Sophomore Nick Velez (Westfield/Westfield, N.J.) won the championship at 165 pounds as the nationally-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team walked away from Sunday's NCAA Northeast Regional competition as two-time defending regional champions.
Velez was one of six student-athletes who qualified for the NCAA championships, and he will be making his second straight NCAA appearance.
Ithaca, ranked fifth in the country by D3wrestle.com and eighth in the country by the National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) scored 144 points to edge Roger Williams by 7.5 points for the team title.
Velez, the top seed, beat out Roger Williams' Alec Golner by a 4-0 decision to earn the title at 165. The sophomore won against Justin Marsh from Worcester Polytechnic 10-2 in the semifinals to earn his spot at the national tournament.
During day one of the regionals, Velez defeated Bridgewater State's Anthony Cote by a 10-1 major decision score in his first bout at 165, then pinned Southern Maine's Matthew Wheeler in just 42 seconds. Velez also defeated Oneonta's Evan Wallace in the quarterfinals by a score of 9-5.
Velez improved his season-long record to 34-6, the second-most wins on the team.
