The Ithaca College wrestling program is one of Division III’s most successful. The achievements of Ithaca’s program include:
* Three NCAA Division III Wrestling Team Championships
* Back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1989 and 1990
* A total of 12 Top-5 team finishes at the NCAA Championships
* 12 individual national champions
* 83 All-Americans, who have accumulated 129 total honors
* 36 individuals, 1989-90 and 1990-91 teams members of the Ithaca College Hall of Fame
* 152 ECWC Champions/Regional Champions
* 37 NCAA finalists
* 89 NWCA Scholar All-Americans
* 43 Top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships
Ithaca wrestling had its beginning in 1930 at the Seneca Gym in downtown Ithaca under the direction of Walter O’Connell, who had started the wrestling program at neighboring Cornell University in 1908. Although his record at Ithaca was a modest 8-17-1 in six seasons, his efforts laid the program’s foundation. A collegiate wrestling pioneer, O’Connell was inducted into the Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. He had earned membership earlier in the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The program was temporarily discontinued in 1936 but was brought back by O’Connell protégé and former Ithaca captain Clyde “Whitey” Cole in 1946. Ithaca College president Leonard Job, a wrestler as an undergraduate at Indiana University, also played a key role in the rebirth. An outstanding athlete, Job was known to participate in practice sessions with Bomber wrestlers. Ithaca made its first mark on the national level under Cole’s guidance with a 14th-place finish at the NCAA championships in 1949. The Bombers followed with a seventh-place showing the next season.
One standout during Cole’s four-year tenure was Jim LaRock. Unbeaten in four years of dual-meet competition with 31 wins and 26 falls, LaRock developed into one of the top 165-pound wrestlers in the U.S. While at Ithaca he earned a second-place finish in the NCAA tournament for all-American honors, won national YMCA and AAU championships and gained a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team.
Former Cole assistant Herbert Broadwell took over as head coach in 1950. His 20-year career included 99 victories and five All-Americans. The Bombers placed at the national championships six times during Broadwell’s career and on another two occasions when the event was the NCAA College Division championships.
During Broadwell’s tenure, Jim Howard earned All-American honors twice at 130 pounds, finishing third and second in the NCAA tournament in 1953 and 1954, respectively. Howard also captured individual titles in the 4I and Wilkes Open tournaments. Orlando Iacovelli was another two-time All-American, reaching the semifinals twice at 147 pounds.
Bob Marella was Ithaca’s first All-American in the heavyweight division, placing second at the NCAA championships in 1959. Nicknamed “Tiny” during his undergraduate days, Marella once pinned an opponent in 18 seconds and was known for performing a cartwheel on his way to the mat. Marella went on to a professional wrestling career with the World Wrestling Federation under the name “Gorilla Monsoon.”
Heavyweight Jack Stanbro followed Marella with a second-place finish at nationals in 1960, and Terry Habecker rounded out the list of all-American wrestlers under Broadwell by placing fourth at 137 pounds in 1969.
The program’s fortunes sagged in the 1970s, although Paul Iacovelli, Ron King and Ralph Salem were All-Americans. Ithaca was 45-59 in the decade under four different coaches. The period marked a divisional realignment by the NCAA, and Ithaca began competing in the Division III ranks. The Bomber program also joined the Independent College Athletic Conference. ICAC wrestling championships were held from 1970 to 1984, and Ithaca claimed the conference crown in 1974 and 1984.
The program was at a crossroads in 1980 when John Murray was hired as Ithaca’s eighth wrestling coach. Within two years Murray began producing nationally contending teams. During his last 12 seasons, Murray guided the Bombers into the top 15 at the national tournament 11 times. When he retired from coaching in 1995, he stood first among Ithaca wrestling coaches with 150 dual-match wins.
In Murray’s 15 coaching seasons, 27 wrestlers earned 50 All-American honors, including three-time winners Mike Fusilli, Kent Maslin, Chris Matteotti, Bart Morrow, Mike Murtha, Marty Nichols and Bob Panariello. Morrow, who wrestled primarily at 134 pounds during his career, posted a perfect 48-0 dual-match record and was the Division III runner-up in his weight class in 1985 and 1986. Panariello excelled at 118 pounds and still holds the school record with 129 career wins.
The 1987-88 season marked the beginning of Ithaca’s most successful three-year stretch. Mike Cronmiller became the school’s first male athlete to win an individual national championship and, along with five other All-American efforts, helped Ithaca to a team-best third at the 1988 NCAA meet. The following year second-place showings by Dan Bieller, Fusilli and Ron Gross, and fifth-place finishes from Joel Lamson and Nichols brought the Bombers a national championship.
In 1990 Ithaca played host to the national championship meet and successfully defended its title. Fusilli capped off the championship by winning the heavyweight title in the final match. He was joined by four other All-Americans: Cronmiller, Gross, Lamson and Nichols.
