CORTLAND, N.Y. – The 14^th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team jumped back into dual action on Saturday morning when it made the short trip up Route 13 to SUNY Cortland for a pair of neutral-site dual matches against Averett and Nassau Community College. The Bombers enjoyed an excellent day on the mats, improving their record to 8-4 on the year in dual competition with two convincing triumphs. Ithaca did not face SUNY Cortland, as the Bombers and Red Dragons are set to square off in just over three weeks time at the fourth-annual Rumble & Tumble Meet, hosted inside Ithaca's Ben Light Gymnasium this year.
 
Ithaca began the day with an anticipated battle against Averett. The competition was close at the outset; however, a six-bout run beginning at 149-pounds helped the Bombers separate from the Cougars for a dominant 37-12 victory. Notably, IC earned bonus points in all seven of its wins in today's opening match.
 
The winning continued into the second matchup of the day against talented JUCO outfit Nassau Community College. IC scored triumphs in 8-of-10 bouts to easily pull away for the 35-8 win.
 
On the day, first-year Travis Jones (133), senior Ben Brisman (149), senior Al Ciccitto (157), redshirt-senior Austin Whitney (165), and sophomore Eze Chukwuezi (184)h all posted two victories. Adding solo wins on the day were rookie Adam Wagner – who bumped up to 174-pounds to fill-in for usual starter Jordan Wallace – as well as seniors Tito Colom (141) and Dalton Elias (285). Senior Steven Rice and junior Dymir Davis-Carruth also split the bouts at 197-pounds, each taking home a victory on the day. Rookie Luis Hernandez also wrestled two exhibition bouts for the Bombers on the day, scoring a 19-6 major decision over Averett's Caleb Harmon and dropping a clash against Cortland's Ryan Burgbacher at 149-pounds. Rice also earned a second-period pin in an exhibition bout against an Averett grappler.
 
#14 Ithaca 37 – Averett 12
125 LB: #5/5 Sam Braswell (Averett) def. Logan Ninos (Ithaca) | DEC: 8-4
133 LB: Travis Jones (Ithaca) def. Joseph Jones (Averett) | FALL: 1:35
141 LB: #8/8 Brandon Woody (Averett) def. Tito Colom | DEC: 2-1
149 LB: Ben Brisman (Ithaca) def. Davis Shelton Jr. (Averett) | FALL: 2:26
157 LB: Al Ciccitto (Ithaca) def. Tony Blackman (Averett) | FALL: 0:24
165 LB: #7/6 Austin Whitney (Ithaca) def. Isaiah Deck (Averett) | TF: 16-1
174 LB: Adam Wagner (Ithaca) def. Will Merritt (Averett) | FALL: 2:12
184 LB: #10/9 Eze Chukwuezi (Ithaca) def. George Moseley (Averett) | MD: 14-5
197 LB: Steven Rice (Ithaca) def. Kowan Lee (Averett) | MD: 10-2
285 LB: Trent Ragland (Averett) def. Dalton Elias (Ithaca) | INJ: 1:37
 
Today's first dual was a challenging start as Averett boasted a pair of nationally-ranked grapplers at the top of the lineup in Sam Braswell (5^th NWCA | 5^th d3wrestle.com) at 125-pounds and Brandon Woody (8^th NWCA | 8^th d3wrestle.com) at 141-pounds. Although the Bombers were unable to score a result in either bout against Averett's two stalwarts, sophomore Logan Ninos and senior Tito Colom did well to limit the potential damage. Ninos hung tight in his bout against Braswell, falling 8-4, while Colom was edged by just a single point in a low-scoring 2-1 decision. However, bonus points proved to be a big storyline in the match and IC's outstanding rookie Travis Jones registered yet-another first-period fall on the year (1:35) to off-set the defeats at 125 and 141.
 
Ithaca blew things open beginning at 149-pounds where senior Ben Brisman continued to acclimate well to his new primary weight. The senior notched his first pin since moving up to 149, putting Davis Shelton Jr. to his back at 2:26. The next five bouts all went the Bombers way.
 
