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Grantham, PA - No. 8 Messiah College won six-straight bouts in the middle of the match to overcome a slight deficit and defeat No. 27 York College, 26-13. The dual win for the Falcons was their seventh in as many tries, and they moved to 15-3 overall this season.
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The win for Messiah was also the second of the season over York, as they also defeated the Spartans at the Budd Whitehill Duals, 30-13. But despite winning by a large margin once again, tonight's battle was much closer bout-for-bout.
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"I was impressed with York tonight," said Messiah head coach
Bryan Brunk. "They didn't back down because we beat them last time, and they were well-trained, they studied us, they were tactical, and gave us everything they got.
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"It was good to survive that onslaught, and we survived it very well."
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Messiah went up 5-0 at 125 thanks to a tech fall from No. 1
Lucas Malmberg, but they were trailing 10-5 after 141. That's when they rolled off six-straight wins, including a fall from No. 5 Larry Cannnon at 165, to storm back up 26-10 and never look back.
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"I told our guys, this was probably not our best effort technically or tactically," said Brunk. "But we were great with regard to poise. We didn't panic, and we didn't make mistakes. (York) was trying to keep matches close, but our guys were poised to not let it get away from them. I was impressed with that, because you can fix technique and you can fix tactics, but that poise is ingrained in you."
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With the win Messiah secured at least 15 dual victories for the eighth time in program history. They will turn around and host the Messiah Open tomorrow in Hitchcock Arena.
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When History (Mostly) Repeats Itself
As mentioned, the Falcons defeated York last month at the Budd Whitehill Duals, 30-13. Although the score was similar to tonight's match, the bout scores were much closer. Compare to last time around,
Stephen Maloney,
Jeff Hojnacki,
Ben Swarr, and
Kyle Koser all faced the exact same opponent, but the wins were closer this time around. Check it out:
- Maloney – fall last time; 5-3 decision tonight
- Hojancki – decision 8-2 last time; decision 2-1 tonight
- Swarr – decision 6-0 last time; decision 2-1 tonight
- Koser – fall last time; 11-4 decision tonight
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Get'm Next Time
The nation's leader in falls,
Hunter Harris, had a big test against No. 3 Ryan Flynn tonight, with Flynn taking a 9-1 decision. Though seemingly a tough blow, Harris matched Flynn scoreless through the first period before faltering as the time wore on.
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"In the first period, (Hunter) was doing good things, and the tactics both ways were good," said Brunk of the bout at 133. "Even after Flynn got an escape to start the second period, we were doing everything we needed to do. But then Hunter got caught in a tie-up, and a little mistake and hesitation led to a takedown for a 3-0 hole.
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"Hunter fought for stuff, but being down to a really good kid was a tough spot. The score isn't always reflective of a match, and this might be one of those times."
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Takedown Machine
One night after collecting seven takedowns on Thursday against Gettysburg to break his own single-season record of 155, No. 1
Lucas Malmberg collected nine more takedowns to increase his season total to 170. His career program record is now at 622 takedowns-- 160 more than the next wrestler (
Kaleb Loht '15).
Messiah 26, York 13
125 –
Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) over Dylan Nuttall (York) – Tech Fall 23-8
133 – Ryan Flynn (York) over
Hunter Harris (Messiah) – Major Decision 9-1
141 – Greg Warner (York) over
Josh Whitelaw (Messiah) – Fall 2:28
149 –
Stephen Maloney (Messiah) over Jeff Walker (York) – Decision 5-4
157 –
Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) over Chad Wickard (York) – Decision 2-1
165 –
Larry Cannon (Messiah) over Tyler Rhoads (York) – Fall 4:31
174 –
Ben Swarr (Messiah) over Joseph Sindoni (York) – Decision 2-1, TB
184 –
Derek Beitz (Messiah) over Jesse Huber (York) – Decision 9-2
197 –
Kyle Koser (Messiah) over John Shorter (York) – Decision 11-4
285 – Stefanos Karpotinis (York) over
Nick Havener (Messiah) – Decision 8-2
