Grantham, PA - No. 3 Messiah College took down the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University on Friday, winning 33-9 in a home dual. The Falcons dominated the visitors from start to finish and move to 18-2 on the season. They will quickly turn around to host the annual Messiah Open on Saturday, Feb. 8.
 
Helping the Falcons to a healthy lead early on was a Johns Hopkins forfeit at 125 pounds, making the score 6-0 for Messiah. The Blue Jays elected not to wrestle their top man Paul Bewak, currently ranked No. 1 in Division III.
 
Messiah's No. 1 wrestler at 141 pounds, Kaleb Loht took to the mat and pinned Evan Krumheuer in the first period at 2:37 to give the Falcons another six points. After that third match, the Falcons held a 15-0 lead over the Blue Jays.
 
Duncan Crystal then got three points back for Johns Hopkins at 149 pounds, defeating Greg Kabakjian in a 4-2 decision. Kabakjian was down 3-0 at one point in the match and came back with a takedown, making it 3-2, but couldn't get the advantage for the remainder.
 
Larry Cannon and Kalann Washington brought more wins in for the Falcons at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Cannon fought an exciting, fast-paced match and got the 7-5 decision over Christian Salera. Washington completed a slower-paced, but not less exciting, 2-1 decision over Welles Sakmar.
 
Hopkins' Jared Foreman (174) cut the Messiah lead to 12 points with his pin over Jeremy Bailes at 2:05 in the match.
 
Messiah finished off the match after the pin with three, almost identical, major decision results by Josh Thomson (184), Ben Kramer (197), and Charles Jones (285).
 
No. 5 Thomson secured the 11-1 victory over Kyle Spangler, staying in control for the majority of the bout, collecting well over three minutes of total riding time. Kramer then scored another 11 points and held Kory Johnson to zero points in the match. Lastly, Jones picked up a repeat victory over Joey Tilson from last season with a 10-0 major decision.
 
The Falcons will next wrestle in the Messiah Open, taking place tomorrow in Hitchcock Arena in Grantham, Pa. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Results

#3 Messiah 33, Johns Hopkins 9
125 – #4 Lucas Malmberg (Mess) won by forfeit ... 6-0
133 – Kyle Coblentz (Mess) 7-5 dec. Ray Yagloski (JHU) ... 9-0
141 – #1 Kaleb Loht (Mess) fall 2:37 Evan Krumheuer (JHU) ... 15-0
149 – Duncan Crystal (JHU) 4-2 dec. Greg Kabakjian (Mess) ... 15-3
157 – Larry Cannon (Mess) 7-5 dec. Christian Salera (JHU) ... 18-3
165 – Kalann Washington (Mess) 2-1 dec. Welles Sakmar (JHU) ... 21-3
174 – Jared Foreman (JHU) fall 2:05 Jeremy Bailes (Mess) ... 21-9
184 – #5 Josh Thomson (Mess) 11-1 maj. dec. Kyle Spangler (JHU) ... 25-9
197 – Ben Kramer (Mess) 11-0 maj. dec. Kory Johnson (JHU) ... 29-9
285 – Charles Jones (Mess) 10-0 maj. dec. Joey Tilson (JHU) ... 33-9


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