TOURNAMENT RESULTS (PDF)

ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 3 Ithaca College wrestling team made its anticipated return to the mats at Cornell University's Bartels Hall for the annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships on Sunday. The Bombers continued their strong start to the year, finishing in fifth place among the 27 teams compete in the 2016 installment of the tournament.
 
Ithaca trailed four NCAA Division I programs, as tournament-host Cornell retained the team title with 155.0 points. Buffalo finished in the runner-up position with 132.0 points, while Columbia and Army-West Point came in third and fourth with 118.0 and 108.5 points, respectively. IC rounded out the top five with 91.0 points, pacing all NCAA Division III programs participating at the event.
 
Ithaca had 23 wrestlers in total participate in the event. Of the total number, 10 competed in the A-Division brackets, while the other 13 competed in the Open Division of their respective weight classes. The group combined for 14 place-finishes with seven coming in the A-Division and an equal number in the Open Division.
 
125 LB A Division
Ithaca had one representative in the top division in the 125-pound weight class, as senior Jimmy Kaishian (#7 NWCA/#7 d3wrestle.com) faced a highly competitive field. Kaishian posted a 2-2 record on the day, ultimately coming in sixth place in the bracket.
 
Ithaca's grappler got off to a strong start to the competition with a 6-5 decision over Dillon Stowell of Brockport and a 9-2 triumph over Hofstra's Jacob Martin to advance to the semifinal round.
 
Kaishian picked up his first loss of the day when he fell in a tight 3-1 decision against eventual 125-pound champion, Noah Baughman of Cornell, in the semifinals. In his first wrestle-back bout, Kaishian dropped a 7-3 decision to Anthony Sparacio of LIU-Post. The loss pushed Kaishian to a fifth-place bout and a rematch against Hofstra's Martin, but the rematch did not transpire, as Ithaca's grappler pulled out for medical reasons, settling for sixth place.
 
125 LB Open Division
Ithaca had two wrestlers compete in the open division at 125 pounds, as Ferdinand Mase and Tito Colom posted excellent efforts on the day. Both scored place finishes in the bracket.
 
Mase posted a 4-2 record on the day, scoring two victories by way of falls and two major decision triumphs for IC. He defeated Jason Javier of Binghamton in a 15-1 major decision to take seventh place in the weight class.
 
Colom also marked a 4-2 record at the tournament, tallying a fall and two technical falls on the day. The IC freshman advanced all the way to the semifinals in the winner's bracket, before falling to the eventual champion in Jon Haas of Brockport in a 9-7 second overtime sudden victory bout. Colom went on to finish fifth in the bracket.
 
133 LB A Division
Bryan Israel (#2 d3wrestle.com) finally got his 2016-17 season underway on Sunday when he competed in the top division at 133 pounds. The third-year wrestler posted a 4-2 record on the day to come in fifth place.
 
Israel began the day with a pin of NYU's Austin Day in his opening round bout. However, his run in the winner's bracket came to an end in the next round, as he fell to Army's Conner Ziegler in closely fought 3-2 decision.
 
Israel had a nice run in the wrestle-back ladder, winning a 2-0 decision against Jackie Gold of LIU-Post and a victory via first-period fall (1:47) against Brett Brice of Nassau Community College. He picked up his second loss of the day in the semifinal round of the wrestle-backs, falling to Columbia's Alec Kelly in a 7-0 decision. Israel concluded the day on a winning note with a 9-2 triumph over Travis Passaro of SUNY Cortland in the fifth-place bout.
 
133 LB Open Division
IC also had one competitor in open division at 133 pounds in sophomore Joe Rorick. The second-year wrestler made a great run through his bracket, advancing all the way to the finals, before picking up his lone loss of the day against Lane Peters of the United States Military Academy Preparatory School. Rorick finished with a 4-1 record, tallying two technical falls and two wins by decision in finishing as weight-class runner up.
 
141 LB A Division
Ithaca posted its third place winner in the A-Division at 141 pounds, as senior Nick Wahba  (#7 NWCA/#6 d3wrestle.com) continued his excellent start to the year with a fourth-place run.
 
Wahba began the day with two victories, a 9-3 decision against Connor Burkert of Hofstra and a 7-2 triumph over Nicholas Casella of Nassau Community College, to advance to the semifinals in the winner's bracket. However, Wahba's run was stymied by Cornell's William Koll in a 10-5 decision.
 
In his first wrestle-back bout, Wahba defeated Evan Drill of NYU in a tight 4-3 decision to advance to the third-place bout. Unfortunately, Ithaca's grappler had to settle for fourth, as he fell to Jacob Macololooy of Columbia in a 7-3 decision.
 
141 LB Open Division
Ithaca had two competitors take to the mat in the open division at 141 pounds in Alex Brutcher and Chris Wymer. Brutcher dropped both of his bouts on the day, but Wymer had a solid day with a 2-2 record. One of his victories came by way of an 18-2 technical fall over NYU's Dante Montanaro.
 
149 LB Open Division
The Bombers posted two entrants in the 149-pound weight class in the open division. Greg Lee posted a 2-2 record on the day, which included a technical fall.
 
Benjamin Brisman advanced even further, registering a 5-2 record at the tournament en route to a seventh-place finish. Of his five victories, one came by way of fall and three others were major decisions. He defeated Colin Hopkins of NYU in a 14-3 major to take home seventh place.
 
