The wrestling team’s victory over SUNY-Oneonta was sealed up tonight by senior tri-captain Scott Edwards in Ben Light Gymnasium by winning his 165-pound bout by a 12–3 major decision.

That put the Bombers up 26–0 and from that point on with only four bouts remaining, a comeback by Oneonta was impossible.

The final score was 32–6 giving the No. 7 Blue and Gold their 22nd straight win over Oneonta and a 12–1 record in dual meets this season.

Head Coach Marty Nichols said he was pleased with the way his team performed.

“The guys are starting to hit some of the things we’re going over in practice –some of our set-ups,” he said. “Obviously, we got to get a lot better by the conference [tournament] with those things.”

Leading the way for Ithaca was freshman Seth Ecker (125 pounds) and senior John Paxos (141 pounds). These two came out with the loan pin falls of the contest.

Ecker squared off against Oneonta sophomore Carlos Soto and had no trouble in the bout. After the first period, Ecker had a 10–4 lead. After the second, the lead was upped to 18–7. The score eventually got to 23–9, when the feisty freshman pinned Soto with 48.1 seconds remaining in the bout.

Ecker crafted the pin by putting a cradle move on his opponent. He said he could have pinned Soto much earlier but did not because Nichols wanted him to take his time and work on different moves so he could be ready for Saturday’s match against No. 20 Wilkes University.

“I like to pin him but coach wanted me to get a workout because I have a tough match on Saturday and we weren’t too worried about this one as much,” Ecker said.

Paxos faced Oneonta freshman Justin Davey and took a 5–0 lead into the third period. With 1:18 remaining, Paxos followed in Ecker’s footsteps and pinned Davey with a cradle move as well.

“[I] just tried to be patient because a lot of the kids were real defensive,” Paxos said. “They knew we were a strong team, but I was just patient and waited it out, and looked for the right opportunity and got it with a cradle.”

Other bouts of the night included junior tri-captain Chad Winowich’s (133 pounds) victory by decision, sophomore Blaine Woszczak’s (149 pounds) victory by major decision and junior Willie Horwath’s (157 pounds) victory by decision.

Following Edwards was a 3–1 win from David Priest (174 pounds) over Oneonta junior Josh Wake. That put the Bombers up 29–0 on the way to a potential shut out.

But, two hiccups from 184-pound freshman Tom Heckman and 197-pound sophomore Brandon Stark thwarted that opportunity.

Yet, even in those two defeats, Nichols said he saw positive things from both Heckman, who lost 7–3, and Stark, who lost 5–2.

“These guys did a decent job,” Nichols said. “They improved from the last time they wrestled…Just a couple of things here and there and they can beat those guys.”

Junior Joe Goetz (Heavyweight) closed out the match with a win by decision.

This was Ithaca’s first home meet since Dec. 11 and Nichols said it was nice to not have to travel after the meet.

“It’s just the nature of the sport I guess,” Nichols said. You don’t get a lot of home matches, but it’s nice when you don’t have to jump back on the bus and head home so, it’s a good feeling.”

The next match for the South Hill squad is at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 20 Wilkes University in Ben Light Gymnasium.