Bracket | TrackWrestling | NWCA Event Preview
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The fourth-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team is set to jump back into action this weekend when it breaks its nearly four-week hiatus from competition with one of the squad's most stringent challenges at the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals. The 18^th annual installment of the event is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, January 4, with action extending through 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 5.
 
Once again, the New Year will kick off with a bang for the Bombers. Annually, the NWCA Multi-Divisional Duals fields one of the most competitive Division III fields for the entire year. This is certainly the case again in 2019. Of the 24 teams that make up the tournament field, 15 are ranked in the current installment of the NWCA Top-25, which included nine of the Top-10 programs in the most recent poll released on Friday, December 21. This year's field for the Division III includes: Augsburg, Augustana (Ill.), Baldwin Wallace, Centenary, Chicago, Coe, Greensboro, Heidelberg, Ithaca, Johns Hopkins, Johnson & Wales, Luther, Millikin, Mount Union, Olivet, Roger Williams, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Whitewater, Wabash, Wartburg, Westminster, WPI, York (Pa.).
 
Corresponding with Ithaca's high ranking as the fourth-ranked team in the latest poll, the Bombers were one of eight programs to receive a bye in the opening round of the event. Ithaca is slated to get its tournament underway during the 11:00 a.m. session, where it will face the winner of an opening-round matchup between 17^th-ranked Olivet and unranked Johns Hopkins. With a victory, IC will face either No. 5 Wabash, No. 16 Wisconsin-Whitewater or unranked Luther in the Quarterfinal Round. A loss will send the team into the consolation bracket with matchups to be determined.
 
The 2017-18 season witnessed Ithaca's best-ever team finish at the National Duals event, as the Bombers went 3-1 en route to a third-place run a season ago. Ithaca scored victories over three ranked teams last year, dispatching No. 21 Centenary, No. 6 Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 2 Johnson & Wales (R.I.). The lone blemish came in a 32-15 defeat to National Duals Runner-Up and eventual 2018 NCAA National Champion Wartburg.
 
Ithaca looks to be locked and loaded for the competitive event and will hope the four weeks of rest will pay dividends in a lineup that has been a bit banged up throughout the early portion of the 2018-19 season. Ithaca looks to be in the best health it has been all season and will look to showcase the deep lineup that has kept the Bombers ranked inside the Top-4 of the NWCA National Rankings all season. Headlining IC's group are four unanimous nationally-ranked grapplers in: 125-pounder Ferdinand Mase (5^th NWCA | 5^th d3wrestle), 141-pounder Ben Brisman (2^nd NWCA | 2^nd d3wrestle), 184-pounder Jake Ashcraft (1^st NWCA | 1^st d3wrestle), and heavyweight Jake O'Brien (5^th NWCA, 8^th d3wrestle). The squad should also be buoyed by the return of 165-pounder Austin Whitney from injury, while 157-pounder Jawan Jones also enters the weekend red-hot with victories in his past 10 bouts, overall.
 
Stay tuned for more information on the weekend at the Ithaca College Athletics Website and social media pages (Twitter: @BomberSports | Instagram: @bomber_sports).