Bomber Wrestlers Look For NCAA Bids At ECWC Championships

ITHACA, N.Y. - Members of the 12th-ranked wrestling team will be chasing bids to the NCAA Championships as well as Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference titles Saturday when the Bombers host the ECWC Championships.

The meet will be webcast live and free of charge by D3Cast; competition begins at 11 a.m. at Ithaca's Ben Light Gymnasium.

The ECWC Championships, featuring Brockport, Cortland, Ithaca, Oneonta, Oswego and Rochester Institute of Technology, serve as the qualifying meet for the national championships. A total of 18 wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Championships (to be held at Loras March 2-3): the 10 individual champions along with eight wild-card selections chosen by the head coaches.

Bomber senior Nick Calandrino (Emerson/Emerson, N.J.) is one of four returning champions expected to compete Saturday (final entries will be determined after Saturday morning's weigh-in sessions). Calandrino, who won the 197-pound title last winter, is wrestling at 184 this season and is ranked eighth in the latest national poll at his weight class. He's 28-8 with 12 pins and became the program's career leader in falls this winter, raising his career total to 49.

Other returning champions expected to compete include Rob Vaccaro of Brockport (125), and Cortland teammates Paul Le Blanc (141) and Stef Sair (184).

Only one other Ithaca wrestler who competed at last year's ECWC Championships is expected to wrestle Saturday; senior Tyler Daffinee (Binghamton/Binghamton), who competed at heavyweight a year ago, is wrestling at 174 this season compiling a 9-13 mark.

Ithaca's projected line-up includes four freshmen who earned all-state honors at last month's New York State Championships (a tournament featuring wrestlers from Division I, II and III schools as well as junior colleges).

Willie Horwath (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.) placed fourth at 141; he's 25-12 with two pins on the season. Justin Seifried (Mohawk Central/Herkimer), a two-time ECWC Rookie of the Week this winter, took fourth at 133. His season record of 19-9 includes nine wins by fall (second on the team).

Jon Gregory (Phillipsburg/Phillipsburg, N.J.), a sixth-place finisher at the state championships, has won 20 matches this season. Like Horwath, he's earned ECWC Rookie of the Week honors this winter. David Sbrisca (Warren Hills/Stewartsville, N.J.) also placed sixth at the state meet on his way to posting a 16-15 record.

Two other Bombers in the projected line-up have been named ECWC Rookie of the Week this year; freshmen John Dale (North Penn/Lansdale, Pa.) and Joe Goetz (New Hyde Memorial Park/New Hyde Memorial). Dale is 17-15 with five pins at 165) and Goetz is 5-13 at heavyweight after joining the team in December following the Bomber football season.

Sophomores John Paxos (Roxbury/Succasunna, N.J.), 12-13 at 149 and Scott Edwards (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.), 9-16 at 157, round out Ithaca's probable line-up.

Ithaca is one of four nationally ranked teams in the six-team field; four-time defending ECWC champion Brockport is 10th, Cortland is 11th and Oneonta is 25th. Each of the six schools has at least one wrestler ranked in the top eight nationally.

At 125 pounds, Vaccaro is fifth and RIT freshman Mike McInally is seventh. LeBlanc is third at 141 with Oneonta's Derrick Smith seventh. Zach Bogardus of Cortland is ranked sixth at 165. Three ECWC wrestlers are ranked in the top eight at 184: Sair (third), Calandrino (eighth) and Brockport's Brett Giehl (sixth). Phil Archer of Cortland is sixth at 197 and the heavyweight division features Oswego's Jake Taylor (sixth) and Oneonta's Trevor Hiffa (seventh).