Ithaca Wrestling Seeking Podium Finishes at NCAA Championships https://t.co/5DlCSJgvAF
— Ithaca Bombers (@BomberSports) March 9, 2023
ROANOKE, Va. - The Ithaca College wrestling team has officially entered the building. The beautiful Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia is the colosseum of choice for the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships as they travel to battle for a national title. The top three wrestlers from each region make the trip. Considering there are six regions, that leaves eighteen athletes all fighting for one coveted title. Ithaca College has four Bombers attempting to claim the throne. Once you make nationals, rankings don't matter. Brackets are officially released, so here is how the South Hill boys shape up entering the first day of competition on Friday.
133 Isaias Torres- Unseeded, 2nd at Regionals
Opponent: #6 Dalton Rohrbough (York College of Pennsylvania)
Previously a PSAC champ at Division 1 Lock Haven, Rohrbough transferred to York after the Covid seasons. Rohrbough placed third at 133 last year at nationals with an upset over the #1 seed. A good sign for Torres going into the first match is Rohrbough suffered a loss to familiar opponent Jayden Cardenas (Cortland), which stylistically bodes well for Torres. The Bomber is known for being very active with his offense, while his opponent tends to have much closer bouts. If he can score some points early in the match, that offensive pressure Torres imposes might be able to stall out Rohrbough's own offense attempts.
149 Matthew Beyer- Unseeded, 2nd at Regionals
Opponent: #1 Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace)
Petrella wrestled at the 157-weight class in the Ithaca Invitational to kick off the season. The returning National Runner-up came into this season looking to improve into that top spot and is on pace to do so. He has seven wins against National Qualifiers this year. Beyer is no stranger to upsets though. He has a victory over Sumner who was top three in the weight class all year. In the regional final, Beyer was three extra seconds of time short of knocking off Thomas Monn from McDaniel. While Beyer is unranked, he is definitely the type of wrestler that coaches sigh a breath of relief when their top ranked guys don't pull that draw. Unfortunately for Petrella, he pulls one of the most dangerous unseeded wrestlers in the NCAA tournament.
157 Wenchard Pierre-Louis- Unseeded, Regional Champ
Opponent: #1 David Hollingsworth (Wartburg)
Interesting bracket science to somehow seed one of the six regional champs against the #1 ranked wrestler in the bracket. It's not that Hollingsworth has been dominant all season though. The entire 157 bracket has their battle scars in terms of losses on the season. The bracket is wide open, which is great for Pierre-Louis. He has only been getting better as the season gets deeper while everybody else seems to be grinding out closer and closer bouts. This bracket could have been sorted out countless different ways. However, if you want to be on the top at the end of a brutal weekend that is the NCAA tournament, you have to win high seeded matches anyways. Just for the 157-pound Bomber, the bracket decided that the bout is coming earlier than expected.
197 Eze Chukwuezi- #4 Seed, Regional Champ
Opponent: James Cruz (Merchant Marines)
Eze has the most favorable seeding out of all Bombers on paper. His seed does put him on the same side as the top ranked 197 in the country, although that is a bridge we will cross when we get to it. His opponent made the transition from 184 to 197 as well but isn't as historically successful. Still, to make it to the NCAA tournament you have to be a good college wrestler. As of now, the general consensus is Eze being the favorite in his first round matchup.
The NCAA Championships begin Friday morning, March 10, at 11:00 a.m. with Session I. Session II begins at 6:00 pm Friday, and will be preceded by the opening ceremonies at 4:45 p.m. Session III is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 11. Saturday evening, the Parade of All-Americans begins at 6:15 p.m. and will be followed immediately at 7:00 p.m. by the championship finals in each weight class.