Five Laker Wrestlers Reach Semifinals At Ithaca Invitational

ITHACA, N.Y- After the first day of the Ithaca Invitational, the Oswego State wrestling team sits in fourth place out teams thanks to five Lakers reaching semifinal competition. Oswego State enters Saturday with 80 points, but trails host Ithaca by just 14 points. 

Junior Omar Santiago (133 pounds), freshman Brad Mayville (141 pounds), senior Nick Rodgers (157 pounds), senior Cameron Mills (184 pounds) and junior Kyle Sheridan (285 pounds) all picked up quarterfinal wins on Friday night to open the 2011-2012 season.

Santiago posted wins over Evan Fraser of Johnson & Wales (12-1, major decision) and Ricardo Gomez of Ithaca (6-4) to earn the right to face Corey Brown of Thiel College. In the next weight class, Mayville started the day by pinning Piotr Puchalski (NYU) in 6:41 before defeating Joseph Grippi (Springfield), 7-3. Mayville will face Sean Byham of Thiel in his semifinal bout.

At 157 pounds, Rodgers needed three wins to get into the semifinals. He pinned Phip Esposito (Centenary) in 2:59 just before the end of the first round, and followed that with a 6-2 decision against Cole Harkins of Thiel and a 12-3 major decision against Michael Frick of Johnson & Wales. Mills received two byes into the quarterfinal round of the 184-pound weight class where he defeated William Roosa (Thiel), 9-3. Mills will face Keith Dickey of Ithaca in the semifinals.

Lastly, Kyle Sheridan posted two tight wins over Thomas Heckman (Ithaca), 3-0, and Alex Lawrence (Norwich), 5-3, to move into the semifinals where he will face Matthew Mahon of Ithaca.

The Lakers started the day with 23 wrestlers in the tournament and 18 of those wrestlers will compete on Saturday in the final day of the event. 

Wrestling is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. at Ithaca College on Saturday.

#23 Ithica 31, RIT 12
*ITHACA**, N.Y.* -- Head coach *Marty Nichols* picked up his 100th career victory as the 23rd-ranked Ithaca wrestling team tallied its third straight win with a 31-12 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology.

Senior *Nick Calandrino (Emerson/Emerson, N.J.)*, ranked third nationally, pinned Igor Babushkin, for his 44th career fall. *Calandrino* is two pins away from breaking Ithaca’s career pin record held by *Ron Gross *’90.

Freshman *Justin Seifried (Mohawk Central/Herkimer)* picked up the Bombers first win of the match, pinning Ted Furutani at 2:14. Classmate *John Dale (North Penn/Lansdale, Pa.)* tallied his ninth win, with a 10-2 major decision, and *Mirza Kozarcanin (Burgarden/Gothenburg, Sweden)* pinned Mansur Ferrell at 1:52.

Also recording wins for the Bombers were *Willie Horwath (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.)* at 141, *John Paxos (Roxbury/Succasunna, N.J.)* at 149, and *Tyler Daffinee (Binghamton/Binghamton)* at 174.

Next up, the Bombers compete in a tri-match January 9, 2007 at Cortland.

125: Mike McInally (RIT) dec. *Jon Gregory (Phillipsburg/Phillipsburg, N.J.)*, 5-1
133: *Justin Seifried* WBF Ted Furutani (RIT), 2:14
141: *Willie Horwath* dec. Luke Baum (RIT), 6-1
149: *John Paxos* dec. Nick Ryan (RIT), 8-4
157: Nate Bachmann dec. *Scott Edwards (Liberty/Bethlehem, Pa.)*, 7-3
165: *John Dale* maj. dec. Jason Wake (RIT), 10-2
174: *Tyler Daffinee* dec. Brad Strite (RIT), 10-4
184: *#3 Nick Calandrino* WBF Igor Babushkin (RIT), 2:35
197: *Mirza Kozarcanin* WBF Mansur Ferrell (RIT), 1:08
HWT: Micah Vore (RIT) WBF *Joe Goetz (New Hyde Park Memorial/New Hyde Park)*, 3:50