The wrestling team finished second at the 25th annual Ithaca Invitational held last weekend in front of a packed crowd in the Ben Light Gymnasium.

The gym was filled wrestlers from several different schools, sitting shoulder to shoulder watching their fellow wrestlers. At times, there were up to six different matches happening simultaneously. Those who were not wrestling prepared in the areas surrounding the wrestling mats, relaxing up in the stands, or munching on a variety of snacks and getting themselves pumped for competition.

On the mats, the Blue and Gold had seven of its wrestlers place at least sixth in their respective weight classes. Sophomore Willie Horwath, seeded first in his class, finished 5–0 to win the 141–pound title. This was his first career tournament championship.

“I thought I wrestled really well the whole tournament,” Horwath said. “I did a little better than I expected.”

Freshman David Priest finished second in the 174–pound class, losing in the championship match 1–4 to the seventh seed.

Priest was surprised by his accomplishments.

“I definitely surprised myself being a freshman and all,” Priest said. “It was a good feeling, though.”

Sophomore Jon Gregory placed third in the 125–pound class. Along the way, he defeated Bomber sophomore Chad Winowich in the consolation semifinal round. After that, Gregory won his third/fourth place match to finish third, and Winowich won his fifth/sixth–place match to finish fifth.

Gregory said the two wrestlers who finished in front of him, Rochester Institute of Technology sophomore Mike McInally and Roger Williams University senior Anthony Nicolicchia, are two of the top wrestlers in the country, which made him proud of finishing making him feel proud that he finished just behind them.

The other top six finishers for the South Hill squad were sophomores Blaine Woszczak, fourth in 149 pounds; Justin Seifried, fourth in 133 pounds; and John Dale, fifth in 165 pounds.

In the overall standings, the Bombers finished 31.5 points behind first place The College of New Jersey

Similar to last year, when almost half the team was made up of freshmen, this year’s freshmen put in a major contribution.

“As a team, I think the freshmen did exceptionally well,” Gregory said. “We’re [finished] in second to a tough TCNJ team.”

The next match for the Bombers is at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Binghamton Open in Binghamton, N.Y.