Story Links GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Ithaca College men’s wrestling team was back in action on Saturday in their final event of the fall semester, the Chocolate Duals that are hosted on the campus of Messiah University. It was a solid showing all-around for the Bombers, who easily defeated Centenary College 33-17 in their first […]
GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Ithaca College men’s wrestling team was back in action on Saturday in their final event of the fall semester, the Chocolate Duals that are hosted on the campus of Messiah University. It was a solid showing all-around for the Bombers, who easily defeated Centenary College 33-17 in their first dual of the morning and followed it up by defeating Liberty University 35-18 and concluded the duals by defeating hosts Messiah University by a 19-15 team score.
In the first NWCA Division III Dual Coaches Poll, Ithaca was slotted in at No. 18 as the Bombers have perennially been able to put together a better dual scoring lineup. It was a quality showing overall for the Bombers, who will now head into the Holiday Break before picking things back up on Sunday, January 5 where they will host Oswego State, Nassau Community College and RIT for a quad meet.
No. 18 Ithaca 33, Centenary College 17
125 LBS: Jack Thode (Centenary) over Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) Fall 7:00
133 LBS: Daniel Haws (Centenary) over Tomah Gummow (Ithaca) TF 19-0
141 LBS: Joseph Innamorato (Centenary) over Isaias Torres (Ithaca) Fall 3:00
149 LBS: Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) over Xavier Pena (Centenary) Dec 5-2
157 LBS: Brian Bienus (Ithaca) over Colin Neal (Centenary) Dec 2-0
165 LBS: Konrad Parker (Ithaca) over Mark Venson (Centenary) Fall 3:23
174 LBS: Jackson Gray (Ithaca) over Reece Smith (Centenary) Maj 11-2
184 LBS: Xavier Pommells (Ithaca) over Tim Pawlicki (Centenary) TF 17-2
197 LBS: Ryan Galka (Ithaca) over Alex Laoudis (Centenary) Fall 5:20
285 LBS: Charlie Turner (Ithaca) over Aaron Llanas (Centenary) Fall 0:12
Action began in the 157 lbs. weight class where Brian Bienus got the starting nod from head coach Marty Nichols for the Bombers, and he scored a 2-0 decision over Colin Neal. Junior Konrad Parker earned IC’s first fall of the day, pinning Centenary’s Mark Venson in 3:23 that gave the Bombers an early 9-0 advantage. Momentum continued to swing in Ithaca’s favor with Jackson Gray scoring an easy 11-2 major decision over Reece Smith at 174 lbs.
They continued to dominate the opposition and maintained the shutout with Xavier Pommells earning a 17-2 tech fall over Tim Pawlicki and both Ryan Galka (5:20) and Charlie Turner (0:12) pinned their respective opponents as the lineup turned over with Ithaca leading 30-0. IC dropped the next three bouts but ended on a high note with Wenchard Pierre-Louis earning a 5-2 win over Xavier Pena who was ranked No. 4 regionally entering the weekend over Pierre-Louis who was most recently ranked No. 6 by the NWCA in Region II.
No. 18 Ithaca 35, Liberty University 18
125 LBS: Aiden Scheeringa (Liberty) over Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) TF 15-0
133 LBS: Tomah Gummow (Ithaca) over Blaise Verdino (Liberty) MFF
141 LBS: Isaias Torres (Ithaca) over Rcey Ortega (Liberty) Fall 0:57
149 LBS: Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) over Garrett Good (Liberty) Fall 2:48
157 LBS: Matox Allen (Liberty) over Akio Sanders (Ithaca) Maj 12-1
165 LBS: Konrad Parker (Ithaca) over Drake Bowers (Liberty) TF 19-4
174 LBS: Jackson Gray (Ithaca) over Ronald Black (Liberty) Fall 1:24
184 LBS: Jake Jones (Ithaca) over Paul Moore (Liberty) Fall 3:45
197 LBS: Gabriel Hayes (Liberty) over Eamon Callaghan (Ithaca) Dec 3-2
285 LBS: Wade Wheeler (Liberty) over Charlie Turner (Ithaca) Fall 1:43
Bouts began at 125 lbs. with Cosmo Damiani dropping his matchup via a tech fall and Ithaca rallied from that point forward, winning the next three matches in a row. Tomah Gummow earned a medical forfeit, Isias Torres pinned Rcey Ortega in 57 seconds and Wenchard Pierre-Louis did the same but earned the fall over Garrett Good in 2:48. Jackson Gray would also score a fall over Ronald Black as he got the job done in 1:24.
Also scoring victories for Ithaca, which rounded up the 35-18 dual win were Jake Jones and Konrad Parker. Jones wrestled at 184 lbs., and he was all over the mat before pinning Paul Moore at 3:45 and Konrad Parker picked up five more team points with his 19-4 tech fall over Drake Bowers.
No. 18 Ithaca 19, Messiah University 15
125 LBS: Bryce Arnold (Messiah) over Cosmo Damiani (Ithaca) Dec 11-5
133 LBS: Tomah Gummow (Ithaca) over Mason Casey (Messiah) Dec 12-6
141 LBS: Isaias Torres (Ithaca) over Shaun Quirk (Messiah) Dec 9-4
149 LBS: Wenchard Pierre-Louis (Ithaca) over Levi Snyder (Messiah) Dec 7-5
157 LBS: Clay Gainer (Messiah) over Brian Bienus (Ithaca) Dec 4-1
165 LBS: Konrad Parker (Ithaca) over Keegan Demarest (Messiah) Dec 7-4
174 LBS: Jackson Gray (Ithaca) over Austin Brass (Messiah) Dec 4-1
184 LBS: Ryder Slayton (Messiah) over Xavier Pommells (Ithaca) Dec 10-5
197 LBS: Ryan Galka (Ithaca) over Sawyer Dereszynski (Messiah) Maj 10-2
285 LBS: Micah Martinez (Messiah) over Charlie Turner (Ithaca) Fall 1:36
The first IC victory against the host Falcons was at 133 lbs., with Tomah Gummow earning his second win of the afternoon. He bested Mason Casey by a 12-6 decision. Next up and also winning via a decision over Shaun Quirk (9-4) that saw the Bombers gain an early 6-3 edge. The Bombers extended their lead by three more points with Wenchard Pierre-Louis also gaining a decision win by defeating Levi Snyder 7-5 at 149 lbs. Brian Bienus was on the losing end of a 4-1 decision and after the first period Konrad Parker had a strong 6-2 advantage over his opponent. Parker would hold on for the 7-4 win over Mesiah’s Keegan Demarest.
Now leading 12-6, senior Jackson Gray and Austin Brass felt each other out through the first period with neither able to score. Gray quickly earned an escape point to begin the second period and added three more points with an impressive takedown to earn a 4-1 victory. After Xavier Pommells dropped his bout to Ryder Slayton (10-5), Ryan Galka got a takedown a little after halfway through the first period to go up 3-0 over Messiah’s Sawyer Dereszynski. The Falcon would score two-straight escape points, one at the end of the first and one in the second period as Galka earned a huge reversal with under a minute remaining in the third and final round as he held on for a 9-2 decision, which also ensure an IC team win.
