Results (PDF)
 
YORK, Pa. – The 12^th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team was back on the mats at York College on Saturday for the second and final day of the 11^th Annual New Standard Corporation Invitational. Entering the day with 10 grapplers still alive in either championship or consolation brackets, IC used a strong finish to climb two slots in the team standings on Saturday, finishing the weekend in fifth-place with 77.5 team points.
 
Highlighting the day for IC were a pair of individual champions who earned titles on Saturday. Redshirt-senior Austin Whitney took home his first title of the season at 165-pounds, while junior transfer Jordan Wallace kept his undefeated start to his Ithaca career intact with his second 174-pound title of the year. Three additional Bombers earned place-finishes on the day in first-year Travis Jones, sophomore Logan Ninos, and redshirt-senior Dalton Elias. Jones earned fourth at 133-pounds, Ninos took home fifth at 125-pounds, and Elias went home with sixth in the heavyweight division.
 
Whitney (8^th NWCA) has been slowly integrated into the mix this season, but certainly had his breakout this weekend in Pennsylvania. The redshirt-senior picked up right where he left off on Friday, notching his second fall (5:30) of the tournament in today's opening bout against Luke Bokina of Roger Williams. He followed that up by avenging a loss against Stevens' Thomas Poklikuha (7^th NWCA) from earlier this season with a thrilling 9-7 sudden-victory win to earn his place in the 165-pound final. The championship bout was another nail-biter, but it was Whitney that would prevail in a 5-4 decision against nationally-ranked Johns Hopkins' wrestler Dominick Reyes (10^th NWCA | 8^th d3wrestle.com).
 
Wallace continued his workmanlike approach in his return to the lineup following a three-week hiatus from competition. The Maryland transfer notched three decisions en route to his 174-pound title. Wallace got the day started with a comfortable 12-5 decision over Billy Myers of host York College. The semifinal was tight throughout, but Wallace sealed things with a strong third-period in a 10-7 decision over Brett Leonard of Roger Williams. The 174-pound title bout was an anticipated rematch against TCNJ's Dan Kilroy (10^th d3wrestle.com). It was against Kilroy that Wallace broke onto the national scene earlier this season, besting Kilroy at the Journeymen Duals during the second weekend of November. The title bout was once-again a close battle, but Wallace was able to notch the lone takedown in a 3-2 victory. Today's performance brings Wallace's season record to 12-0 heading into the final competition date of the fall semester.
 
Jones and Ninos both had tough starts to the day, but rallied to earn place-finishes.
 
Jones (10^th NWCA) entered Saturday's action on quite a roll, earning two victories by fall to being the tournament's action on Friday. Unfortunately, he had his run halted in the opening bout of the day, falling to Stevens' Kyle Slendorn in a first-period fall (2:17). However, Jones rallied with a big victory over nationally-ranked Hayden Brown (5^th NWCA | 5^th d3wrestle.com) of Johnson & Wales by an 11-7 decision. The IC rookie followed that with back-to-back technical falls over Andy Lombard of Roger Williams (16-1) and Jacob Falleni of TCNJ (16-0). The rookie had to settle for fourth, as Hunter Gutierrez of Stevens bested Jones 9-4 in his fifth and final bout of the day.
 
Ninos also began the day with a defeat, dropping a 5-2 decision to Ursinus' Terry Adams. The second-year IC talent followed up that loss with a major decision 10-0 win over Brandon Murray of York and a 3-1 decision over Nick Denora of TCNJ. Colton Messick of Apprentice stopped Ninos' wrestle-back run in the consolation semifinals, edging out the Bomber in a narrow 4-2 decision. Ninos received a medical forfeit from the grappler he began the day against in Ursinus' Terry Adams to take home fifth-place.
 
Elias went 1-2 in his wrestled-bouts on the day, ultimately settling for sixth-place. He began the day with a 6-2 victory over Thomas Marretta of TCNJ to earn a spot in the semifinals. Sadly, his run came to an end in a tightly-contested bout against Johnson & Wales' Liridon Leka. The two grapplers finished regulation tied at 1-1, but Leka was able to use his significant weight advantage to wear down Elias, ultimately notching the clinching takedown in the first sudden-victory period to win 3-1. Ben Maack of Ursinus bested Elias in a 9-1 major decision in the next bout, before Elias opted to hold out of the final bout of the day, which was slated to be a rematch against TCNJ's Marretta.
 
The following are the full results from the weekend: CLICK HERE.
 
The Bombers will be back in action on Saturday, December 14, when they return to Ben Light Gymnasium for a tri-meet with duals against Oswego State and Jamestown Community College. Action is scheduled to begin at noon.