The No. 3 ranked Ithaca College wrestling team secured a 43–6 victory on its senior day against Delaware Valley University. With the win, the Bombers improved their record to 9–2 on the season while winning their third consecutive match.
The day started with Bomber victories by decision for both 125-lbs junior Ferdinand Mase and 133-lbs sophomore Tito Colom. Mase went up against Delaware Valley sophomore Kordell Rush while Colom faced senior Brenden Velez. The 141-lbs sophomore Ben Brisman followed with an unopposed victory.
Marty Nichols, head coach for the wrestling team, then had 157-lbs wrestler Jawan Jones wrestle down to the 149-lbs weight class against freshman Dustin Childs where he took a win by decision.
“Jawan Jones did a really good job I think in his first time down to 149,” Nichols said. “So he’s got some work to do, but he did what we asked him to do and he really stuck out.”
The 157-lbs junior Austin Whitney got the first pin of the day for the Bombers, pinning junior Anthony Snyder. In the 165-lbs weight division, senior Nick Velez followed Whitney by pinning Rams’ freshman Chris Richardson.
Velez said that getting a pin on his senior day meant a lot for him.
“It felt great,” Velez said. “It was very meaningful since I have been in this program for four years now and I’ve started since I was a freshman. I have wrestled in three other senior events so it was good to get this win.”
The 174-lbs senior Jaison White kept the momentum going with a major decision over sophomore Elias Vega. Following him was 184-lbs junior Jake Ashcraft, who pinned sophomore David Furmato. The 184-pound sophomore Dalton Elias then pinned freshman Carlos Martinez. To end the day there was a win by forfeit for Delaware Valley’s 285-pound senior, Marc Isaac.
Nichols said that the seniors on the team will be missed.
“They have done a phenomenal job,” Nichols said. “We have won four empire tournaments and we have been Top 10 in the nation so they have done a phenomenal job and obviously you don’t like to see those good guys leave.”
The team will wrestle again at 10 a.m. on Jan. 28 at the Jamestown Community College Open in Jamestown, New York.
