Results

ITHACA, N.Y. - The 14^th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team returned to the mats after traveling south on Friday to compete in the 12^th Annual Spartan Invitational tournament at York College of Pennsylvania. The Bombers came out firing on Day 1, as seven wrestlers still remain in the championships rounds and four others will look to battle back in the consolations. Marty Nichols' squad is currently in sixth place in the stacked team field upon culminating 24.5 team points.
 
TCNJ anchors the team race through Friday's action with a team-high 38.5 points. The Lions hold a slight lead over Averett who accumulated 36.5 points and Johnson & Wales who garnered 35 points. The rest of the Top-8 includes: Washington & Lee (4^th, 28 PTS), #6 Stevens (5^th, 25 PTS), Ithaca (6^th, 24.5 PTS), SUNY Brockport (7^th, 23.5 PTS), Johns Hopkins (T-8^th, 23 PTS), and York College (T-8^th, 23 PTS).
 
Headlining tournament action on Friday for IC were a handful of grapplers who posted dazzling performances to open up the weekend. The Bombers who advanced to the quarterfinals to start off Saturday are: Matt Griffin (125 lbs.), Luis Hernandez (133 lbs.), Travis Jones (141 lbs.), Matthew Beyer (149 lbs.), Adam Wagner (157 lbs.), #7 Eze Chukwuezi (d3wrestle) (184 lbs.), and Nicolas Galka (285 lbs.).
 
Griffin has been nursing a knee injury over the past several weeks, but that did not seem to faze him in his lone bout of the day. The senior lightweight carried a narrow 1-0 lead into the third period over Ursinus' Franco Mazza only to ride out the final two minutes to seal a 2-0 victory.
 
At 133, Hernandez looked dominant and cruised past Dylan Messick of Apprentice to advance to the quarterfinals. The Bomber collected three takedowns on his way to a first period fall in 2:46.
 
It was just another day in the office for Jones in his opening match. The All-American contender went to work fast on top to build an 11-0 lead over Charlie Lausten of Merchant Marine in the first period. The third seed eventually pinned Lausten at the 4:17 mark of the second period.
 
Up at 149, Beyer extended his winning streak to seven with a workmanlike win over York College's Nick Paolucci. The junior surrendered a takedown in the opening period but managed to go on a 9-2 run to punch his ticket to the quarters with a 9-4 win.
 
Wagner entered the tournament as a second seed and certainly wrestled like one in his opening bout at 157. While not yielding a single takedown, the junior racked up three takedowns and cranked out a decisive 8-2 win over Brockport's Zack Brown.
 
Chukwuezi started the season at 197 lbs. but now looks to have found a new home at 184. It was quick and easy for the former Virginia High School state champion, as he notched a first period fall over Connor Fritsch of Ursinus (1:35).
 
Galka has been taking on the duty as starting heavyweight to begin the season and his opening bout on Friday proved why. The New Jersey native picked up a reversal in the second period and ended up sticking Jarod Camacho of Apprentice at the 3:37 mark.
 
Rounding out the names of Bombers who are still hunting for a medal, there are four wrestlers alive in the consolation rounds. Matt Haycook (125) looked sharp in the opening round, piling up three takedowns and some near fall points to defeat York College's Nico Ricciuto, 9-1. The freshman was put to the test in his following bout, however, as he was majored 21-7 by the third-ranked wrestler in the land in Averett's Sam Braswell (d3wrestle). At 157, freshman Wenchard Pierre-Louis edged Gabe Degraffinreed of Johnson & Wales, 4-1, in the opening round, but dropped a tight 5-3 bout to Ursinus' Stone Franczyk in the Round of 16. He fought back to pin Judd Cummings of Washington & Lee in the first period (1:35) in the second round of consolations. Staying at 157, Adrian Rosario-Beato got pinned by Branden Bulatao of Stevens in the third period (4:55) in the Round of 32 but responded with a swift first period fall over Brown of Brockport (1:16) in the consolations. Sophomore Jeremy Mazzella (197) was in a back-and-forth affair with Max Sims of Merchant Marine in the opening round, but a late takedown costed him a close 7-4 loss. The upper weight finished out the day with a commanding 5-0 victory over Jaleel Jones of Averett in the second round of consolations.
 
Action is set to resume at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.