WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Ithaca College wrestling program was back in action on Friday as they competed in three duals as part of the 35
th annual Budd Whitehill National Duals hosted by Lycoming College. The tournament, which is once of the premier events in Division III wrestling includes 16 teams that feature four groups that competed in round robin on Friday, with the winners of the groups being reseeded into a championship bracket on Saturday, January 13.
The Bombers began their day at 9 a.m. where they defeated Wilkes University 35-15 and that was followed up with a 30-10 dismantling of the McDaniel College Green Terror that set up a showdown with No. 7 ranked Stevens, who earned the top seed in Group A as they were seventh in the latest NWCA Division III dual meet rankings.
Ithaca 35, Wilkes University 15
125 LBS: Connor Kerwin (Wilkes) defeated
Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) TF 17-1
133 LBS:
Isaias Torres (Ithaca) defeated Michael Richardson (Wilkes) Dec 10-3
141 LBS: Jack Bauer (Wilkes) defeated
Matt Haycook (Ithaca) Maj 13-3
149 LBS:
Matthew Beyer (Ithaca) defeated Ben Grater (Wilkes) TF 20-5
157 LBS:
Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) defeated Jaryn Hartranft (Wilkes) Fall 6:43
165 LBS:
Konrad Parker (Ithaca) defeated Carson Wells (Wilkes) Fall 5:52
174 LBS:
Jackson Gray (Ithaca) defeated Melquan Warren (Wilkes) Fall 2:57
184 LBS:
Jake Jones (Ithaca) defeated Christopher Nuss (Wilkes) Fall 3:45
197 LBS: Cameron Butka (Wilkes) defeated
Trey Darmody-Latham (Ithaca) Fall 4:13
285 LBS:
Jeremy Mazzella (Ithaca) defeated Caleb Burkhart (Wilkes) SV-1 8-5
Highlights in the morning dual included four impressive pins coming from
Konrad Parker,
Wenchard Pierre-Louis,
Jake Jones and
Jackson Gray each of which came in succession of each other to really seize momentum for the Bombers. Arguably the most impressive pin came at 184 lbs., with
Jake Jones defeating Christopher Nuss in 3:45.
Matthew Beyer came up with a big-time result at 149 lbs. as he was able to work in several heavy scoring moves that enabled him to win via a 20-5 tech fall over Ben Grater.
Jeremy Mazzella capped off the dual with an overtime (8-5) win over Caleb Burkhart as he had his opponents back to clinch the win.
Ithaca 30, McDaniel College 10
125 LBS: Romeo Tsai (McDaniel) defeated
Kendricks Pellicci (Ithaca) Dec 8-2
133 LBS:
Isaias Torres (Ithaca) defeated Alex DuFour (McDaniel) TF 19-2
141 LBS:
Matt Haycook (Ithaca) defeated Connor Bollinger (McDaniel) Maj 12-1
149 LBS: Thomas Monn (McDaniel) defeated
Matthew Beyer (Ithaca) Fall 3:45
157 LBS:
Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) defeated Xavier Howard (McDaniel) Fall 8:55
165 LBS:
Konrad Parker (Ithaca) defeated Maximus Bentley (McDaniel) TF 19-4
174 LBS:
Jackson Gray (Ithaca) defeated Dalton Pearl (McDaniel) Maj 12-3
184 LBS: Jaedyn Harris (McDaniel) defeated
Ryan Galka (Ithaca) Dec 10-4
197 LBS: Jaedyn Harris (McDaniel) defeated
Ryan Galka (Ithaca) Dec 10-4
285 LBS:
Jeremy Mazzella (Ithaca) defeated Kaden Bryan (McDaniel) Maj 13-3
Thomas Monn handed Beyer just his second defeat of the season and second by fall as this bout proved to be extremely competitive with both ranked nationally. The No. 5 ranked Monn got the better of Beyer although he was assessed an unsportsmanlike after the match as surely, they could once again meet down the road at nationals. Before he was pinned he was caught by Monn while leading 7-2.
Isaias Torres made it extremely difficult for Alex DuFour to score much offense with Torres making slight work of his Green Terror opponent and winning via a 19-2 tech fall.
Matt Haycook got back on track at 141 lbs. defeating Connor Bollinger 12-1 for his fourth win of the 2023-24 season.
Wenchard Pierre-Louis earned his second consecutive pin of the day, and it turned out to be a close 6-4 decision win for
Jake Jones over Valentino Pryor.
Both
Jackson Gray and
Jeremy Mazzella defeated their respective opponents in decisive major decisions and
Konrad Parker kept it rolling scoring a 19-4 tech fall over Maximus Bentley at 165 lbs.
No. 7 Stevens 31, Ithaca 9
125 LBS: Akhil Vega (Stevens) defeated
Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) TF 20-2
133 LBS: Luke Hoerle (Stevens) defeated
Isaias Torres (Ithaca) Dec 11-7
141 LBS: Nico Diaz (Stevens) defeated
Brandon Ribeiro (Ithaca) TF 17-2
149 LBS:
Matthew Beyer (Ithaca) defeated Pasquale Vizzoni (Stevens) Dec 5-2
157 LBS: Ryan Smith (Stevens) defeated
Braden Edwards (Ithaca) TF 21-4
165 LBS:
Konrad Parker (Ithaca) defeated Harrison Hinojosa (Stevens) Dec 8-5
174 LBS: Stefan Major (Stevens) defeated
Jackson Gray (Ithaca) Dec 7-3
184 LBS: Joel Martsinovsky (Stevens) defeated
Jake Jones (Ithaca) TF 21-4
197 LBS: Blaise Wagner (Stevens) defeated
Ryan Galka (Ithaca) TF 21-5
285 LBS:
Jeremy Mazzella (Ithaca) defeated Maximo Ruiz (Stevens) Dec 5-2
The Bombers notched three individual wins against the Ducks with
Matthew Beyer getting back on track getting a close 5-2 decision in his favor over Pasquale Vizzoni.
Isaias Torres put up a good fight against the top ranked NWCA Southeast Region and No. 10 nationally ranked Luke Hoerle. Both were able to get their respective shots in to score bit Hoerle came out on top with an 11-7 win.
Other wins for IC came at 285 lbs. with
Jeremy Mazzella improving to 3-0 on the day with a 5-2 decision.
Konrad Parker who was ranked No. 4 in the latest Mid-East rankings squared off with the No. 13 ranked Harrison Hinojosa in the Southeast region as Parker impressed coming out on top with an 8-5 win.
The Bombers will return to action on Saturday morning as they will compete for a spot 5-8 as a team as they finished in second within Group A of the Budd Whitehill Duals. Their opponents for tomorrow will be updated on the Ithaca wrestling schedule page as they are made available.
