TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 3 Ithaca College wrestling team opened its 2016-17 season on Friday when it welcomed 10 institutions and 225 wrestlers for the 2016 Ithaca Invitational, held at the Athletics & Events Center. The Bombers got off to a fantastic start to first day action with 16 wrestlers still alive for individual titles heading into the final-day action on Saturday.
 
The Bombers currently sit in second place following the opening day of the tournament with 42.0 points. Johnson & Wales occupies the top spot with 43.5 points, while Stevens sits in third with 40.5 points.
 
UPDATED BRACKETS (PDF)
 
125 LB
The Bombers are sitting pretty in the 125-pound weight-class with three wrestlers advancing into tomorrow's quarterfinals. Senior, Jimmy Kaishian, sophomore, Ferdinand Mase, and freshman, Tito Colom, all remain alive for a weight-class title after impressive season debuts on Friday.
 
Kaishian (#7 NWCA/#8 d3wrestle.com) entered the day as the top seed in the bracket and more than proved his ranking with a pair of convincing wins. He opened the day with a second round pin (4:07) of RIT's Connor Wilkins. He was equally impressive in his Round of 32 bout against Norwich's Cole Nickerson, who was fresh after having a bye through the opening round. Kaishian scored a 20-8 major decision over the rested Cadet grappler to breeze into the quarterfinals.
 
Mase entered the day as the sixth seeded wrestler in the bracket. The second-year only needed one victory to advance into tomorrow after securing an opening round bye. He made quick work of his opponent, with a fall over Springfield's Andrew Nirchio as time expired in the first period.
 
Colom also was ultra-impressive in his collegiate debut on Friday. Ranked as the seventh-seeded wrestler in the bracket, he scored two dominant victories to coast into Saturday. He opened the day with a first period pin (2:33) of Devin Marino of Springfield. He faced Oswego State's Anthony Ianno in the Round of 32 and topped the Laker grappler with a 24-9 technical fall in the third period (5:58).
 
Freshman, Anthony Sulla, also competed in the 125-bracket, but had a tough start to his collegiate career. The Bombers rookie dropped a pair of tight decisions; 2-0 to Gabe Wilson of Greensboro and 5-3 to Springfield's Nirchio in his first wrestle-back bout.
 
133 LB
The 133-pound weight class was the only one not to see an Ithaca grappler advance tomorrow. The Bombers had two wrestlers competing in the field in sophomores, Joe Rorick and Justin Ludel.
 
Rorick got off to a strong start to his day with a first period fall (0:59) victory over Shale Ring of Norwich. Unfortunately, his run came to an end in the Round of 32, as he was pinned in the second period (4:41) by the top seed in the weight class in Jay Albis of Johnson & Wales.
 
Ludel had a challenge on his hands, facing second-seeded Jacob Forsman of Norwich in the opening round. Forsman scored a technical fall over Ludel. IC's second-year grappler went up against Franky Roman of Rhode Island in the first round of wrestle-backs, falling 7-5 in sudden-victory overtime.
 
141 LB
The Bombers had a strong showing at the 141-pound weight class, as top-seeded Nick Wahba (#7 d3wrestle.com) and sixth-seeded Chris Wymer both advanced to tomorrow's quarterfinals.
 
Wahba began the day with a 9-0 major decision over a scrappy opponent in Watna Cunha of Johnson & Wales. He followed that with a first-period pin of Joe Demuner of RIT, who scored a bye into the Round of 32. Wahba will face Patrick Ferzoco of Springfield in tomorrow's quarterfinal round.
 
Wymer had an equally impressive day on the other side of the bracket. He scored a 17-0 technical fall over Marvin Cunningham of Johnson & Wales in the first match of the day. The junior followed that effort with a 13-1 major decision over Western New England's Austin Roche. Wymer will face Jake Sepor of RIT in the Round of Eight tomorrow.
 
Junior, Jake Powell, and freshman, Alex Brutcher, also took to the mats in the weight class, but were unable to advance to tomorrow. Powell had one of the most exciting matches in the opening round, but ultimately came up just short in a 12-11 nail-biter against Zach Morris of Norwich. He was bested by Austin Roche of Western New England in the second round of the wrestle-back. Brutcher had a tough day in his collegiate debut, coming up on the wrong side of two pins.
 
149 LB
Ithaca's performance in the 149-pound weight class was highlighted by freshman, Sammy Schneider, who scored two impressive victories to advance to Saturday's quarters.
 
The IC freshman entered the day as the fifth-seeded entrant in the weight class and certainly looked the part. He opened the tournament with a second-period fall (3:56) over Max Kutsepau of Oswego State. Schneider followed the opening round with a 13-4 major decision win over Chase La Russo of Western New England.  He will face Brady Robin of Johnson & Wales in tomorrow's quarterfinal.
 
Sophomore, Greg Lee, and freshman, Benjamin Brisman, also competed at 149 and both advanced to tomorrow in the wrestle-back portion of the bracket.
 
Lee began the day with a 15-4 major decision win over Conan Wilson of Greensboro; however, he came up on the losing end of a 5-1 decision against Joey Bush of Oswego State. The second-year grappler went on to best DJ Tartsinis of Western New England in a first period fall (1:52) in his first consolation bout, before downing Carl Vasti of Stevens in an 8-4 decision.
 
Brisman also started the day with a victory, bouncing Antonio Deaguero in a 5-2 decision. However, the IC rookie fell in tightly-contested 9-8 battle against Jake Strohman of Springfield in the Round of 32. Like Lee, Brisman won both of his bouts in the consolation bracket, besting Colby Hall of RIT in an 11-0 major decision and the Lakers' Kutsepau in a second-period pin.
 
