Wilkes University (9-4) at No. 26 Ithaca College (9-4)
Friday, February 11
Start Time: 7:00 p.m.
Ithaca, N.Y. – Athletics and Events Center
 
Match Notes
Live Stats
Live Video
 
The Wilkes University wrestling team will travel to face No. 26 Ithaca College in a dual match Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y. at the Athletics and Events Center.
 
Colonels Notebook
• The Colonels defeated the University of Scranton 37-10 for their fifth straight dual match victory of the season to improve to 9-4 on Senior Day this past Sunday.
 
• Wilkes defeated Penn College 37-9 on January 29th.
 
• The Colonels went 3-0 at the John Reese Duals on January 23rd with a 54-0 victory over Penn State Behrend, a 49-3 win over West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and a 30-21 win over Oneonta. With their first win of the day Wilkes became just the 11th program in collegiate wrestling and second Division III program to reach the 900 win milestone. Wilkes joined Oklahoma State University, Iowa State University, Springfield College, Oregon State University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, Penn State University, Lehigh University, U.S. Naval Academy, and Oklahoma University as the only programs with at least 900 victories.
 
• Wilkes placed fifth of eight teams at the 2022 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship on January 15th. Jack Bauer (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) earned Second Team All-MAC honors at 133-pounds as he placed runner-up. Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) placed fourth at 197, Nicholas Bauer (Coplay, PA/Wyoming Seminary) was fifth at 125, Christopher Nuss (Gore, VA/James Wood) fifth at 174, Alexis Perez (Mahanoy City, PA/Mahanoy Area) fifth at 184, Nevin Rauch (New Columbia, PA/Milton) fifth at 285, and Charles Everdale (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area) sixth at 165.
 
• The Colonels placed sixth of 12 teams at the Budd Whitehill Duals on January 7-8 as they went 3-2 in matches over the two days. Wilkes lost 22-14 to No. 24 Castleton and beat Ohio Northern's JV team 28-20 in Group A. The Colonels also beat Southern Virginia 45-12 in a Challenge Match. On placement day, Wilkes beat York 28-16 to advance to the fifth-place match where the Colonels lost 24-22 to Messiah. Austin Fashouer (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Colton Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) were each named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
• The Colonels placed eight wrestlers in the top-six including two champions as they hosted the Wilkes Invitational on December 22nd at the McHale Athletic Center. Fashouer at 125-pounds and Babcock at 184-pounds won titles while Butka (197) and Nuss (174) placed second. Sean McCurdy (Philadelphia, PA/Academy of the New Church) was third at 285, Everdale (165) and Hunter Lowe (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) (197) were fourth, and Liam Flaherty (Needmore, PA/Southern Fulton) was sixth at 165.
 
• The Colonels dropped to 1-2 in dual matches on the season with a tight 25-21 loss to Alvernia University on December 10th.
 
• Wilkes placed nine wrestlers in the top-4 at the Blue Jay Classic in Elizabethtown, Pa. on December 4th where they won the team title. Fashouer at 125-pounds, Babcock at 184-pounds, and Butka at 197-pounds won individual titles. Also placing were Kyle Tino (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) (149) second, John Devito (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) (174) second, McCurdy (285) third, Max Shaffer (Doylestown, PA/Archbishop Wood) (149) fourth, Everdale (165) fourth, and Perez (197) fourth.
 
• Wilkes placed nine wrestlers in the top-4 at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Penn College on November 20th. Babcock at 184-pounds and Tino at 149-pounds won titles for the Colonels. Fashouer (125), J. Bauer (133), Shaffer (149), and Butka (197) were runners up, while N. Bauer (125), Collin Rolak (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) (141), and Austin Cominsky (Cape May Courthouse, NJ/Middle Township) (197) were fourth.
 
• The Colonels improved to 1-1 in dual matches with a 29-12 victory over Elizabethtown College on November 17th. Wilkes took seven of the 10 bouts.
 
• Wilkes placed tenth of 14 teams at the Racich Rumble Tournament hosted by Ursinus College on November 13th with two top-6 finishers. Rolak won the 141-pound title in his Wilkes debut. Cominsky placed sixth at 197.
 
• Fashouer picked up three team points in the Colonels dual match opener against TCNJ as he won a 10-4 decision at 125-pounds on November 12th.
 
• Wilkes opened its season on November 6th placing third of 15 teams at the Ned McGinley Invitational hosted by King's College. Babcock went 4-0 in taking the 184-pound title while four others placed in the top four. Fashouer was runner-up at 125 as was Butka at 197. James Geiger (Dallas, PA/Dallas) took third place at 165 and Everdale placed fourth at 157.
 
• Fashouer, who is 27-2, is ranked 12th at 125-pounds and Babcock, who is 26-1, is ranked 14th at 184 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Individual Rankings that were released January 27th. Babcock topped the Southeast Region in the regional rankings while Fashouer was second. Butka took sixth at 197-pounds.  
 
• Fashouer is ranked ninth at 125 in the latest d3wrestle.com Individual Rankings released on February 4th. Babcock is just outside the top 10 listed as a Contender at 184.
 
• Fashouer was named the MAC Wrestler of the Week on January 3rd and Butka earned the honor on January 24th.
 
• The Colonels 2021-2022 roster goes 39 deep with a class breakdown of: 1 graduate senior, 8 seniors; 10 juniors; 8 sophomores; and 12 first-years.
 
• The roster features athletes from six states and one province: Pennsylvania – 18; New Jersey – 12; New York – 3; Maryland – 2; Virginia – 2; Texas – 1; Alberta – 1
 
Scouting the Competition
• Ithaca is ranked No. 26 in the NWCA Dual Team Rankings that were released on January 27th. The Bombers are 9-4 overall this season in dual match action.
 
• Chibueze Chukwuezi (27-0) is ranked fourth at 184-pounds by the NWCA and sixth by d3wrestle.com. Matt Griffin (11-3) is ranked No. 9 at 125 and Jordan Wallace (9-0) is ranked No. 9 at 197 by d3wrestle. Matthew Beyer (28-4) is listed as a Contender at 149 while Luis Hernandez (17-6) at 133 and Travis Jones (21-9) at 141 are listed as Honorable Mentions.
 
Weighing In
125 – A. Fashouer (27-2)
133 – J. Bauer (17-5)
141 – J. Lundin (2-14)
141 – C. Rolak (13-7)
149 – A. Kokilananda (11-15)
157 – L. Flaherty (8-4)
157 – B. Griffin (8-17)
165 – J. Geiger (8-6)
174 – C. Nuss (22-11)
184 – C. Babcock (26-1)
197 – C. Butka (25-7)
197 – H. Lowe (15-12)
285 – N. Rauch (12-5)