Saturday’s home quad meet was one of the more anticipated sets of matches for the wrestling team this season, as the Bombers welcomed two Division I opponents and one Division II team to the Ben Light Gymnasium.

To start off the day, the Blue and Gold faced off against Division II Mercyhurst College and came out victorious 19–15.

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Home Quad Meet, Feb. 2

The Bombers went 1-2 while playing against Division I and II teams.

Sophomores Jon Gregory (125 pounds) and Willie Horwath (141 pounds) won by decision, while classmate Chad Winowich (133 pounds) won by major decision 9­–0.

Freshman Blaine Woszczak (149 pounds) won by decision in an 8­–5 comeback. These victories put the Blue and Gold up 13–0. But three losses by decision in a row brought Mercyhurst to within four points of taking the lead.

But Mercyhurst had no one to wrestle Brandon Stark at 184 pounds, giving him the win by forfeit and a 19­–9 Ithaca lead.

After 197-pound sophomore David Sbriscia lost by a decision, that ensured the Blue and Gold victory.

After that the Bombers took on Division I Binghamton University and did not fare as well. Ithaca got out to an early 9­–0 lead, but lost the match 21–12. Gregory, Winowich, Horwath and Sbriscia all won by decision.

The final match of the afternoon was against Division I Eastern Michigan University, who was 2–0 on the day at that point.

The Bombers got off to a good start going up 12­–3 after the first four matches. Gregory once again came out victorious with a decision along with Winowich, while Woszczak came out victorious with a defensive pin against his opponent.

Woszcak said he was surprised the referee awarded him the pin. He said originally he was attempting to pin the Eastern Michigan opponent, but got caught in a jam. At that point, he was going for a reversal pin and shifted his hips well enough to get the Eastern Michigan wrestler to fall on his shoulder and allowed the ref to make the surprising call.

After the exciting pin, Ithaca would lose the rest of the bouts as Eastern Michigan won by a decision, two major decisions, a technical fall and two pin falls to make the final score 31–12.

Even though the Bombers were unsuccessful points wise against their Division I opponents, they were still pleased with the way they competed.

“As a team this is the best some of us have wrestled,” Woszczak said. “Against Mercyhurst as a group we wrestled excellent I thought.”

Individually, Gregory, Winowich and Woszczak all went undefeated for the day.

“The kids I wrestled today were some pretty quality kids who have won some matches on their own right,” Gregory said.

Gregory, who is now 13­–0 in dual matches this season, feels that his teammates’ support gets him excited for these type of competitions.

“This team really gets me motivated just knowing that these guys are behind me,” Gregory said.

Winowich said he was happy with his performance, but knows there is always room for improvement.

“I felt loose, which was good,” Winowich said. “I was trying my stuff. My technique could have been a little more on.”

The Bombers' next match will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at Wilkes University.