157 LB  A Division
Ithaca had one entrant in the top division at 157 pounds in sophomore Jawan Jones. The second-year grappler got off to a solid start, scoring a 4-2 sudden victory in the second overtime round over RIT's Dempsey King. Unfortunately, he ran into some stiff DI competition in his next two bouts.
 
Jones fell to Mark Marchetti of Army in a 6-0 decision, before bowing out in his first wrestle-back round with a 15-0 technical fall against Max Elling of Columbia.
 
157 LB Open Division
The Bombers had two entrants in the open division at 157 pounds, as Franky Nassivera and Anthony Fano took to the mats. Both wrestlers posted 2-2 records on the day with Nassivera scoring one victory by fall, while Fano marked a pin and a major decision.
 
165 LB A Division
One Ithaca's top performances of the day came in the top division of 165 pounds, as junior Nick Velez (#3 NWCA/#4 d3wrestle.com) posted a 4-1 record en route to earning third place in the weight class.
 
Velez opened the tournament with a pair of victories by way of major decision. He scored a 13-1 win over Mike Dusold of Nassau Community College and an 11-1 triumph over Troy Seymour of Oswego State. However, Velez had his winner's bracket run ended in the semifinals, as he fell to Cornell's Brandon Womack in a second period pin.
 
Velez rallied in the wrestle-backs scoring two victories to end the tournament on a positive note. He defeated Derek Holcomb of Buffalo in a 12-4 major decision and bested Tyrel White of Columbia in a 5-1 decision.
 
165 LB Open Division
Ithaca added a place-winner in the open division at 165 pounds in third-year wrestler Nik Hansen. The junior posted a 3-2 record on the day, which included an upset of top-seeded Casey Provost of Brockport in a dominant 19-2 technical fall in his first bout of the tournament. He took home fifth place with a victory by way of medical forfeit from Hofstra's Anthony Oliveri.
 
174 LB A Division
The Bombers had one competitor at 174 pounds in junior talent Jaison White. Unfortunately for Ithaca's lone man in the weight class, he got one of the toughest draws in the tournament in having to face a pair of top DI opponents. He fell in a 10-2 major against Cornell's Andrew Garcia and dropped a 15-0 technical fall against Army's Jack Wedholm.
 
184 LB A Division
Ithaca's top performance of the day came in the top division at 184 pounds, as Jake Ashcraft finished as the weight-class runner up. He posted a 3-1 record on the day, which included two pins and a major decision.
 
Ashcraft began the tournament with an 8-0 major decision over Kurtis Hahn of the Merchant Marine Academy. He defeated Dan McClure of LIU-Post in a third period fall (6:45), before scoring a quick first-period fall (0:58) over Buffalo's Brett Perry to advance to the finals.
 
Ashcraft went up against two-time NCAA National Champion in Cornell's Gabe Dean in the final, ultimately bowing out in a third-period fall (5:20).
 
197 LB A Division
Competing in the top division at 197 pounds was senior standout Carlos Toribio (#3 NWCA/#3 d3wrestle.com). IC's grappler posted a 2-2 record in scoring an eight-place finish in the weight class.
 
Toribio opened the day's action with a second period victory by fall (4:09) against SUNY Oneonta's Peter Pjetri. However, Toribio's run came to an end in the next round when he dropped an 8-2 decision against Nate Rose of Buffalo.
 
Toribio bounced back in his first wrestle-back bout, pinning Deny Travarez of Nassau Community College in the first period (2:37). His tournament came to an end in the quarterfinal round of the wrestle-back, as he suffered an injury during a 16-0 technical fall loss to Triston Engle of Brockport. He conceded his seventh-place bout against Army's Jeremiah Imonode to avoid further aggravating the injury.
 
197 LB Open Division
Ithaca's busiest bracket of the day was the open division at 197 pounds, as the Bombers entered three wrestlers in Liam Korbul, Tanner Nielsen, and Thomas Anania. Nielsen and Anania posted impressive runs to earn place finishes in the bracket.
 
Korbul went 2-2 on the day with a major decision and a fall to his credit. Nielsen went 3-2 at the tournament, which included a 12-10 sudden-victory win over Dalton Shoop of Army in the seventh-place bout. Anania had the best run of the trio, scoring three straight victories to advance to the championship bout. He defeated Freddy Vidal of LIU in a 7-2 decision in the semifinals, but ultimately lost to Ben Darmstadt of the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club in having to settle for runner-up honors.
 
285 LB A Division
Ithaca had two wrestlers take part in the top division at 285 pounds in Jake O'Brien and Matt Booth. O'Brien made it the furthest of the two, earning a fifth-place finish.
 
O'Brien began the day with a 16-0 victory by technical fall over Jonathan Solorzano of Nassau Community College. He followed that with a 3-2 overtime triumph over David Farr of Army to advance to the semifinals. Unfortunately, his run came to an end against top Oneonta grappler James Bethel in a razor thin 5-3 decision.
 
O'Brien dropped his first wrestle-back bout against eventual third-place winner Nolan Terrance of Buffalo in another tight 2-0 decision. However, Ithaca's sophomore wrestler went on to rally for a 13-6 victory over Victor Raigoza of Merchant Marine to finish fifth.
 
Booth also started the day with a win in an injury shortened bout against Omar Haddad of Hofstra. However, Booth suffered his own ailment in the match, which cut short his tournament.
 
Looking Ahead
The Bombers return to action on Saturday, December 3, when the team heads to York, Pa., to take part in the Spartan Invitational. The event is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m.