Another key contributor to the Bombers’ success was assistant coach David Auble. A two-time NCAA champion at Cornell, Auble brought his considerable experience to the Ithaca program in 1987. He was named Division III assistant coach of the year by Wrestling USA magazine after Ithaca’s first NCAA championship and continued to help coach the middle weights for a number of years. He returned to the program in 2009 as a volunteer assistant.
The Bombers won their third national championship in 1994. Ithaca jumped out to an early lead at the NCAA tournament and fought off a Wartburg rally to win the title. Steve Farr won the 190-pound class, Maslin and Matt Sorochinsky both finished second and Matteotti and Murtha were awarded All-America recognition.
The 1995 season, Murray’s last, saw Matteotti and Jason Bovenzi win national championships at 190 and 118 pounds, respectively.
John Gemmell became Ithaca’s first individual state champion at 118 pounds in 1996 and twice placed second at the Division III meet at that weight. In 1998 Gemmell capped his career with a national championship at 126 pounds. He was the first Ithaca wrestler to reach the finals three times.
A new era began in 1996 with the hiring of Bomber All-American Marty Nichols as head coach. In his 24 years at the helm of the program, Ithaca has garnered 70 All-American selections. He has guided Bomber wrestlers to 17 championship match appearances, including national champions Gemmell, Tommy Hall, Jeremy Stierly, Ricardo Gomez, Ben Brisman and the program's first two-time NCAA champion, Seth Ecker. The Bombers have never failed to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships during Nichols tenure, while he has led Ithaca to 18 Top-20 team finishes.
The 2017-18 campaign was a historic one for Nichols, as the Bombers posted their highest team finish in his 22-year tenure at the helm of the program. The Bombers posted 79.0 points at the year-end tournament, finishing in Third-Place out of 67 teams that qualified a wrestler to the event. Overall, the Bombers posted a 14-2 mark in dual meets, highlighted by a Third-Place finish at NWCA National Duals that was the program's highest-ever finish at the event. He also led Ithaca to a Third-Place finish at the New York State Intercollegiate Championships that was also a best for the program. On the strength of four individual champions, Ithaca captured its fifth consecutive ECWC Team Championship during the year as well.
Nichols was named 2018 Mideast Region Coach of the Year, while he went on to be named the Theraworx NWCA Coach of the Year, chosen from among the six Regional Coach of the Year honorees. Five Bombers went on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Tournament, which included one Individual Champion (Ben Brisman) and one Runner-Up (Nick Velez), as well as Third- (Jake Ashcraft), Fifth- (Jake O'Brien) and Seventh-Place (Ferdinand Mase) finishers. Nichols also added a final award when he was named NCAA Championships Coach of the Year. Nichols was inducted into the NWCA Hall of Fame as a coach prior to the start of the 2018 NCAA Championships.
In 2019-20, Nichols and the Bombers had another exceptional season. Posting a 12-4 overall record, IC concluded the season with six straight wins. In January, the Bombers defeated seven other teams to claim their sixth consecutive ECWC Championship with 201.0 points. The team went on to tie for first at the NCAA Mideast Regionals and sent six Bombers to the championships in Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, the NCAA Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bombers returned to the mats during the 2021-22 season and scored 16.5 points at the NCAA Division III Championships as Eze Chukwuezi (5th; 184) and Jordan Wallace (8th; 197) became the latest two grapplers to be crowned All-Americans. In total the Bombers sent five wrestlers to nationals after posting a Runner-Up finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships where the team had one individual champion (Eze Chukwuezi), four finalists (Luis Hernandez, Travis Jones, Jordan Wallace and Edwin Rubio) and two fourth-place finishers (Matthew Beyer and Jackson Gray). The 2022-23 season saw impressive dual wins over No. 13 Ohio Northern University and No. 8 The College of New Jersey as the Bombers finished the NCAA Mideast Regional in second place as they were tied for the most pins in the tournament with nine. Isaias Torres (133 lbs.), Matthew Beyers (149 lbs.), Wenchard Pierre-Louis (157 lbs.), and Eze Chukwuezi (197 lbs.) each qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament where Eze Chukwuezi scored a very convincing 5-1 decision to earn third-place and his third career All-American finish. At the conclusion of the season, Nichols was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Mideast Region Coach of the Year.
IC once again surpassed a double digit win total in duals (14) during the 2023-24 season. Prior to the season, Ithaca joined the SUNYAC where they finished second to Cortland in the SUNYAC Championships, which was the first SUNYAC men's wrestling championships since 1990-91. IC finished second as a team at the NCAA Mideast Regional with Jackson Gray (174 lbs.) and Isaias Torres (133 lbs.) earning their first-ever regional championships and they along with Wenchard Pierre-Louis (157 lbs.), Mathew Beyer (149 lbs.) and Ryan Galka each qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament. At the NCAA Division III championships, Isaias Torres finished seventh at 133 lbs. to claim All-American honors and Nichols and his assistants were honored as the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
Updated 7/30/24
