ITHACA, N.Y. - Saints sophomore Jared Hood bested a field of 52 other wrestlers at 149 pounds, claiming the top spot on Saturday afternoon at the Ithaca Invitational. Fellow sophomore Luke Driscoll and first-year Axel Ritchie also earned spots on their respective podiums with Driscoll coming in fourth at 184 pounds, and Ritchie coming in sixth at 125 pounds.

Hood opened his day with a Round of 32 technical fall, followed by back-to-back pinfalls in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Hood jumped out to a 10-5 lead after one period, setting himself up for another technical fall win after 4:13 of the match.

In the final, Hood faced the top-seeded Aidan Gillings from Niagara Community College in a full, three-round bout. After a scoreless opening three minutes, Hood got on the board with a two-point reversal after selecting bottom following the opening period. Gillings answered back with a point in the third on an escape, but was unable to score again, while Hood earned a riding time point, on the way to a 3-1 victory.

Driscoll picked up a pair of decisions and one major decision in his opening rounds, leading him into the semifinals against the No. 2 seed, Joseph Baker from Castleton. A pair of Baker takedowns set the stage for his win over Driscoll, 7-2. The Saints sophomore made it to the third-place match, before losing a one-point decision, 4-3.

Ritchie made his way to sixth place entirely through the consolation bracket, losing his opening match to the No. 4 seed. Ritchie, who came in seeded 29th, went on a run in the consolation bracket with three pinfalls, one major decision, one decision victory, and a no contest, to reach the fifth-place match. Ritchie would drop his match by technical fall, earning sixth place for the Saints.

The Saints are back on Saturday, Nov. 14, at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md.