Lee and Brisman will face each other in their first wrestle-back matchup tomorrow morning.
 
157 LB
The 157-pound weight class was another strong one for Ithaca with three wrestlers advancing in the winner's bracket.
 
On the top half of the bracket, sophomores Jawan Jones and Anthony Fano had impressive starts. Jones earned a bye to the second round, but made quick work of Norwich's James Swass with a 15-4 major decision in the Round of 32. Fourth-seeded Fano began the day with an 11-3 major decision over Dylan Dupre of Johnson & Wales. He doubled up with an 18-7 major-decision triumph over Aaron Wolfgang of Stevens. Jones will face top-seed, Troy Seymour of Oswego State, in tomorrow's quarters, while Fano is set to take on fifth seed, Brandon Defosses of Norwich.
 
On the bottom half of the bracket, freshman, Al Ciccitto, had an excellent debut. After scoring an opening-round bye, he marked an 18-2 technical fall in the third period (5:30) to defeat Nick Almonte of Springfield. He will face the second seed, Thomas Poklikuha of Stevens, in tomorrow's quarters.
 
Junior, Franky Nassivera, also battled in the weight class, but was unable to advance. Entering the day as the third seed, he scored a second-round pin (4:51) to defeat John Riley of Western New England. He locked in a tightly contested battle against Avery Swanson of Norwich in the Round of 32, but fell just short in a 12-9 decision.
 
The Bombers' other competitor at 157 was freshman Tyler Edwards. The rookie had a tough opening match against Defosses, falling in overtime by a 4-2 final count. He went on to the wrestle-back, coming up short in a 16-2 major decision against Evan Vershay of RIT.
 
165 LB
The smallest weight class of the day was 165, but the Bombers still advanced two members to tomorrow's Round of Eight.
 
Junior, Nick Velez (#4 NWCA/#5 d3wrestle.com), was the bracket's second seed and proved his placement with a 16-1 second period tech fall (3:48) over Thomas Follman of RIT. He will face Adrian Gonzalez of Johnson & Wales in his first bout tomorrow.
 
Junior, Nik Hansen, entered the day as the fourth-seeded entrant. He made quick work of his foe, pinning Jason Powell of Western New England in the first period (0:45). Hansen will face Ryan Ward of Springfield in the quarters.
 
174 LB
Like the 165-pound bracket, the 174-pound weight class also had two Ithaca entrants. Both grapplers advanced in the winner's bracket to tomorrow.
 
Junior, Nick Vogel, began the day with a bye, before scoring an impressive win over fifth-seeded Domenic Vito of Rhode Island. He downed the Anchormen grappler in a third-period fall (5:49). Vogel will face Geovanni Medina of Springfield in the top half of the bracket on Saturday.
 
On the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded junior, Jaison White, also started the day with a bye to the Round of 32. He defeated Micah Hines of Greensboro in a first-period fall (1:04). White will face Elias Kokalis of Springfield in the quarters.
 
184 LB
Ithaca had two grapplers competing at the 184-pound weight class with one advancing to Saturday.
 
Top-seeded sophomore, Jake Ashcraft, looked dominant in his season debut. He scored a 12-2 major decision over Jeremiah Royer of Greensboro to begin his season, while he pinned Logan Calkins of RIT in the first period (1:14) of his Round of 32 matchup. Ashcraft is set to face John Boyle of Western New England in the quarters.
 
Freshman, Dalton Elias, also kicked off his collegiate debut, but was involved in a scary accident that cut his tournament short. He was defeated in a second period fall by Pete Haller of Johnson & Wales in his first match of the day. The IC rookie rallied in his first wrestle-back bout, defeating Nicholas Kovacs of Johnson & Wales in a 9-4 decision. Looking to advance to tomorrow, he tragically suffered an injury after taking nasty fall against Springfield's Connor Sheehan.
 
197 LB
Ithaca had three competitors in the 197-pound bracket in seniors, Carlos Toribio and Liam Korbul, as well as freshman, Tanner Nielsen.
 
Toribio (#3 NWCA/#3 d3wrestle.com) highlighted the action in the weight class. The second seed earned a bye to the Round of 32, before earning the first-period fall (0:49) over Jonathan Jividen of New England to advance to tomorrow's quarters.
 
At the top half of the bracket, Korbul also earned an opening-round bye, but was pinned by top-seed, AJ Kowal of Stevens, in the Round of 32. Korbul is still alive in wrestle-back portion of the bracket, after earning a first-period pin (1:45) over Chris St. Denny of RIT.
 
Nielsen also came up short in his first bout of the day, a 13-3 major decision against Michael DiNardo of Johnson & Wales. However, the freshman rallied for a first-period fall (1:10) over Patrick Daly of Johnson & Wales, and a 15-5 major decision over Hussein Kanaan of Norwich.
 
Nielsen and Korbul will face each other in their first wrestle-back bout on Saturday.
 
285 LB
Rounding out the day's action was senior, Matt Booth, in the 285-pound division. The classifications top seed got off to a fast start with a 22-3 third-period technical fall (5:21) over Thomas Propst of Greensboro. He followed that effort with an 8-1 decision against Michael Larm of Johnson & Wales. Booth will face Nick Goff of New England College in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
 
Looking Ahead
The second day of the Ithaca Invitational will begin with the quarterfinal round of the winner's brackets. Action at the Athletics & Events Center is set to begin at 10:00 a.m.