ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 26 ranked Ithaca College wrestling program put together strong showings nearly across the board as they grinded out extra-point victories in five of the ten bouts on Friday evening in a 30-12 win over visiting Wilkes University. With the dual victory, the Bombers improved to 10-4 overall as they close out the regular season slate in a dual against crosstown rival SUNY Cortland.

Ithaca 30, Wilkes 12
125 LB: #10 Matt Griffin (Ithaca) over #9 Austin Fashouer (Wilkes) | Fall 3:41 (6-0)
133 LB: Luis Hernandez (Ithaca) over Jack Bauer (Wilkes) | Fall 1:17 (12-0)
141 LB: Josef Lundin (Wilkes) winner by forfeit | (12-6)
149 LB:  #12 Matthew Beyer (Ithaca) over Allen Kokilananda (Wilkes) | Major Decision: 21-9 (16-6)
157 LB: Adam Wagner (Ithaca) over Liam Flaherty (Wilkes) | Major Decision: 20-7 (20-6)
165 LB: James Geiger (Wilkes) over Jackson Gray (Ithaca) | Decision: 6-5 (20-9)
174 LB: Christopher Nuss (Wilkes) over Adrian Rosario-Beato (Ithaca) | Decision: 5-2 (20-12)
184 LB: #6 Eze Chukwuezi (Ithaca) over #14 Colton Babcock (Wilkes) | Decision: 3-1 (23-12)
197 LB: #9 Jordan Wallace (Ithaca) over Cameron Butka (Wilkes) | Major Decision: 14-5 (27-12)
285 LB: Edwin Rubio (Ithaca) over Nevin Rauch (Wilkes) | Decision: 12-6 (30-12)
 
No. 10 ranked Matt Griffin (d3wrestle) got the Bombers off to a hot start earning a fall in 3:41. Ithaca was able to further build its lead to 12-0 with another fall, this time at 133-pounds. Junior grappler Luis Hernandez achieved the feat in 1:18 defeating Jack Bauer. A forfeit win at 141-pounds put the Colonels on the board at 12-6.

Back-to-back major decisions at 149 and 157-pounds further established the Ithaca lead at 20-6. It was a seven-point third period that did the trick for Matthew Beyer as he put the match away with three takedowns and an escape. It was another strong third period, this time by Adam Wagner as he earned the major decision (20-7) over Liam Flaherty.

Wilkes University cut into the deficit with hard fought decisions at 165 and 174-pounds as it was just 20-12 heading into the feature bout of the evening. IC's nationally ranked Eze Chukwuezi squared off against No. 14 ranked Colton Babcock. Chukwuezi won on a takedown just eight seconds into the overtime period for the 3-0 decision as he remains undefeated on the season at 28-0.

The Bombers put the dual away with a dominant major decision win at 197 lbs. by Jordan Wallace and a 12-6 decision in favor of Edwin Rubio in the heavyweight class.

Ithaca will square off at SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. Since the 1993-94 season, the Bombers own a narrow 13-8 record over the Red Dragons including five straight dual wins.