LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 13
th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team continued its busy opening day at the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals on Friday afternoon, when it kicked off the afternoon session with a tilt against Alma College in the consolation bracket. Despite competing in its third successive dual, the Bombers raced past the more rested Scots in an impressive 35-6 victory. The win advances Ithaca into the evening session on Friday, where it will look to punch its ticket to Saturday's consolation rounds against No. 19 Wisconsin-Whitewater.
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Coming off a deflating defeat at the hands of sixth-ranked Coe College, the Bombers rallied in emphatic fashion in the first consolation round of the day. Ithaca scored victories in 8-of-10 bouts, which included bonus points at four different weights and one forfeit received to further account for the lopsided margin. Highlighting the match-up were first-year 133-pounder
Travis Jones and senior heavyweight
Dalton Elias who both tallied their second pins of the day, with both grapplers also locking in pins in the day's opening match against Western New England. Junior
Jordan Wallace (5
th NWCA | 7
th d3wrestle.com) also extended his unbeaten streak to begin the season with a major decision victory, which ended up being the clincher for the Bombers at 174-pounds.
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#13 Ithaca 35 – Alma 6
125 LB: Tito Colom (IC) def. Austin Wieczorek (Alma) | DEC: 3-2
133 LB: Travis Jones (IC) def. Noah Lopez (Alma) | FALL: 2:09
141 LB: #7/7 Brendan Ladd (Alma) def. #10/- Ben Brisman (IC) | DEC: 10-6
149 LB: Demetri D'Orsaneo (IC) def. Mason Priest (Alma) | DEC: 6-0
157 LB: #-/10 Sam Schneider (IC) receives forfeit
165 LB: Alec Corrao (IC) def. Jayce Kuehnlein (Alma) | MD: 15-6
174 LB: #5/7 Jordan Wallace (IC) def. Lucas Brewer (Alma) | MD: 14-4
184 LB: Eze Chukwuezi (IC) def. Dylan Seaton (Alma) | DEC: 7-1
197 LB: Clayton Todd (Alma) def. Dymir Davis-Carruth (IC) | DEC: 12-10
285 LB: Dalton Elias (IC) def. Peter Nicaj (Alma) | FALL: 2:19
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Slow starts has been the theme of the day up to this point for the Bombers who fell behind early against both Western New England and Coe during the morning session. Ithaca bucked that trend against Alma, as
Tito Colom notched his first victory since bumping down to the 125-pound weight. It was another tense battle, but Colom would prevail in a 3-2 decision to give IC the early leg up. Jones followed that up with his second first-period pin of the day, putting Alma's Noah Lopez to his back at 2:09. The win extended Ithaca to a 9-0 edge that proved enough to ultimately clinch the match.
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The lone ranked-on-ranked battle came at 141-pounds when senior
Ben Brisman (10
th NWCA) faced Brendan Ladd (7
th NWCA | 7
th d3wrestle.com). The clash was a rematch of 2018 Nationals when Brisman dispatched Ladd on his way to capturing the 141-pound title in Cleveland, Ohio. Unfortunately, today's rematch went in favor of Alma's grappler, as Ladd secured a lead during the second period and held off Brisman late for a 10-6 decision.
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The Bombers widened the edge during the middle weights. Redshirt-senior
Demetri D'Orsaneo got his first victory of the year with a 6-0 shutout decision over Mason Priest. Following a received forfeit from redshirt-sophomore
Sam Schneider (10
th d3wrestle.com), Ithaca led the match 18-3.
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Junior
Alec Corrao stepped in at 165-pounds with redshirt-senior
Austin Whitney (6
th NWCA | 6
th d3wrestle.com) shutdown after an injury default against Coe. The Bombers did not miss a beat, as Corrao turned in one of his finest performances of the year in rolling up a 15-6 major decision over Jayce Kuehnlein. Wallace notched his major decision to put things out of reach, while Chukwuezi bounced back from a tough-luck defeat against Coe with a convincing 7-1 decision over Dylan Seaton. Elias capped the match with a first-period pin of Peter Nicaj in 2:19.
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The Bombers match-up against No. 19 Wisconsin-Whitewater is set for an approximate 5:00 p.m. start time.