ITHACA, N.Y. - Ithaca's Athletic and Events center played host to twelve teams for the annual Bomber Invitational. Those twelve teams are American International, Baldwin Wallace (BW), Castleton, Elmira College, Greensboro College, Muskingum, New England College, Norwich, Oswego State, Penn College of Technology and Springfield College.
 
Ithaca ended the day in fourth place with 33 points. They trail National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) #3 BW (37), Springfield (40.5), and #11 Castleton (47.5). That 14.5 point deficit is not too tall of a task as the Bombers have 19 student-athletes still in the hunt for a medal. A dozen athletes wake up ready to compete for gold and seven more can potentially reach the podium. A breakdown of qualifiers by weight is down below:
 
125: Kendricks Pellicci (0-1) & Cosmo Diamani (0-1)- Consolation Bracket
Both Pellicci and Diamani fell in the first round to their opponents from Springfield via fall. However, both will be the first on the mat in the morning for a chance to get on the right track ASAP.
 
133: Isaias Torres (1-0)- Championship Bracket
Torres only wrestled one match due to a first round bye. The extra time off did not build rust. He looked extremely sharp putting up 26 points en route to a 26-9 tech fall. As the number two seed, Torres is nicely placed opposite of unanimous #1 in the country Jayden Hinton from Baldwin Wallace. Not to look ahead, but that potential matchup should be on every wrestling fan's radar.
 
141:  Matt Haycook (2-0) & Angelo Pellicci (1-0)- Championship Bracket
Brandon Ribeiro (2-1), Lucas Dionne (2-1), Quinton Smith (2-1)- Consolation Bracket
Ithaca's biggest question mark turned out to be one of the biggest highlights of day one. The five qualifying combined for eight bonus point victories in this weight class alone. The best part for Ithaca is if every Bomber wins out they won't see each other on the mat until medal rounds.
 
That's going to be a tough route for Pellicci who is going to see D3Wrestle's (D3W) #3 141 pounder James Rodriguez (Castleton) right out of the gate. Haycook will look to exact revenge for his teammate Ribeiro as he takes on Mideast Regional placewinner Noah Hunt. Haycook looks very strong and more natural at 141. Today he said "I feel great here (at 141). I'm not dead from cutting weight and really have my legs and lungs for the match which feels new".
 
149: Matthew Beyer (2-0)- Championship Bracket
Beyer showed up in a big way on day one. He mentioned early in the day that he was slightly disappointed in his fourth place finish last year and wanted to bring home a title on his home turf. He's on the fast track to do just that- racking up a pin and an 18-2 tech fall in his first two bouts. Beyer is looking dominant in the first half of this tournament.
 
157: Braden Edwards (2-0), Joe Avrill (1-0), Wenchard Pierre-Louis (2-0)- Championship Bracket
Three Bombers are into the quarter-finals at 157. Edwards had the most exciting day of the three. The first year hit a massive over/under throw that he converted into a pin for his first ever college victory. His opponent from BWwas completely horizontal in the air before sounding off a mat slapping boom that could be heard from the IC field hockey game outside. If he and Pierre-Louis win their next match, they'll meet in the semi-finals. Avrill has a *slightly* tougher path to see his teammates on the mat. Avrill would have to upset the best pound for pound wrestler, bonus point leader, and returning DIII national champ Michael Petrella from Baldwin Wallace.
 
165: Pedro Cruz (2-0) & Konrad Parker (2-0)
Parker was a scoring machine earning two tech falls combining for 34 points to his opponents four. Cruz had a great day as well picking up a fall and an 11-3 major decision. The fun news is both are set to face top 25 ranked wrestlers in their first bout Saturday. Parker will take on Nicholas Roger from Castleton. Cruz will wrestle Hunter Kupniewski from BW. If both wrestle like they did today, there's a serious chance for a double upset at the 165 pound weight class.
174: No Athlete Entered (Jackson Gray withdrawal due to illness)
 
184: Jake Jones (1-0) & Xavier Pommells (2-0)- Championship Bracket
Jones got a bye, then won his first NCAA bout in a 4-2 bout highlighted by his elite shot defense. He's going to be tested early tomorrow by #10 Sampson Wilkins from Castleton. Pommells sits on the other side of the bracket. Believe it or not, he wrestles an even higher nationally ranked opponent- #4 Isaac Cory from Penn Tech. Anyone watching the 184 weight class is in for a treat as they get to see a Greco-Runner up take on a top ten ranked wrestler and a JUCO national qualifier take on a top five ranked wrestler right next to each other.
1
97: Trey Darmody-Latham- Championship Bracket
            Charlie Turner- Consolation Bracket
197 only had 16 entries which caused each athlete to only wrestle twice. Darmody-Latham controlled the entire match until a late big move made the score closer than the 12-9 decision appears on paper. Turner will look to bounce back in first round wrestled tomorrow.

HWT: Jeremy Mazzella (2-0)- Championship Bracket
Mazzella has a knack for the dramatic. Both matches came down to a late takedown that came within the last twelve seconds of regular time. It doesn't matter how you win, any win advances you to the next round. Mazzella has a chance to pull another dramatic W against Mason Sprinkle of Springfield, who comes in top 25 in rankings. To earn an IC Invitational title, Mazzella would have to do the same against two other ranked opponents- Michael Filieri (Springfield) and returning 5th place finisher at 197 Doug Byrne (BW).
 
Wrestling will begin with the consolation bracket. First whistle is set to blow tomorrow at 9 a.m. Finals will be streamed live with commentary on the Bomber Sports YouTube channel.