Ithaca College @IthacaWrestling Sits in Second After an Eventful First Day of the 2023 Mideast Regional https://t.co/yHV4KspOPM
— Ithaca Bombers (@BomberSports) February 25, 2023
ITHACA, N.Y. - Day one of the Mideast Regional was an eventful and successful day for the Bombers. Ithaca College hosted one of the biggest events of the season in the Athletics and Events Center, and the wrestlers looked like they had home mat advantage with their performance on the mat. The squad has eight out of ten wrestlers currently alive and fighting for a spot on the podium. Six of those wrestlers, over half the weight classes in NCAA, are currently set to battle in the semifinals tomorrow morning. The teamwide success has Ithaca as the second-place team, only one and a half tournament points behind The College of New Jersey. It's also worth noting that they are eight and a half points above the only National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) nationally ranked tournament team in the region, #24 RIT. The Bombers have the most wrestlers out of anybody competing for a spot in the finals. Only time will tell, but the end of day one has Ithaca in a great position to rack up a ton of team points tomorrow if they continue to wrestle their style of wrestling. Curious of who might earn themselves a chance at a Mideast Regional Title and a coveted spot in the NCAA National Championship Tournament? Below is a recap of Mideast Day 1 by weight:
125 Matt Haycook 2-2: Eliminated
Haycook turned heads in the gym as he defeated top seed Ryan Rosenthal from TCNJ 4-0 in Ithaca's first match of the day. 125 was a crazy weight class with Rosenthal not even making it out of the prelims, which is amazingly rare for a NWCA one seed. Although he beat the one seed, Haycook fell victim to the unpredictable nature of the bracket losing his next match, then again in the final consolation round of the day.
133 Isaias Torres 2-0: Semifinals vs. #6 Anthony Romero (Oneonta)
The first match was a clean 17-1 tech fall victory for Torres. The second match wasn't as high scoring, but equally as clean. Torres was aggressive all day. It paid off as he is set to face off against Romero in the semis, whom he beat via 6-2 decision earlier this season in a dual meet. If he is able to recreate his mid-season victory, Torres will enter the finals to face either D3Wrestle (D3W) #12 133 pounder Jayden Cardenas or Brent Lorin in the finals. One might think Cardenas is a sure-fire finalist due to the ranking, but he was almost upset in the quarters before clawing back to a 9-7 victory.
141 Luis Hernandez 2-0: Semifinals vs. #1 Xavier Pena (Centenary)
Hernandez has the toughest match of the season ahead of him. Pena is D3W #5 and pinned his way to the semis in less than full regulation time. That being said, Hernandez scored the most points in the single match on the day in his 27-8 Tech Fall victory. If he is able to bring that type of scoring pressure to his match against Pena, there's no reason why anybody would completely count him out.
149 Matthew Beyer 2-0: Semifinals vs #4 Jeff Johnson (New Jersey City) #11 D3W/#15 NWCA
Beyer got a theoretical good pull bracket wise if you're looking at the numbers. His quality season and pair of wins over #20 Mike Conklin (TCNJ) as well as #19 Angelo Centrone (Cortland) put him opposite of Conklin, D3W and Empire Conference champ Eli Sims (Brockport), and #4 D3W/#3 NWCA Thomas Monn (McDaniel). To simplify the words between all of the clustered numbers from rankings, Beyer beating Conklin twice earlier in the season put him in a much more favorable position within this loaded bracket. Tomorrow is a big day for Beyer as he has the potential to show the country, he's not one to mess with. One match at a time got Beyer in the semis and going into tomorrow morning he certainly is only going to be looking at the match in front of him.
157 Wenchard Pierre-Louis 2-0: Semi Finals vs #4 Dorian Gomez (Elizabethtown)
Pierre-Louis was arguably the flashiest wrestler on the day. I'm sure Head coach Marty Nichols doesn't mind the flashiness when the super-ducks and misdirection shots end up converting into wins. Pierre-Louis didn't give up a takedown all day while outsourcing his opponents 22-4 en route to two major decision victories. Gomez is ranked #11 by the NWCA, so D3W #24 Pierre-Louis will get his chance to shine even brighter tomorrow morning in this ranked 157lb. matchup.
165 Travis Jones 3-1: Consolation Quarters vs #6 Jarazell Bull (New Jersey City)
Jones lost early in the first prelim, but battled his way to three consecutive wins earning the chance to reach the podium. He has to fight through the backend which is a much more brutal road regarding time spent on the mat, but Jones didn't look like the extra mat time bothered him. If anything, Jones improved. He racked up two falls after losing in the prelims. They call this bracket wrestlebacks for a reason. Jones is certainly wrestling his way back into contention.
174 Jackson Gray 2-1: Consolation Quarters vs Ben Dougherty (RIT)
Bumping up to 174 forfeited Gray's seeding at 165, as well as inheriting a tough bracket. Gray lost to a ranked opponent in #24 Joe Paul (Johns Hopkins) in a tough 5-2 bout. Gray was down by two late in the third and his last ditch effort wasn't enough to add those needed nearfall points to the board. Gray bounced back with a fall, so it's safe to say he has a short term memory in terms of the Regional Tournament. Dougherty isn't ranked, but his 2-1 decision loss came from a near upset over D3W#7/NWCA#6 Charlie Grygas (Oswego). This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting matches to watch in the consolation quarters.
184 Konrad Parker 0-2: Eliminated
Parker had a tough draw bumping up to 184 having to face the #1 seed and #12 NWCA Sean Melafant (Alfred State). Parker is only a first year and kept a positive spirit. Wrestling in a notoriously tough weight class of 174 during the regular season as a first year is brutal. He's only going to get better from season to season.
197 Eze Chukwuezi 3-0: Semi Finals vs #6 John Harkless (RIT)
Eze was the most dominant wrestler of the first half of the Mideast Regional tournament. The statistics prove it. He is tied for the most pins on the day with three, but spent the least amount of mat time of any other undefeated wrestler. Not to speak too early, but if Eze keeps up with this momentum, he is on track to earn Most Outstanding Wrestler. Don't mind me trying to speak the votes into existence.
HWT Jeremy Mazzella 3-1: Consolation Quarters vs Jake Pine (Oneonta)
The newest heavyweight in the bracket started out the day on fire with a sub minute fall. Another convincing 7-1 victory had Mazzella on pace to extract revenge on familiar foe D3W #26 Peter Wesinger (TCNJ). The match didn't go Mazzella's way, but he stayed resilient in his next match. He racked up another victory and is now guaranteed to place in a bracket he wasn't even thought of entering halfway through the season.
Wrestling resumes at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. Doors will open at 10 for spectators. All matches will be live streamed through Trackwrestling with the finals being streamed with color commentary on the BomberSports YouTube channel.