ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College wrestling team entered Sunday morning neck-and-neck with TCNJ for the Mideast Regional team title in Elizabethtown, Pa. and ended up placing second at the tournament to close out the weekend. IC 184-pounder Eze Chukwuezi led the charge and added more hardware to his collection, as he earned his second-career Mideast Regional championship with an 8-4 victory in the finals.
 
The Bombers had an excellent semifinal showing, sending five out of seven wrestlers to the championship finals and barely trailing TCNJ in the team race heading into the medal rounds. Ultimately, the team had one individual champion, four finalists, and two fourth-place finishers.
 
The final team scores are as followed: 1. TCNJ (163.5 points), 2. Ithaca (135.5 points), 3. SUNY Cortland (123.0 points), 4. RIT (119.0 points), 5. Ursinus (95.0 points).
 
133: Luis Hernandez
Hernandez had a very solid regional tournament and solidified himself as a clear All-American threat on Sunday. In his semifinal bout, the 133-pounder took on Zack Levey of Brockport – an opponent who majored him 16-6 in the ECWC finals back in mid-January. Hernandez had different plans on the afternoon, however, as he scored a handful of takedowns to win an exciting 10-6 match to put himself in the regional finals.
 
Hernandez was 0-2 on the season against Jayden Cardenas of Cortland heading into the championship bout. Unfortunately, it appeared that he still doesn't have his number quite yet. With 30 seconds remaining in the first period, Cardenas shot in on Hernandez when the Bomber overhooked and got himself overextended. That's when Cardenas hip tossed him to his back to take a quick 6-0 lead. Hernandez surrendered yet another big move in the ensuing period, shooting in on a double leg but allowing Cardenas to hip into him and toss him to his back for another costly six-point move. The Red Dragon tacked on another takedown in the third to win it 15-2. Regardless, this marks Hernandez's first national tournament bid of his career.
 
141: Travis Jones
Another wrestler who turned the heads of many this weekend, Jones was on a warpath to the regional finals. The former regional champ kicked off the day with a dominant 26-8 technical fall in the third period over Xavier Pena of Centenary in the semifinals.
 
Jones' hot streak came to an end in the finals when he lost to TCNJ's Dom Defrancescanton 12-2. In the opening period, Jones hit a head outside shot before Defrancescanton countered it and scored a takedown to go up 2-0. Moments later, Defrancescanton hit a crossface cradle as time expired to rack up four near fall points and make it 6-0. The TCNJ 141-pounder owned the second period, getting two more near fall points off of a tilt from a crab ride and riding Jones out for the entire period. A late go-behind takedown for Defrancescanton put salt in the wound, but Jones still earned his second national championship berth.

149: Matthew Beyer
Beyer had a roller coaster of a Sunday, dropping his semifinal bout to TCNJ's Michael Conklin in a razor-thin 8-7 match. The junior responded with a resounding 10-3 win over RIT's Mike Glynn to punch his ticket to the third-place bout with a national tournament bid on the line.
 
Taking on Muhleberg's Brandon Bowles – an opponent who he edged 9-8 in the quarterfinals – Beyer was in a dogfight from start to finish. Aside from the Bomber nearly converting a takedown off of a double leg before time expired, the first period ended scoreless. After earning an escape and a penalty point, Beyer led 2-0 before Bowles hit a double leg at the edge of the circle with 30 seconds left to tie things at 2-2. The Muhlenberg grappler was hit with a stall call for a push out, but it was eventually overturned by the officials after a coach's challenge. Beyer cut Bowles loose for an escape to open up the third period and trail 3-2, but his gas tank prevailed in the end as Bowles was hit with his second stall call with four seconds remaining in the match to make it 3-3 and send things to sudden victory. With about a minute to go in overtime, Bowles hit a duck under off of an overhook, shifted Beyer's momentum forward, sent the Bomber airborne, and scurried around for the match-winning takedown to take it 5-3.
 
165: Jackson Gray
It's not too often that first-year collegians go far in the postseason, but Gray was a match away from being a national qualifier this weekend. Following a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to top-seeded #3 Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins in the semifinals, Gray slid to the consolation semis where he picked up a convincing 6-2 win over TCNJ's Matt Surich.
 
In the third-place bout, the Bomber squared off against Isaac Mathews of Oswego State – a wrestler who he majored 9-0 at the Ithaca Invitational back in November. Gray struck first with a takedown off of a head-inside single with a minute left to close out the opening period and take a 2-1 advantage. Ahead 3-1 in the third, Gray's offense shut down a bit and Mathews hit a match-winning double leg takedown with 15 seconds remaining to win it 4-3.
 
184: Eze Chukwuezi
Chukwuezi's march to a national championship remained in-tact, as his dominance on the mat continued on Sunday. Following a commanding 12-3 major decision victory over Christophe Eames of Brockport, Chukwuezi returned to the regional finals.
 
Taking on Daniel Surich of TCNJ, who Chukwuezi defeated 8-2 earlier in the year, the upper weight was highly methodical and fluent with his offensive attacks all match long. After a scoreless first period, Chukwuezi earned a quick escape and notched two takedowns in the period off of a pair of snap down go-behinds to take a comfortable 5-2 lead. Midway through the final period, Surich took a poor shot and the senior capitalized with another go-behind to ice the match and win it 8-4. The 184-pounder is now 33-0 on the season and is a two-time Mideast Regional champ.
 
197: Jordan Wallace
The grad student proved himself as a legitimate All-American contender this weekend on his way to becoming a regional finalist for the second time in his career. In the semifinals, Wallace had some tough sledding as he took on #11 Luca Colestock of Muhlenberg. JWall opened up his offense early on, scoring a takedown off of a low single a little more than one minute into the first period. With Wallace leading 5-3 late in the third, Colestock took a bad shot from afar and the Bomber hit a nasty pancake to get the fall at the 6:52 mark.
 
Wallace opted to medically forfeit his championship bout against top-seeded #12 Quinn Haddad of TCNJ, but he is still headed to Cedar Rapids, Ia. with the rest of the team for the national championships in two weeks.
 
285: Edwin Rubio
Entering the tournament as the fifth seed, Rubio surprised some and impressed many in his weekend outing. In the semifinals, the Bomber heavyweight excelled on his feet, racking up a handful of takedowns on his way to a dominant 7-1 win over Muhlenberg's Ramiro Osuna.
 
In a rematch against TCNJ's Thomas Marretta from earlier in the season (lost 4-1 at Ithaca Duals), Rubio was one match away from becoming a regional champion. The match was tight from beginning to end with not a whole lot of offense and both wrestlers competing with a more reserved style. Following a scoreless first period, Rubio escaped to go up 1-0. He soon dodged a bullet in the closing seconds of the period as Marretta nearly had a takedown at the edge of the mat before time expired. Marretta escaped 15 seconds into the third period and the match coasted to sudden victory. In overtime, Rubio hit a nice duck under attempt, but Marretta countered and put him in a front headlock and hit a go-behind for a match-winning takedown to win it 3-1.
 
Ithaca College will enter the final chapter of its season two weeks from now when the team travels to Cedar Rapids, Ia. for the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships on March 11 and March 12. Starting times for each day are TBD.