Israel Named Most Outstanding Wrestler At ECWC Meet
Six Bombers Headed To Nationals

Brockport, N.Y. -- The Bombers, ranked seventh nationally, finished second of six teams at the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Championships at Brockport Saturday. Senior Marc Israel (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.) was named the event's Most Outstanding Wrestler, the first Bomber to do so since Bryan Steele in 2002. Marty Nichols was named ECWC coach of the year for the second time in four years.

Ithaca will be sending six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships to be held March 4-5 at St. Olaf - the most Bombers to qualify for nationals since the 1994 NCAA champion team featured seven national qualifiers.

Israel, ranked fifth at 165 pounds, earned his third career trip to nationals winning the 165-pound championship. Israel, who earned all-American honors as a freshman placing eighth, passed Ron Gross (1986-90) for fifth on Ithaca's all-time win list with 113. Senior K.C. Beach (Brentwood/Brentwood) won the individual crown at 157 pounds to earn his second career trip to nationals. Beach, who earned all-American honors placing seventh, last year, won his 100th career match moving into a tie with Carlos Restrepo (1997-2002) for ninth on Ithaca's all-time list. Sophomore Kyle Kemmerer (Brandywine Heights/Topton, Pa.) won the individual crown at 125 pounds winning three matches including his 20th of the season, good for fifth best on the team. Junior Robert Stubbs (MacArthur/Levittown) qualified for his first NCAA appearance, winning the 184-pound championship. Stubbs, who led the team with a 15-1 dual meet record, is second in wins with 27. Two other Bombers were wild-card selections: junior Jad Duca (South Brunswick/Monmouth Junction, N.J.), who placed second at 149 pounds, and junior Matthias Keib (G. Ray Bodley/Fulton), who took second at 174 pounds. Both will be making their second trip to nationals (Duca was an NCAA qualifier in 2003 and Keib won the ECWC title last year).

The seventh Bomber to reach Saturday's final, senior heavyweight Bryan Petti (Lockport/Lockport), was an alternate wild-card selection.

Team Scoring
1. Brockport, 97
2. ITHACA, 87
3. Cortland, 49.5
4. Oswego, 44
5. Oneonta, 42
6. Rochester Institute of Technology, 23.5

125 Pounds
Kyle Kemmerer (Brandywine Heights/Topton, Pa.) WBF Murtuza Quiazar (RIT) 2:20
Kemmerer dec. Scott Gorman (Oneonta) 5-2
Kemmerer dec. Walter Sosnowski (Oswego) 3-1
Kemmerer places first

133 Pounds
Matt Sganga (Cortland) major dec. Lance Dolson (Valley Central/Walden) 13-0
Dolson dec. Jon Leech (Oneonta) 6-3
Sganga dec. Dolson 6-5
Dolson places fourth

141 Pounds
4-Dan Roberts (Brockport) WBF. Sean Nye 1:04
Mike Pietrowski (RIT) dec. Nye 10-8 sd;ot

149 Pounds
5-Jad Duca (South Brunswick/Monmouth, N.J.) dec. Jack Holmgren (Cortland) 7-1
Rory Tobias (Oneonta) dec. 5-Duca 3-2 sd;ot
Pat Hanscomb (Brockport) dec. 5-Duca 2-1
Duca places third

157 Pounds
K.C. Beach (Brentwood/Brentwood) dec. John Franchi (Cortland) 5-4
Beach dec. 5-Dustin Winn (Oneonta) 3-1
Beach places first

165 Pounds
5-Marc Israel (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.) WBF Tom Schwarting (RIT) 1:37
5-Israel dec. Don Williams (Brockport) 6-3
5-Israel dec. Frank Petrucci (Oswego) 11-8
5-Israel places first

174 Pounds
Matthias Keib (G. Ray Bodley/Fulton) major dec. Chuck Guttilla (Oswego) 11-1
Keib dec. Kyle Hauptfleish (Oneonta) 7-2
Stefon Sair (Cortland) dec Keib 3-2
Keib places second

184 Pounds
Robert Stubbs (MacArthur/ Levittown) dec. Trevor Leblanc (Cortland) 7-3
Stubbs dec. Dan Glover (Brockport) 6-3
Stubbs places first

197 Pounds
Nick Calandrino (Emerson/Emerson, N.J.) WBF Mark Maglione (Cortland) 2:13
Nick Castellano (Oneonta) dec. Calandrino 5-2
Calandrino dec. Matt Gough (Oswego) 8-3
Zach Greenberg (RIT) dec. Calandrino 3-1 sd;ot
Calandrino places fourth

Heavyweight
Bryan Petti WBF Jeremy Calkins (Oswego) 7:28
7-Pat Bennett (Brockport) dec. Petti 3-2
Petti dec. Trevor Hiffa (RIT) 5-2
Petti places second