The Ithaca College wrestling team finished in ninth place with a total of 34 points in the NCAA Championships March 10-11. This was the first time the South Hill squad finished in the top ten in the championships since the 2012–13 season, when the team finished in fifth place.
Senior Carlos Toribio earned national runner-up in the 197-pound division on March 11. Toribio’s second-place finish was the highest for any individual wrestler for the Bombers since Alex Gomez ’15, who achieved runner-up back in 2014 in the 133-pound weight class. Toribio earned NCAA All-American honors after the first day of competition on March 10.
After the first day of competition, the Blue and Gold advanced Toribio, along with freshman Sammy Schneider and sophomore Jake O’Brien, to the second day of bouts.
Toribio faced junior Kyle Frank of Wartburg College. Toribio edged out Frank in a 4–3 decision to move on to the championship bout.
There he was pitted against senior Riley Lefever of Wabash College. Toribio was down 8–1 after the second period before be vanquished by they way of a fall in the final seconds. Lefever captured his fourth individual national title with the victory.
Both Schneider and O’Brien competed in the wrestleback portion of the bracket on Saturday.
Schneider began the day with a 6–5 decision over junior Zach Wilhelm of Stevens Institute of Technology in the 149-pound division.
His next duel was against Wartburg’s senior Kenny Martin, who Schneider pinned down at the 7:19 minute mark to advance to the next round for fifth place.
Schneider went up against freshman Cole Erickson of Coe College and defeated him by the way of a fall and collected the fifth-place honors. Schneider also earned NCAA All-American honors and finished the season with an overall record of 31–3.
O’Brien was able to squeak out a 5–4 decision over the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s sophomore Donny Ralston in the 285-pound quarterfinal bout.
O’Brien was bested in his next bout against Waynesburg University’s sophomore Jacob Evans in an 8–6 decision and settled for eighth place at the end of the tournament.
