 
#3/3 Ithaca College 46 – SUNY Cortland 0
125 LB | Ferdinand Mase (ITHACA) def. Josh Anoine (CORTLAND) | DEC: 9-5
133 LB | Tito Colom (ITHACA) def. Mat Bradice (CORTLAND) | TF: 28-13 (4:21)
141 LB | #4/4 Ben Brisman (ITHACA) def. Matt Maquet (CORTLAND) | MD: 14-3
149 LB | Demetri D'Orsaneo (ITHACA) def. Matt Norris (CORTLAND) | DEC: 7-2
157 LB | #9 Austin Whitney (ITHACA) def. Greg Chery (CORTLAND) | MD: 10-1
165 LB | #4/3 Nick Velez (ITHACA) def. Charlie Buckley (CORTLAND) | FALL: 3:32
174 LB | #10 Jaison White (ITHACA) def. Adrian Berry (CORTLAND) | DEC: 7-5
184 LB | #1/1 Jake Ashcraft (ITHACA) def. Deuly Espinal (CORTLAND) | FALL: 6:03
197 LB | Dalton Elias (ITHACA) receives forfeit
285 LB | #2/3 Jake O'Brien (ITHACA) def. Zach Gifford (CORTLAND) | FALL: 4:17
EX. | Steven Rice (ITHACA) def. Travis Edwards (CORTLAND) | DEC: 8-5
 
Junior Ferdinand Mase got the party going for the Bombers at 125-pounds in a competitive battle against Cortland's contender in Jos Anoine. The Red Dragons' grappler took the early lead in the bout with an early takedown and a quick two-point near-fall to go up 4-0; however, Mase was able to break the ride after 47-seconds to score an escape before the opening period came to a close.
 
The IC junior began the second period down and was able to score a two-point reversal, before bringing Anoine to his back for a two swipes of his own. Although Anoine was eventually able to break free, Mase added a takedown to take a 7-5 lead to the third period. Beginning the final frame in neutral position, the lone scoring in the period came on a late takedown by IC's man, as Mase pocketed the 9-5 decision.
 
Ithaca never looked back.
 
The first of Ithaca's truly dominating performances came at 133-pounds, as sophomore Tito Colom continued his impressive form of late in a scintillating 28-13 technical fall over Mat Bradice. The IC sophomore scored eight takedowns in the opening three-minutes en route to his fifth technical fall of the year.
 
Nationally-ranked sophomore Ben Brisman (4^th NWCA | 4^th d3wrestle.com) kept the bonus points coming in his 141-pound bout against Cortland's standout freshman Matt Maquet. He scored two takedowns in each of the three periods, conceding just three escape points, in a dominant 14-3 major decision. The victory extended Ithaca's lead to 12-0.
 
The lone trouble spot during Ithaca's stretch run of the season has been at 149-pounds, as IC has struggled to identify its next man up following the loss of its National Title contender Sammy Schneider to season-ending injury. The Bombers may have found that man this evening, as junior Demetri D'Orsaneo returned to the lineup following a two-month absence. Facing Cortland's Matt Norris, D'Orsaneo used a trio of takedowns to score a 7-2 decision in his return to the lineup.
 
One of the more interesting bouts on the evening from a personal perspective came at 157-pounds, as nationally-ranked Austin Whitney (9^th NWCA) faced off against his former team. Taking on Greg Chery, who has been wrestling quite strong of late for the Red Dragons, the IC transfer controlled matters from the outset in a 10-1 major decision. Ithaca took an 19-0 lead to the intermission.
 
Ithaca pulled away during the second half of the meet, scoring bonus points 4-of-5 bouts, as the Bombers headed into the meat of its nationally-ranked lineup.
 
Senior Nick Velez (4^th NWCA | 3^rd d3wrestle.com) got the second half started with a bang in his 165-pound bout. He raced to a huge 14-2 lead at the end of the first period over Cortland's Charlie Buckley. After conceding an escape to begin the second frame, Velez took Buckley back to the mat and locked in the pin 32-seconds into the frame. The six points clinched the match for IC, improving its lead to 25-0 with still four bouts remaining.
 
The two most exciting bouts on the evening came at 174-pounds and 184-pounds, as IC's grapplers used late heroics in both matchups to keep Cortland off the scoreboard in the match.
 
Senior Jaison White (10^th NWCA) trailed Adrian Berry 4-3 late into the third period of his 174-pound bout, but showed the stamina and mental fortitude to push forward late. With under one-minute remaining, he took Berry to the mat for a takedown and added a pair of near-fall points to overcome the deficit in earning a hard-fought 7-5 decision. The win brought the noise at Ben Light Gymnasium to a deafening level, only to be exceeded by the following bout.
 
The marquee matchup of the evening was at 184-pounds, as unanimous top-ranked grappler Jake Ashcraft (1^st NWCA | 1^st d3wrestle.com) faced Cortland's talented Deuly Espinal. Although Ashcraft has owned his opponents all season, entering the day as the most dominant pound-for-pound wrestler in all of NCAA Division III, Espinal has specifically been a thorn in the side of the IC junior. The Red Dragons' top contender entered the evening with a 3-1 lifetime record against Ashcraft. That mark had the look of heading to 4-1, before Ashcraft flipped the tables late.
 
Espinal controlled the majority of the match. A late takedown, followed by a dominant second period had Cortland's man up 6-3 heading into the final frame. The lead escalated to 8-3 following an early takedown; however, Ashcraft was able to flip Espinal to his back and lock-in his 21^st pin of the season with just 56-seconds remaining, bringing the Ben Light Gymnasium crowd to its feet.
 
Sophomore Dalton Elias received a forfeit at 197-pounds to increase Ithaca's lead to 40-0, setting the stage for the final bout of the evening. Junior Jake O'Brien (2^nd NWCA | 3^rd d3wrestle.com) made sure to send home the large crowd on a happy note. He scored a takedown in each period, before taking Cortland's Zach Gifford to his back for a pin 1:17 into the second frame.
 
Ithaca returns to action next weekend when it plays host to the 2018 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships at the Athletics and Events Center on Saturday, February 24, and Sunday, February 25. For more information please visit the following link: CLICK HERE.