ITHACA, N.Y. – The Norwich University wrestling team competed in the 2014 Ithaca Invitational hosted by Ithaca College on Friday and Saturday.
Senior Will Burns (Mascoutah, Ill.) took first place in the 174 pound division, winning all four of his matches by decisions, two of them major.
Burns defeated Pete Hailer of Johnson and Wales with a 13-8 decision in the semifinals before knocking off Ken Dougherty (also of JWU) 16-3 in the first place match. He becomes the first Norwich wrestler to win a tournament since 2008.
Other wrestlers who placed for the Cadets were junior Michael Burkeen (Prescott, Ari.) (6th place at 141 pounds) and freshman Saetyre McDowell (Fayetteville, N.C.) (6th place at 197 pounds). It was the first collegiate competition for both grapplers.
"I am really pleased to see our guys wrestle as well as they did. Our freshmen proved that they are ready to make the transition to college wrestling. Will Burns had a tight match in the semis, but made a statement in the finals with a dominating performance." head coach Alex Whitney said, "We are continuing to grow and develop into a more competitive and noteworthy team."
In team competition the Cadets finished in seventh place out of 11 teams with 60.5 points.
Norwich is next in action on Wednesday, November 12th when they host Plymouth State University. The dual meet is set to start at 7 p.m.