Al Ciccitto doubled up that lead to 18-6 with another fall at 157-pounds. It took him just 24-seconds to dispatch Tony Blackman. Nationally-ranked Austin Whitney (7^th NWCA | 6^th d3wrestle.com) put on a show inside the gym he called home for two years prior to arriving at Ithaca, rolling up a 16-1 technical fall over Isaiah Deck. Adam Wagner followed it up with Ithaca's fourth first-period fall of the day with a triumph over Will Merritt at 2:12. Chukwuezi (10^th NWCA | 9^th d3wrestle.com) and Rice capped the run with major decisions, Chukwuezi scoring a 14-5 major decision over George Moseley and Rice registering a 10-2 win over Kowan Lee.
 
#14 Ithaca 35 – Nassau CC 8
125 LB: Brandon Escobar (Nassau) def. Logan Ninos (Ithaca) | DEC: 4-3
133 LB: Travis Jones (Ithaca) def. Anthony Sobotker (Nassau) | DEC: 15-13
141 LB: Tito Colom (Ithaca) def. Connor Llewellyn (Nassau) | MD: 18-9
149 LB: Ben Brisman (Ithaca) def. Josh Rubin (Nassau) | TF: 19-4 (5:30)
157 LB: Al Ciccitto (Ithaca) def. Gavin Leath (Nassau) | DEC: 9-4
165 LB: #7/6 Austin Whitney (Ithaca) won by forfeit
174 LB: Brian Torres (Nassau) def. Adam Wagner | TF: 20-3 (7:00)
184 LB: #10/9 Eze Chukwuezi (Ithaca) def. Matthew Myers (Nassau) | FALL: 0:51
197 LB: Dymir Davis-Carruth (Ithaca) def. Steve Orandello (Nassau) | MD: 14-3
285 LB: Dalton Elias (Ithaca) def. Micheal Babbcort (Nassau) | MD: 14-6
 
The Bombers again utilized a lengthy run of wins to blow things open in the second match of the day against Nassau Community College. The Bombers registered wins in five straight bouts to erase an early 3-0 deficit and build a 21-3 edge that would not be relinquished. Overall, IC scored triumphs in eight of the ten bouts to easily dispatch the Lions 35-8.
 
Jones got the run started in an exciting back-and-forth battled against Anthony Sobotker. Scoring came in bunches for both grapplers; however, it was IC's rookie that won the offensive match-up in a barn-burner 15-13 decision.
 
Colom had a nice bounce-back battle after struggling to string together some offense in the opening dual of the day. He scored early and often against Nassau's Connor Llewellyn in an 18-9 major decision. Brisman followed with his second excellent performance of the day, racking up a 19-4 technical fall over Josh Rubin to extend IC's advantage to 12-3. With the win, Brisman closed to within one win of becoming Ithaca's latest member of the 100 career win club.
 
Al Ciccitto kept the momentum going at 157-pounds, completing his 2-0 day with a 9-4 decision over Gavin Leath. An ensuing forfeit received by Austin Whitney at 165-pounds widened the Ithaca lead to 21-3 with four bouts remaining.
 
Although Nassau finally snapped the run at 174-pounds, Ithaca posted a strong finish with three straight wins to close out the day. Chukwuezi sparked the final stretch with a 51-second pin of Matthew Myers at 184-pounds. Chukwuezi is now up to 20 victories on the year. Davis-Carruth and Elias capped the day with major decisions at 197-pounds and heavyweight.

EXHIBITIONS
149 LB: Luis Hernandez (IC) def. Caleb Harmon (Averett) | MD: 19-6
149 LB: Ryan Burgbacher (SUNY Cortland) def. Luis Hernandez (IC) | FALL: 6:42
184 LB: Steven Rice (IC) def. Noah Wienclawski (Averett) | FALL: 3:44  
 
Ithaca returns to the mats tomorrow afternoon when a contingent heads to Jamestown, N.Y., for the Jamestown Community College Open.