Ithaca Wrestling Finishes Fourth at its Annual Bomber Invitational
SOURCE: athletics.ithaca.edu
November 04, 2023

 


By: Colin Herb '23, Athletics Communications Student Assistant

ITHACA, N.Y. - Ithaca College's Bomber Invitational was a proving ground for many first years and even a few veterans on the squad. While Ithaca ended the invite in fourth place, the individual battles are a bigger story to tell. Spread out among five different weight classes, the wrestling team had six student-athletes place.

125: DNP
133: Isaias Torres- Runner Up
Torres isn't known for his big move potential, but he showed how dangerous he was in the semis. After trading takedowns with Brett Blaess of Baldwin Wallace, Torres hit an over/under throw on the edge of the mat. He managed to keep a toe in bounds while he secured a pin to earn a spot in the finals against the National Wrestling Coaches Association #2 Jaden Hinton. The defining moment in the match came when they were tied 5-5 and Torres hit a superduck. The ref awarded no takedown stating Torres never established control; a call that stood when Head Coach Marty Nichols threw out the challenge brick. That takedown would've put a ton of pressure on Hinton to score with limited time on the clock. Instead, the match entered sudden victory overtime where Hinton was able to strike early. A tough loss for Torres, but a more than promising performance against the returning fourth place all american Hinton.

141: DNP
Unfortunately both quarter finalists had to withdraw due to injury defaults despite leading the match.

149: Matthew Beyer- Champion
Beyer looked like a man on a mission. He went on an absolute tear, scoring a minimum of 13 points the entire tournament including his finals match against a tough opponent from Castleton, Elijah Cyr. Beyer was one of only two champions (the other being returning 5th place All American Doug Byrne at 285) to win every match with bonus point efforts. What makes this an even more remarkable feat is the depth of the field. It was littered with returning All Americans, top 10 ranked wrestlers, and even a returning national champ who was unable to do what Beyer did. His 13-3 major decision to earn himself his first tournament victory of the year was convincing and a great sign of what's ahead for the grad student.

157: Wenchard Pierre-Louis- Fourth Place
Pierre-Louis was rolling until he reached the semis. He fell to Nate Camiscioli, a former Purdue Boilermaker who transferred to Castleton. Pierre-Louis later fell in the third place match to #12 Jashon Holmes. These losses won't deter him from his goals of improving on his National Qualifier performance at nationals. It's a long season and Pierre-Louis knows he had the potential to flip the script in both of those matches.

165: Konrad Parker- Fifth Place
It was evident Parker feels more comfortable at 165. In the matches he won, Parker dominated either tech falling or majoring his opponents. His offense is much improved from last season. His losses were razor close against top tier opponents as well. Parker was in a similar situation as teammate Pierre-Louis in that they knew they had victory at their fingertips.

184: Xavier Pommells- Third Place & Jake Jones- Fourth
Both Jones and Pommells had an impressive performance in their first tournament as a Bomber. Jones fell to #3 Sampson Wilkins from Castleton 4-0, but stormed back with three consecutive falls in the consolation bouts. Pommells had a similar story losing a contested, high-flying bout against #4 Isaac Cory of Penn Tech. That match was full of throws until Pommells fell on the wrong side of one for a fall despite being neck and neck with the returning national qualifier. They chose not to shed any more Bomber blood in the third place match. Each have a very promising season ahead.

197: DNP

285: DNP

They will return to action on Saturday, November 18 competing in the SUNYAC Championships which will be hosted by RIT this year.


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