In the corner of the Ben Light Gymnasium, a digital clock serves as a relentless metronome, counting down the days, hours and minutes until regionals for the Ithaca College men’s wrestling team. While the red numbers tick toward zero, the atmosphere in the room shifted from the quiet frustration of December to a high-velocity intensity. 

After a dominant start to the 2025-26 season with first place team finishes in the Ithaca Invitational and NYS Collegiate Championships Open, the Bombers hit a wall at the end of the Fall 2025 semester that resulted in a losing streak. 

After a loss to Vermont State University Castleton on Jan. 4, the Bombers were looking at a 0-4 start to the dual season and it threatened to derail their national championship aspirations, something that they have not accomplished since 1994.

Since then, the Bombers have gone 7-2 in their last nine meets, bringing their record to 7-6 on the season and re-earning a spot in the national rankings at No. 23 as of Jan. 23.

The turning point for the Bombers did not happen on the mat, but in the dorms and apartments on South Hill in late December, right after finals week. What started as a dominant season with high expectations quickly dissolved during finals week. While the team was already managing the academic stress of the end of the semester, a widespread outbreak of the flu and pneumonia swept through the locker room. 

The sickness hit the center of the lineup, knocking out half of the starters. In a room of 33 wrestlers where only 10 wrestlers get the nod each meet, having five key positions vacated overnight threatened to derail the season’s momentum entirely. 

The timing was poor. The team was scheduled for the Chocolate Duals on Dec. 20, a critical early season test, just as the majority of the starting lineup became bedridden. Senior wrestler Isaias Torres said he was in quarantine with his teammates.

“Brian Bienus, Cosmo Damiani and I, three starters, were locked in quarantine, just in bed all day, DoorDashing food and soups,” Torres said. “It was really hard for us. You could just imagine that with almost the whole team.”

The physical toll was only half the battle. Dual meets remained on the schedule, and the sickened wrestlers had to find a way to make weight while their bodies were failing them.

 Graduate student wrestler Xavier Pommells said the most difficult part of the whole process was how close the team is. 

“It was a complete freak thing,” Pommells said. “There was nothing that we could have done to better navigate or control an outbreak so big. You’re not going to sit down and tell your team to stop hanging out.”

In many ways, the outbreak was an unintended byproduct of the team’s greatest asset: its proximity. In a sport defined by individual combat, the Bombers operate with a family-oriented philosophy that rarely stops at the edge of the mat. Whether it is living together in off-campus apartments, eating together or staying up late watching football, the athletes spend an abundance of time together.

“You’re always with each other,” Pommells said. “You’re always right next to each other. A lot of guys live with each other, and even if we don’t live with each other, we all hang out together. It was more of a blessing that all of us didn’t get sick. It was something we could’ve never predicted.” 

Assistant coach Eze Chukwuezi ’23, who spent five seasons on the team before joining the program three years ago, said the team’s morale is one of its strongest possessions as a group. 

“If you are taking care of your team, that probably means you’re taking care of your teammate beside you, and then that probably means that you’re being taken care of too,” Chukwuezi said. “Everyone’s looking out for each other. They’re making sure everyone’s good and picking up after each other.”

As the roster returned after winter break, that closeness transformed from a liability into a competitive edge. The team began to embrace a different kind of mentality, relying on the depth of the room to stabilize the lineup. With the sick starters finally back on their feet, the Bombers set out to prove that their 0-4 start was a fluke of the calendar rather than a true measure of their potential.

“There was a switch after that,” Torres said. “We came to a realization that we need to improve more, whether we’re sick or whether we’re healthy. A couple of guys didn’t perform how they wanted to, it was a moment of realization for everyone.” 

The proof of the recovery arrived during the Budd Whitehill National Duals on Jan. 9 and 10. For the first time since November, the team was able to send out a healthy, complete lineup, and the results were immediate. The Bombers rattled off four dominant wins over the weekend including a signature 33-14 victory over No. 22 Messiah University, the same program they lost to at the Chocolate Duals in December.

“We wrestled Messiah at those [Chocolate] Duals and they beat us up a good amount, then we wrestled them again and we got our money back,” Torres said. “I like where we are now and it shows that we are improving and staying healthy.” 

Despite the win streak, the mid–season slide left its mark on the national rankings, dropping the Bombers from their early-season heights. Inside the locker room, the squad was able to channel the lack of national recognition and turn it into a psychological weapon. 

“On paper, we are not a team to look out for,” Pommells said. “We are not a team that looks like a threat. We are not a team that has any super distinguishable wins in the eyes of the nation. And overall, I think that makes us so dangerous because teams aren’t expecting us.”

Pommells also said that the subpar perception of the Bombers in their region allows the team to catch opponents off guard. 

“I think everybody that steps in front of us does not take us as seriously as they should,” Pommells said. “I think that plays into our favor every time. Everybody gets a real big shock.”

The constant pressure has turned practices into match-like sessions. 

“When you walk into the room and you see the clock go down, down and down and it just feels like it is never going to end,” Chukwuezi said. “Then randomly it is seven days before regionals. It’s just a good reminder for the guys, like, ‘Hey, I need to be ready to go, I need to make this day count.’”

The renewed intensity in the room is not just about morale; it is about a technical system designed to peak in February, with the first February meet approaching Feb. 7. Chukwuezi said that the success of the South Hill squad is built on mastering the basics before the pressure of the postseason hits. 

“It’s important that early in the season we focus on defense and on the bottom because that is usually the areas that people don’t focus on at all,” Chukwuezi said. “It allows us to focus on technique for a longer period of time, something that is big in our system. It takes time for these new guys that are coming in.” 

For the seniors and graduate students like Torres and Pommells, the urgency of the ticking clock is personal. They are not just wrestling to fix a mid-season slide; they are wrestling for the program’s fourth national trophy. 

“The seniors, we know where we’re at right now,” Torres said. “We know this is our last season, and this is the time to do it. We’ve been pushing really hard for a trophy and a national championship.”

As the red numbers on the countdown clock continue to drop, the frustration of December 2025 has been replaced by a singular, focused ambition. Inside the Ben Light Gymnasium the expectation has not changed since the first day of practice.

“Win or lose, we don’t care about the results now,” Torres said. “We care about it in [March].”