On March 14 and 15, the Ithaca College wrestling team wrapped up another season with a 42nd place finish at the NCAA Division lll National Championship. Despite falling short of lofty preseason goals that included competing for a national team title, the team still holds its head high led by senior Xavier Pommells who recorded an All-American finish by placing eighth overall in the 184 lb bracket.
After finishing second at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship March 1-2, the team qualified five wrestlers for the national championship. Besides Pommells, first-year student Tomah Gummow fought his way through the consolation bracket, securing a third place finish in the 125 lb bracket to punch his ticket. Junior Isaias Torres took second in the 133 lb bracket to secure his third consecutive national bid. Junior Konrad Parker finally broke through, finishing second in the 165 lb bracket after falling just short the previous two seasons. The meet was highlighted by senior Jackson Gray who won the 174 lb bracket for the second consecutive season.
Head coach Marty Nichols ’87, who was rewarded with Regional Coach of the Year, said he believed that the team needed between five and seven wrestlers to qualify to give the squad an opportunity to podium at nationals. He said there were many close matches that could have gone either way at the national championship that prevented more of his athletes from reaching All-American status.
“Once you get really good it takes a lot of work to move an inch,” Nichols said. “So you got to put a lot of extra time, a little extra work and it’s that little extra that’s gonna get you to where you need to be to win the whole thing.”
Pommells said it was a bittersweet feeling falling so short of his goal to become a national champion. However, he has one more year of eligibility remaining so he will be returning to South Hill next year for another quest at a national title.
“I did a lot of work, put a lot of time in and what I got was what I earned, but there’s more I want to do, there’s more to be done,” Pommells said.
Parker said he shares Pommells’ feelings because Parker broke through to the national stage but did not accomplish his goals of competing for a national title. Parker went 0-2 at the meet, losing 8-2 and 8-4 in his two respective matches. He said his experience at nationals taught him to beat the best wrestlers in the country, you have to have the superior mindset.
“Knowing that every match is going to be a battle and just accepting that before the match even starts — you kind of have to win the match in your head before you even take the mat,” Parker said.
Parker said that while he is frustrated with his results, he hopes he can build off them, similar to how he built off his 2023-24 season, which ended with a fourth place finish at the regional meet, missing nationals by one spot.
“We set goals at the beginning of the year and the goals are set pretty high,” Parker said. “So no matter if we fall short of those goals or not I think it’s still possible to have success.”
While Parker took a step forward this year, Torres unfortunately fell backward on paper, going from a seventh place All-American finish in 2024, to losing in the All-American round this year and failing to get on the podium. Torres said his weight cut this year did not go to plan and he was dealing with an untimely shoulder injury which occurred at nationals.
However, Nichols said he does not believe that Torres’s season was a failure by any means. He said Torres’s 5-1 decision loss to Garrett Totten from The College of New Jersey in the first round was a tough draw and it came down to a last second takedown. Torres went on to win his next two consolation matches before being eliminated in the All-American round by James Day from Wabash College.
Torres said he holds himself to a higher standard than this result, but he agrees with his coach that this season was not only successful for himself, but for all of his teammates.
“I think we just look at the improvement overall, not just in one tournament and I think we made some huge jumps,” Torres said. “The matches that we lost, it showed that we could clash with any of those guys.”
Gray said that when he made his debut at the national meet last season, he was overwhelmed by the large crowds. He said this season, knowing it was his last dance, he wanted to take all pressure off of himself to enjoy the final season. This paid off as Gray cemented himself in Bombers’ history, securing his 100th career victory Jan. 25 against Wilkes University.
Gray said that he has no regrets from his final meet and is proud of both himself and his teammates for trying their absolute best. He said the five of them had fun and supported each other through the tough times not just this past weekend, but throughout the entire season. He said he hopes his teammates remember him for who he was off the mat more than on the mat.
“Being a good wrestler is cool but I think being remembered as a good friend and teammate is what’s most important,” Gray said. “I hope I had a good impact on these guys and I hope I’m someone they talk about in the future.”
The future of the program is looking bright with four of the five national qualifiers set to return next season, along with junior Ryan Galka who qualified previously in 2024. Nichols said Gummow was not on anybody’s radar at the start of the season but now leads an impressive first-year class that will set the tone for the future of the program.
“He bought in the first time he walked in the room,” Nichols said. “He’s been doing all our stuff and everything we’re asking him to do and it put him in position this year and nobody thought that was going to happen. That’s on him and he’s done a great job and I think if he works this summer he’s gonna see himself on the podium soon.”
The entire roster is already looking forward to summer training to get ready for the 2025-26 season. Pommells said that the team can never be too tough or too conditioned and that they will be working all off season to hit the ground running next year.
“It’s not going to be a surprise when we actually finally come into the success that we believe we can be now when we make the proper and necessary adjustments,” Pommells said.
