Elizabethtown, PA - Despite missing a few regulars from the lineup and falling behind early, No. 8 Messiah wrestling answered the bell on Friday night in a 29-20 road win over Elizabethtown. The win pushed the Falcons to 16-3 on the season.
Messiah will turn around quickly and travel to TCNJ tomorrow for another dual at 12:00 noon.
Fast Recovery
The Falcons went behind quickly 6-0 after a forfeit at 125, but that deficit was immediately erased when
Hunter Harris increased his NCAA lead in falls to 27 (25 in Division III). This pin came deep into the bout at 6:08, but it nevertheless started a streak of 20 unanswered points for Messiah. That run was highlighted by a dominating 16-0 tech fall from
Stephen Maloney.
Blue Jay Upset
With a few forfeits throughout the match, the bout of highest interest was at 197 where Quinn Ruble collected a stunning fall over No. 8
Kyle Koser. The points for Elizabethtown did not sway the final score, it was still the biggest win of the night for the hosts.
Need Some Fortune
Nick Havener continues to put together solid bouts for Messiah, even as he's taken losses in three-straight hard-luck decisions in his last three appearances. The first came to Gettysburg's returning All-American Paul Triandafilou by a 4-3 decision (TB-2), and he followed that up with an 8-2 loss to York's Stefanos Karpotinis. Tonight, Havener lost by a 5-2 score.
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| 125 |
Philip Torresani (EC) won by forfeit |
6-0 |
| 133 |
Hunter Harris (MC) pinned Bryan Pflanz (EC), 6:08 |
6-6 |
| 141 |
Lee Cassel (MC) dec. Josh Paisley (EC), 9-5 |
6-9 |
| 149 |
Stephen Maloney (MC) technical fall Dan Smith (EC), 16-0 (2:37) |
6-14 |
| 157 |
Jeff Hojnacki (MC) won by forfeit  |
6-20 |
| 165 |
Chris Kummerer (EC) technical fall Josh Toal (MC), 18-1 (7:00) |
11-20 |
| 174 |
Ben Swarr (MC) won by forfeit |
11-26 |
| 184 |
Derek Beitz (MC) dec. Rocco Hladney (EC), 9-4 |
11-29 |
| 197 |
Quinn Ruble (EC) pinned Kyle Koser (MC), 0:51 |
17-29 |
| 285 |
Eric Eckstein (EC) dec. Nick Havener (MC), 5-2Â |
20-29 |
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