Ithaca College Athletics

Nick Velez (Westfield/Westfield, N.J.) of the Ithaca College wrestling team has been named the College’s Male Athlete of the Week after leading Ithaca to a team championship at the annual Spartan Invitational during the week ending December 6, 2015.

The nationally-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team claimed the 2015 Spartan Invitational on Saturday with 206.5 points to win the team title. 

Velez was one of two Bombers to win individual titles in their respective weight class for the Bombers, who entered the tournament ranked 13th in the latest national poll.

Velez, a 165-pound sophomore who qualified for the NCAA tournament last season, won all five of his matches in convincing fashion to claim the 165-pound title.

After a first-round bye, Velez handed Alec Golner (Roger Williams) an 11-6 decision in the second round, recorded a 17-1 technical fall victory over Zach Winegardner (Ferrum College) in the third round, and posted an 8-1 victory over Timothy Garripoli (Williams) to advance into the semifinals.

In the final four, Velez decisioned Francisco Colom 11-3 before edging Nick Herring (the College of New Jersey) 6-4 in the championship match. 

Velez bested two nationally-ranked wrestlers (Colom 5th and Herring 7th) to claim the championship. 

Ithaca will return to action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when it travels to Rochester to wrestle the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers before hosting SUNY Oswego at 12 p.m. on Saturday in its final meet of 2015.