Season Preview: No. 2 Wrestling Poised for Title Run in 2018-19 #GoBombers #BomberProud #GreatDayToBeABomber https://t.co/T8oeFfkIc6
— Ithaca Bombers (@BomberSports) November 1, 2018
ITHACA, N.Y. - With the calendar set to turn to November, Ithaca College Athletics is set to head full bore into the winter sports season. One of Ithaca's oldest and most decorated winter athletics programs is the IC wrestling program, which kicks off its 2018-19 campaign this coming weekend when it plays host to the 36th Annual Ithaca Invitational inside the Athletics & Events Center's Glazer Arena on Friday, November 2, and Saturday, November 3.
IC Wrestling is set to enter its 78th season as a varsity program on South Hill in 2018-19. Expectations could not be higher for the Bombers this year, as the program is coming off a magical run last season that netted a Third-Place Team finish at the NCAA Division III Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. Ithaca enters this season ranked second in the country by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) in the association's initial poll released this past week. The high hopes are not unfounded, as the Bombers return a deep and experienced roster, headlined by five of the team's seven national qualifiers from a season ago. With several other grapplers poised for breakouts after a year-or-two of seasoning in the program, competition for the coveted weight-class slots come the season's second half figures to be intense. That does not even mention an outstanding incoming crop of 11 first-year newcomers to the program who have already impressed in their first couple months on South Hill. The 2018-19 installment of IC Wrestling is expected to be one of the deepest and most talent-laden groups in head coach Marty Nichols' tenure with the program.