A great tournament to start off the NCAA Division III season at the home of legendary Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Murella. As it always does, the Ithaca Invitational looks to have some great wrestling.
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| Joziah Fry Gavin Bradley Johnson & Wales Castleton 125 |
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| 133 |
I'd say here at 133 lbs, we're probably looking at a final between home crowd favorite Isaias Torres & Zach Levey of Alfred State. Torres, a 7th place All American last season, has thus far been 3rd & 2nd in his home invitational. He owns both a 7-1 & 5-2 victory over Levey. It also dawns on me that this would be a great opportunity for Drew Marchese to walk away with a big win. He's so far been 5th & 3rd in these championships, and he's likely to meet Levey in the semi-finals. What a boost of confidence it'd be for him if he were to knock off the two time NCAA DIII qualifier. Also look for Jake Eckerle, a transfer of Buffalo to perhaps make himself known as well.
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| 141 |
I am really, really looking forward to the probable final between Josh Wilson & James Rodriguez here. Wilson was the NCAA DIII champ last season, as Rodriguez finished one match shy of earning his third All American honor. Thus far, Wilson has slipped past Rodriguez on three occasions, including a 4-1 s.v. in the finals of the Ithaca Invitational last season. Imagine how bananas the D3 nation would go if Rodriguez were to pull off the upset! I also think the battle for bronze will be a good one. I see it a match between NCAA DIII qualifier Gabe Goss & Noah Hunt. Hunt stuck Goss last year in a dual at the 7:00 mark. Garnering such a win again, would be a great way to start of '24-'25.
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| 149 |
Last season, in route to the Ithaca Invitational finals, Elijah Cyr knocked off Tyler Rossini (the Ithaca Invitational finalist two seasons ago) 3-1 in the semi-finals. This year I predict both will be finalist, and we'll have a great match to determine who is the champion. With that said, I keep a pretty decent eye on probable monkey wrenches. Jordan Suarez, who finished on match shy of NCAA DIII qualification last season strikes me as a possible monkey wrench.
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| 157 |
Here's an interesting weight class. The favorite here is Nate Camiscioli of Castleton. An NCAA DIII qualifier he has two wins (11-2 & 6-4) over Jack Richardson, and he also owns a 7-3 victory over Wenchard Pierre Louis, who is a two time NCAA DIII qualifier in his own right. Last season, Richardson scored a 10-7 s.v. over Louis. What a statement it'd be for Richardson if he were to win the Ithaca Invitational this weekend.
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| 165 lbs |
On paper it looks like Patrick Wisniewski, 8th in the D3 nation last season is to be our Ithaca Invitational champion. I promise you, it's not a shoe-in. Last season not only did Konrad Parker defeat Wisniewski 12-7, Myles Leonard pinned Wisniewski in the first period (1:22). Between Parker & Leonard, Parker owns a 10-4 decision. To spice things up, we also throw Travis Green of Penn Tech into the mix. He gave Leonard a wild 12-11 match last season. Seeding and bracket placement will weigh heavily here at 165, as the multiverse suggest many outcomes.
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| 174 lbs |
Before his season ending injury last year, 2023 All American Jacob DeGuire breezed through the Ithaca Invitational, pinning Desmond McLaughlin in the finals in just 41 seconds. While DeGuire is still the favorite to win this year's Invitational, McLaughlin will face stiff competition in getting back to the finals. Ky'ell Roper pinned him in 1:07 last season & Jackson Gray is an NCAA DIII qualifier.
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| 184 |
I hope those that do rankings are paying attention, because this is the weight class to watch at the Ithaca Invitational. We have three returning NCAA Division III All Americans here at 184 lbs. The NCAA DIII runner-up Ryan DeVivo, plush 4th place Sampson Wilkins & 5th place Sean Malenfant. That's not all either. We also have Isaac Cory, who won the Ithaca Invite last year with 6-3 decision over Wilkins. Other head to heads, DeVivo has beaten Wilkins on four occasions, having lost to him once. Wilkins defeated Malenfant in a very close 7-6 decision. Also featured in this weight class will be Xavier Pommells & Jake Jones, who finished 3rd & 4th here respectively last season.
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| 197 |
NCAA Division III R12'er Darby McLaughlin enters '24-'25 a two time Ithaca Invitational champion, but I'm telling you, he has his work cut out for him if he wants to win title #3 this weekend. In the bracket most likely on the opposing side will be two time (4th & 5th) D3 All American Dylan Harr. Harr thus far has defeated McLaughlin in three fairly solid decisions. As to our consolation final, an opportunity presents itself for Anthony Cascen to once again knock off Ryan Galka. The Laker defeated the Bomber NCAA DIII qualifier twice last season by scores of 17-5 & 7-2.
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| HWT |
Last year the Ithaca Invitational was wild and weird at HWT, and thankfully, this year it will be wild and weird once again. If nothing else, it gives us a great glimpse at just how difficult it is to be the varsity starter at Castleton. Our forerunner for champ here is NCAA DIII R12'er Adolfo Betancur. He's defeated last year's Ithaca Invite runner-up Abbas Abdulrahman on three occasions, but Abdulrahman has also defeated him once too. Then we also have Mason Sprinkle, one of the best HWTs in the nation yet to make the NCAA DIII championships. He was 3rd here a year ago. He's lost to Abdulrahman on four occasions, albeit, some of them rather ugly. On the other hand, he's also defeated Abdulrahman on two occasions & he owns a 6:46 fall over Betancur. Then we also have Evan Day & Haven Tatarek, who are as of now (perhaps not as of next Monday) backups to Abdulrahman. Abdulrahman has kept himself a step ahead of his two challengers, with both a 4-2 & 5-3 win over Day and a 1-0 win over Tatarek. Between Day & Tatarek, Day owns a 1:15 fall over Tatarek & Tatarek owns a 6-2 decision over him. But remember folks, wrestling is easy to predict!
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