ITHACA, N.Y. – In one of the longest running season-opening wrestling invitationals in the region, the Ithaca College men's wrestling team hosted 10 teams for the annual Bomber Invitational that began on Friday inside the Athletics & Events center on campus. The Bombers are hosting Johnson & Wales (RI), Castleton, Penn College of Technology, Alfred State, Springfield, American International, Norwich, Oswego State, Greensboro and Elmira College.
 
Ithaca racked up 46 points and for the third-straight year, IC stand in fourth place after the first day of competition. The Bombers trail National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) No. 11 Johnson & Wales (59), No. 9 Castleton (55) and Penn College of Technology (52). All four of these squads are still in the hunt for the team title with medal and podium positions on the line come Saturday. The Bombers have 10 student-athletes entering quarterfinal bouts tomorrow morning and below is a breakdown of qualifiers by weight:
 
125: Cosmo Damiani (2-0), Tomah Gummow (2-0)
Damiani has steadily improved over the course of his collegiate career, and now a senior he got his season started on a high note scoring a pair of fall victories over both Johnson & Wales Matthew Frueh (6:58) and Gio Dibiagio (7:00). As the No. 6 seed he will have an interesting quarterfinals bout against the No. 3 seeded Jack Callahan from Springfield.
 
Tomah Gummow also had a productive evening going 2-0 as he was seeded No. 5 and will take on Alfred State's Ryan Farley who was seeded No. 4. Gummow got his collegiate career started with a bang earning a 18-1 tech fall that was followed up by him pinning Penn College of Technology's Eddie Alvarez in 3:24.
 
133: Isaias Torres (1-0)
Returning All-American Isaias Torres received a first-round bye and in his first bout of the Ithaca Invite he was in top form scoring all over the mat and ended up besting Carver Moyer (Norwich) via a tech fall at 20-4.
 
141: Matt Haycook (2-0)
Now a senior, Matt Haycook started his season like he has a chip on his shoulder and took down regionally ranked and No. 3 seeded Michael Santore in his opening bout producing a fall in 4:55. Next up, he took on Alfred State's Richard Morales and Haycook took care of business earning a 15-8 decision. He will look to score the Bombers crucial team points in his next matchup against J&W's Cameron Soda.
 
157: Brian Bienus (2-0)
Junior Brian Bienus had himself a 2-0 evening and was the lone IC wrestler of six in this weight class to punch his ticket into the quarterfinals. The others are competing in the consolation bracket with medal places still on the line. Bienus was seeded at No. 6 and he won his opening matchup via a 6-2 decision over Gabriel Case and next up, he dominated Brett Patton in a 16-1 tech fall.
 
165: Jake Jones (2-0), Konrad Parker (2-0)
Jake Jones as mentioned in the season preview has cut down this season and is currently at 165 lbs., he led the team in falls a season ago and kicked this year off pinning Ethan Tanner (Norwich) in 15 seconds. Next up, he outwrestled Carter Davis in a 4-1 decision and as the No. 3 seed he will take on No. 6 Gavin Greggory.

Junior Konrad Parker was the No. 1 seed within this weight class, and he took care of business in ho-hum fashion pinning both of his opponents. He first won over Matthew Hoxie (Springfield) in 4:03 and would pin Penn College of Technology's Josh Howard in 1:47.
 
174: Chris Reddy (2-0), Jackson Gray (2-0)
Gray quite literally was on the mat for just over 4 minutes. He was able to pin both Maurice Cooper (Johnson & Wales) in 1:47 and Colby Celuck from Castleton in 2:39. Both he and teammate Chris Reddy will be battling in quarterfinals round matchups tomorrow.
 
Reddy won his first matchup via an injury default over No. 8 seeded Darius Mangiafico. He would then continue to open eyes earning a fall over Darius Mangiafico from Elmira in 49 seconds. The first year will have a tough matchup against the No. 1 seeded Jake Deguire in his quarterfinals bout.
 
184: Xavier Pommells (1-0)
Pommells showed out in his lone bout, pinning Springfield's Oliver Parker in 4:34 as he will look to continue to get mat time. Seeded No. 4 in the invitational, he will take on No. 5 Jack MacKieman (American International) in his quarterfinal's matchup.
 
Wrestling will begin tomorrow morning with the consolation bracket with several Bombers still in contention. First whistle on the mats is set to blow tomorrow at 9 a.m.