Bombers shutout the Cardinals to conclude the regular season

Only 20 seconds had passed, but senior Jackson Gray of the Ithaca College men’s wrestling team was all over Trevor Sheehan of the St. John Fisher University Cardinals during the 174 pound bout. One takedown, two takedowns, three takedowns and just like that, it was all over as Gray pinned Sheehan before the first period concluded. 

It was that type of night for the Bombers on Feb. 19 because they shut out the Cardinals 42-0 at the Ben Light Gymnasium on senior day. The Bombers concluded what has been a very successful regular season, with this victory taking their record to 16-2 in dual matches.

The Bombers attacked early and often all night long. Gray’s bout was a perfect representation of all ten bouts, with the Bombers striking first each and every time. 

“Shutting down what they’re doing so that they can’t score on you first is definitely a really big thing,” Gray said. “We kind of shut down every bit of offense they had, so all around we just looked great.”

While the score appears lopsided on paper, the match was competitive. The Cardinals entered the match with a 7-3 record in duals and were hoping to spoil the seniors’ celebration.This was the first dual matchup between the two programs and the Cardinals wanted to start it off with a victory. Their bench was loud from the get-go, attempting to control the energy in the arena. 

The first five bouts all went the distance, with one or two sequences seemingly deciding each bout. First-year student Tomah Gummow, senior Matt Haycook and senior Wenchard Pierre-Louis, all recorded decision victories, along with junior Isaias Torres recording a major decision. The Bombers had a 14-0 lead heading into the 157 pound bout.

Junior Brian Bienus stepped out onto the mat for the Bombers to face sophomore Paul Lichter. Bienus found himself behind 4-3 heading into the third period. Lichter was controlling the bout up until this point, but some excellent defense in the second period from Bienus prevented Lichter from gaining a bigger advantage. 

In the third and final period, Bienus pounced, gaining a near-fall and taking a 7-4 lead. Despite a late escape from Lichter to cut the deficit to two, Bienus hung on to record the decision victory and for the first time all night, the Cardinal’s bench was completely silent, while the South Hill squad went wild on its sideline. 

This victory gave the Bombers total control of the match, and from there they did not look back. The following four bouts were bonus point victories for IC. In addition to Gray, senior Xavier Pommells also recorded a fall when he pinned Charlie Rossner in the second period of the 184 pound bout. 

The nail in the coffin was the performance of sophomore Charlie Turner in the 285 pound bout. After an action-packed night of wrestling, Turner slowed things down, with a methodical 3-2 decision victory to close things out. Feeding off a fired-up Turner, the team went into a frenzy, celebrating a dominating victory against a quality opponent. 

As the regular season comes to a close, the Bombers have their sights fully set on the national stage. They have just over one week to prepare for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on March 1-2. 

“I think this is a big confidence boost for a lot of people on the team,” Gray said. “As a team, we got two shutouts to end the year. [It’s] amazing, I think everyone is feeling really confident going into [regionals] and I think we’re going to do great.”