YORK, P.A. – The 14^th-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team was back in action at York College on Saturday for the second day of the 12^th Annual Spartan Invitational tournament. IC entered the final day with 11 wrestlers still alive in either the championship or consolation rounds, and six of them came away with place finishes. This propelled the squad to jump two spots in the team standings on Saturday to cap off the weekend with a fifth-place finish with 94 points.
 
The spotlight was on the only Bomber individual champion in seventh-ranked Eze Chukwuezi (d3wrestle). The 184-pounder showed up looking like an All-American caliber grappler as he took home his third individual title of the season. Junior Travis Jones punched a ticket to the 141-pound championship final as well. Four additional wrestlers earned themselves medals on Saturday in senior Matt Griffin, junior Matthew Beyer, junior Adam Wagner, and junior Adrian Rosario-Beato. Griffin took home sixth at 125-pounds, Beyer fought back for third place at 149-pounds, Wagner earned fourth at 157-pounds, and Rosario-Beato settled for fifth at 157-pounds.
 
Chukwuezi continued to reveal that he is a legitimate contender for a national title this season as he kept his perfect season alive on Saturday. He got things cooking with a dominant second period fall over Merchant Marine's Logan Green (3:42) in the quarterfinals. Chukwuezi's semifinal bout against Daniel Surich of TCNJ was more fundamental, but nifty work on his feet and a three-takedown performance was all it took to bottle up an 8-3 victory to advance to the finals. The senior turned in one of his best matches of the season in the 184-pound title against Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales. Chukwuezi was a machine on his feet as he notched seven takedowns to cruise to a convincing 16-6 win. He is now 13-0 on the season.
 
Jones also played a large part in the Bombers Top-Five finish, as he picked up two bonus point victories on his way to the 141-pound championship final. He got the day started with a comfortable second period fall over TCNJ's Michael Conklin in 4:01. Jones' semifinal contest was much closer against Brandon Woody of Averett. After taking a 6-5 lead into the third period, the Bomber secured a late takedown that led to a booming pin at the 6:44 mark. Unfortunately, Jones came up just short of claiming his second individual tournament title of the season after falling to #6 Hayden Brown of Johnson & Wales (d3wrestle), 11-6 in the championship bout. It was a physical match, but the nationally ranked wrestler won the takedown battle over Jones four takedowns to one.
 
At 125, Griffin fought his way to a semifinal birth after upsetting second-seeded Matt Caccamise of Brockport in the quarterfinals. Trailing 6-1 after the first period, Griffin administered some brutal top work to turn Caccamise several times and eventually get the fall in the third period (6:04). Unfortunately, he did appear to undergo an injury in the match and was forced to medically forfeit his semifinal bout against Bruno Alves of Apprentice. Griffin opted to sit out the rest of the tournament and settle for sixth place.
 
Beyer has been a weapon in Nichols' lineup this season and he continued to show why on Saturday. The 149-pounder kicked off the day with a methodical second period pin over Victor Perlleshi of Johnson & Wales in the quarterfinals. Beyer was in a dogfight in the semifinals when he took on top-seeded Gabe McDaniel of Johnson & Wales. Despite securing the first takedown of the match, the Bomber surrendered a reversal and two takedowns in the second period and was unable to climb his way back, as McDaniel won the bout 7-6. Beyer battled back in the consolation semis and advanced to the third-place match after taking out York College's Jared Bair 9-2. The New Jersey product ended the tournament on a high note after defeating Washington & Lee's Nic Zamaloff, 9-4, to take third place.
 
Wagner went 2-2 on the day to eventually settle for fourth place. In the quarterfinals, the middleweight squeaked by Averett's Landon Childress 3-2 thanks to a second period takedown. Sadly, Wagner's championship run came to a close in the semifinals when he dropped an entertaining 6-4 nail biter to Hunter Gutierrez of Stevens. After dropping down to the consolation semis, Wagner took on Rosario-Beato and knocked off his fellow teammate 5-1 to secure a Top-Four finish. In his third-place match, Wagner led Shawn Marchesano of Ursinus 7-5 with under a minute remaining in the final period. That's before Marchesano escaped and earned a late takedown with 16 seconds remaining to win it 9-7.
 
A tip of the cap is in order for Rosario-Beato's performance on the day. After losing his first match of the tournament yesterday, the junior clawed his way back and won four straight consolation matches to guarantee himself a place finish. He started off the morning with a 9-5 win over Nic Alejandro of Washington & Lee and then he pinned Tyler Albis of Johnson & Wales in the first period (1:47). Rosario-Beato's next two opponents were practice partners, as he took out teammate Pierre-Louis, 14-5, and then lost to Wagner, 5-1. The New York product finished strong with a medical forfeit victory over Branden Bulatao of Stevens in the fifth-place bout.
 
The following are the full results from the weekend: RESULTS
 
Ithaca College will return to the mats on January 7 and January 8 for the Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA.