La Crosse, Wis. -- Junior Seth Ecker (Pottstown/Pottstown, Pa.) won the national championship at 133 pounds to highlight Ithaca's performance at the NCAA Championships. Senior Jeremy Stierly (Owen J. Robert/Pottstown, Pa.) placed second at 141 pounds and seniors Blaine Woszczak (Wall/Manasquan, N.J.) and David Priest (Wyomissing Hills/Douglassville, Pa.) both finished in fourth place. As a team the Bombers are in fourth place with seven bouts remaining, making this the team's highest finish since the 1995 team placed third.

Seth Ecker photos

Ecker, the third seed, beat fourth-seeded Mike McInally of Rochester Institute of Technology 6-2 in the final. The bout was a rematch of last month's Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference title bout. Ecker was named the ECWC Championships' Most Outstanding Wrestler after upsetting McInally in the final for the second time in three years; Ecker finishes the year 32-4 and will enter his senior season with a 75-16 mark. He's the program's eighth national champion and the first since Tommy Hall won the 133-pound crown in 2002.

“I don't even know if it's really hit me yet," Ecker said after the tournament. "You go out there and in the back of your mind, you think about "What if I win?" I know that I am proud of myself either way, but I know the totality of it all hasn't hit me quite yet that I am a national champion.“I know that 10 people do this each year at this national meet, but it still hasn't hit me yet. I know that it will probably hit me tomorrow morning . . . that I am a national champion."
Ecker posted a 7-4 decision over Nathan Fitzenreider of North Central in the semifinal round. He pinned his first two opponents to clinch the second all-America finish of his career (he placed sixth at 125 pounds in 2009). Ecker opened competition by pinning Heidelberg's Tom D'Alessandro in 2:32, then pinned sixth-seeded Corey Brown of Thiel in 4:26 in the quarterfinals. Ecker is now 30-3 on the season with 10 falls. His career record stands at 76-15.

Stierly lost 4-3 to top-seeded Bebeto Yewah of Wisconsin-La Crosse in his second straight appearance in the 141-pound final. He's the first Bomber to reach the title bout twice since Ryan Ciotoli in 2000 and 2001.

In the semifinals, Stierly blanked sixth-seeded Kevin Donahue of Cornell 11-0 for his sixth major decision of the year. He opened competition Friday by beating Springfield's Joseph Grippi  6-2 then beat Ryan Timmerman of St. Olaf 8-1 in the quarterfinals. He wrapped up the season 22-2 and finished his career 79-17.

Ithaca's third semifinal entrant, Woszczak, lost 4-3 to top-seeded Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve in the third/fourth-place match. The fourth-place finish was his third straight. Woszczak lost 6-5 to third-seeded Myanganbagar Batsukh of St. John's in the semifinal round. Batsukh is a two-time NCAA champion (he beat Stierly in last year's final) who moved up to 149 pounds this winter. Woszczak pinned Zac Andrews of Delaware Valley in the consolation quarterfinal round. He opened with a 14-3 major decision over Kris Magruder of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Woszczak defeated seventh-seeded Jacob Groth of Wartburg 7-4 in the quarterfinal round.  Woszczak wraps up his career as Ithaca's all-time leader in wins (137) and the program's ninth three-time all-American. He was 35-4 this winter and 137-36 overall.

Priest , seeded seventh in the 174-pound bracket, lost twice to second-seeded Michael Schmitz of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He beat Reid Dickerson of Wisconsin-Whitewater 7-3 in his first bout before losing 5-4 to Schmitz. Priest bounced back to eliminate Ryan Dohrmann of Stevens with a 2-0 shutout to secure all-America recognition for the first time in his career. He recorded a last-second pin of Elmhurst's Frank Savegnano and advanced past fourth-seeded Mike Reilly of King's by default in the consolation semifinals. Matched up with Schmitz for the second time in two days, Priest dropped a 3-1 decision. Priest wrapped up his career 104-31 (tied for 11th on the program's all-time wins list) and was 27-5 this winter.

Ithaca's four other entrants were eliminated Friday.  Sophomore Derek Brenon (Immaculate Heart/Watertown), the top seed at 157 pounds, was upset in his opening bout, losing by fall to Chris Burdge of Centenary (N.J.). Brenon eliminated Cortland's Troy Sterling with a 4-0 win in a rematch of the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference final (Brenon posted a 3-2 win in that match) before losing to Trine's Elias Larson by fall. Brenon finished the season 24-3 and has posted a 43-9 career record.

At 125 pounds, junior Max Cohen (Williamsville East/East Amherst) lost 8-4 to second-seeded Mark Kist of Wartburg in the opening round. Cohen beat Kalen Greiner of Central (Iowa) in an elimination match before being knocked out of the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Jordan Alfano of Merchant Marine. Cohen posted a season record of 18-10 and will enter his senior season with a 24-25 career mark.

Wrestling at 165 pounds, senior Nick Sanko (Hamburg Area/Lenhartsville, Pa.) lost 13-0 to fifth-seeded Luke Miller of Ohio Northern. Sanko lost 5-2 to St. Olaf's Josef Waples in his final match. He finishes the season 17-7 and wraps up his career with a 38-17 mark.

Junior heavyweight Matt Mahon (Brighton/Rochester) drew top-seeded John Helgerson of Wartburg in the opening round and dropped a 9-3 decision. Mahon's extended James Zarate of Wisconsin-Whitewater to overtime before losing 6-4 in the sudden death session. Mahon finished the season 20-10 and owns a 65-25 career record.