WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Competition at the 35^th annual Budd Whitehill National Duals wrapped up on Saturday as the Ithaca College wrestling team finished in sixth place at the 16-team tournament that was hosted by Lycoming College. The Bombers began its day fighting against No. 21 Ohio Northern University as it proved to be a scrap with the teams ending tied at 25 points apiece, but Ohio Northern earned the tiebreaking point to take the dual 26-25. Ithaca then would beat SUNY Cortland 43-2, its largest margin of victory over the Red Dragons since the 2018 season when IC won 49-0. The victory earned the Bombers sixth place as they will continue chugging along their dual schedule.

No. 21 Ohio Northern 26, Ithaca 25 (Ohio Northern won with more six-point wins)
125 LBS: Colin Mellott (Ohio Northern) defeated Kendricks Pellicci (Ithaca) DQ
133 LBS: Isaias Torres (Ithaca) defeated Dylan Le (Ohio Northern) Fall 2:53
141 LBS: Gabe Hansen (Ohio Northern) defeated Brandon Ribeiro (Ithaca) Maj 9-0
149 LBS: Colton Spurgeon (Ohio Northern) defeated Francisco Muriel (Ithaca) Fall 1:10
157 LBS: Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) defeated Jayden Jones (Ohio Northern) Maj 14-5
165 LBS: Konrad Parker (Ithaca) defeated Kael Margraf (Ohio Northern) TF 22-5
174 LBS: Jackson Gray (Ithaca) defeated John Radey (Ohio Northern) Fall 0:33
184 LBS: Gavin Layman (Ohio Northern) defeated Jake Jones (Ithaca) Fall 4:48
197 LBS: Ajay Locke (Ohio Northern) defeated Ryan Galka (Ithaca) Dec 8-5
285 LBS: Jeremy Mazzella (Ithaca) defeated Jadon Brownlee (Ohio Northern) Maj 9-1
 
ONU defeated Ithaca on Saturday morning as the contest was tied at 25 points apiece after the 10 weight class bouts, but Ohio Northern won the tiebreaker point by having three 6-point wins to just two for IC. The first of which came for IC at 133 lbs. with Isaias Torres pinning his opponent in 2:53. ONU would go up 16-6, but IC would respond in a big way winning the next consecutive three bouts.

Wenchard Pierre-Louis earned a 14-4 major win over Jayden Jones and Konrad Parker was all over Kael Margraf as won via a 22-5 tech fall. Jackson Gray earned the other Bomber six-point win as he pinned John Radey in just 33 seconds. Mazella made things interesting as he was able to tie the team score as he did go for it all at the end of the match looking for a tech fall but ended with a 9-1 major decision.
 
Ithaca 43, SUNY Cortland 2
125 LBS: Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) defeated Unknown (Unattached) Forf
133 LBS: Isaias Torres (Ithaca) defeated Rocco Futia (Cortland State) TF 19-4
141 LBS: Brandon Ribeiro (Ithaca) defeated Shane Walczyk (Cortland State) Maj 12-4
149 LBS: Noah Orser (Cortland State) defeated Francisco Muriel (Ithaca) Dec 1-0
157 LBS: Braden Edwards (Ithaca) defeated Christian Paredes (Cortland State) Dec 6-4
165 LBS: Konrad Parker (Ithaca) defeated Hunter Hughes (Cortland State) Maj 18-4
174 LBS: Jackson Gray (Ithaca) defeated Unknown (Unattached) Forf
184 LBS: Jake Jones (Ithaca) defeated Robert Cunningham (Cortland State) Fall 2:06
197 LBS: Ryan Galka (Ithaca) defeated Chris Bold (Cortland State) TF 21-5
285 LBS: Jeremy Mazzella (Ithaca) defeated Dylan Houseknecht (Cortland State) Dec 4-2
 
With these crosstown rivals meeting later this season, the Red Dragons maybe saved and didn't want to show their hand for the dual on Feb. 15 as they ended up forfeiting two weight classes (125 lbs. and 174 lbs.). Overall, it proved to be an excellent showing by the Bombers as they only allowed three team points, which came in a narrow 1-0 decision for Noah Orser over Francisco Muriel as IC dominated the remaining weight classes.

Both Ryan Galka and Isaias Torres each handled their respective opponents handily with Torres earning a 19-4 tech fall and Galka bested Chris Bold also by tech fall, 21-5. Jeremy Mazzella continued his impressive weekend earning a 4-2 decision over Dylan Houseknecht.

It was very much back and forth between Braden Edwards and Christian Paredes but in the end, Ribeiro won by a 6-4 final. Konrad Parker and Jake Jones closed out their weekends on a high note earning a major decision and pin, respectively.

The Bombers will next compete in the NYS Championships on Saturday, January 20 as this year it will take place on the campus of Nassau Community College with wrestling slated to begin at 9 a.m.