The wrestling team kicked off its season this weekend with the 24th annual Ithaca Invitational at the Ben Light Gymnasium.

After finishing in ninth out of 17 on Saturday, the Bombers fought and pinned their way to a seventh place finish Sunday.

The College of New Jersey won the tournament with a score of 145.5, winning by almost 10 points. Johnson and Wales University, which finished on top after Saturday, slipped to the number two slot. Finishing ahead of Ithaca were SUNY-Cortland, Lycoming College, Roger Williams University and Springfield College.

The Blue and Gold were led by senior Nick Calandrino, who placed first in the 184-pound division.

Calandrino, the only Bomber to be crowned champ in his weight class, had a positive mentality going into the meet.

“As far as our goals, we just want to wrestle tough and smart,” Calandrino said. “We’ll be able to set more goals after this weekend when we see what kind of team we have.”

While the team is full of underclassmen, Head Coach Marty Nichols said he isn’t worried about the lack of experience.

“We have a pretty good freshmen group,” Nichols said. “There are several kids that I think are going to be really good.”

A total of six freshmen advanced to Sunday’s consolation round, while only two were eliminated Saturday. The freshmen were led by Willie Horvath, who placed fourth in the 141-pound division.

Other Ithaca wrestlers that made it to Sunday included freshmen Jon Gregory, Anthony Lebbad, Justin Seifried, John Dale, David Sbrisca, sophomores John Paxos and Chad Winowich, and seniors Adam Johnson and Justin Dwork.

The next match for the wrestling team will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday in Pembroke, N.C., at the UNC-Pembroke Classic.