Grantham, PA — Apparently, the mystique of Brubaker Auditorium is growing within the Messiah wrestling program.
At least, pertaining to Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference foe Lycoming College, that is.
Messiah captured its second straight home win over the rival Warriors — and second in the 39-year history of the Falcons' program — in a 26-11 decision Friday night.
After splitting the first four matches with Lycoming (9-9), Messiah (8-6) came on strong and claimed five of the final six match-ups, with two earning bonus points.
After a heartbreaking, 6-7 loss to open the evening at 125, Messiah head coach Bryan Brunk's squad was able to come away with two narrow victories of its own. Freshman Kyle Coblentz earned a 5-3 win at 133 and sophomore Ty Kanouff a 5-2 decision at 141, tilting the team score back in favor of the Falcons.
Sophomore Chris Hardenburg then had the task of taking on Warriors' senior leader Isaiah Britton, who is currently ranked 10th among all 149-pounders in the Brute/Adidas Individual National Rankings. Britton would prove worthy of the lofty rating, coming away with a major decision over Hardenburg via a 12-3 tally.
“The best part about tonight is we didn't necessarily out-wrestle Lycoming, but we out-fought them,” Brunk said. “I want our guys to show courage and heart, and we did that tonight. I was pleased with everyone's desire to just fight tonight and take control over the things we can control, like our discipline and effort.”
Following Hardenberg's loss, Messiah would only look forward as Lyco was unable to take any momentum from that match. The Falcons were able to reel off four straight wins, including a pin from freshman Ricardo Plummer at 174 and a tech fall from junior Tim Stewart at 184.
“I want our guys to fight until the end,” Brunk said. “It's their decision to not coast because they're ahead, or to just give in because they're behind in the third period.”
That fight was evident for Messiah, as Brunk's squad recorded several come from behind victories, including two in the third period.
Plummer's victory came at the very end of what appeared to be a smartly fought match from his opponent, Lycoming sophomore Jeff Thomas. Each time Plummer would make an aggressive move it seemed to work against him, leaving him staring at a 5-11 deficit with the clock ticking down in the third period.
Instead, the talented freshman was able to execute a brilliant maneuver on Thomas, turning him on his back with just over a minute remaining in the match.
“Ricardo's win was exciting because he never gave in,” Brunk said. “He made some mistakes tonight, and he knows that. It's really exciting to win when you wrestle poorly.
“Another guy I was extremely pleased with was Ty Kanouff,” Brunk continued. “He had his best match of the year against a talented kid in (Lycoming senior Michael) Maurer, who finished second in the conference championships last year.”
Senior Pat Hogan capped off the evening with another win in come-from-behind fashion, and Brunk noted that his senior heavyweight was also one who stuck it out until the end: After being down in the third period he was able to take a convincing, 7-2 win to increase the final margin of victory for the Falcons.
It was an eerily familiar refrain, as Messiah handed Lycoming a 20-13 defeat the last time the Warriors stepped foot in Brubaker Auditorium back on Jan. 16, 2009.
“It's always good to beat a program with the tradition and history that Lycoming has, but right now, we're really focused on us,” Brunk said. “We're at a place where we want to continue to improve and be wrestling our very best at the end of the season.”
Brunk and company won't have a long wait before another opportunity to get back to the mat, as the team will host the annual Messiah Open beginning tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. An individual tournament, Brunk said that the day is a stage for some of his younger and lesser-known athletes to shine.
“Tomorrow is an important day for a lot of guys,” he said. “For some of them, it's their chance to prove to us what they are capable of and maybe work their way into the starting line-up. For others, it's their championship and they know that. Some of them have a long way to go in a short time, but we're working on what we can control. I expect that we'll continue to show discipline, effort and courage along the way.”
#29 Messiah 26 over Lycoming 11
125: Stephen Hinton (LC) dec. Andrew Rentzel (MC) 7-6 (0-3)
133: Kyle Coblentz (MC) dec. Terrell Nixon (LC) 5-3 (3-3)
141: Ty Kanouff (MC) dec. Michael Maurer (LC) 5-2 (6-3)
149: Isaiah Britton (LC) maj. dec. Chris Hardenburg (MC) 12-3 (6-7)
157: Mike Bressler (MC) dec. Eric Grecco (LC) 5-4 (9-7)
165: Ben Kramer (MC) dec. Johnathan Secor (LC) 12-7 (12-7)
174: Ricardo Plummer (MC) pinned Jeff Thomas (LC) 6:40 (18-7)
184: Tim Stewart (MC) tech fall Tyler Cunningham (LC) 18-3 (23-7)
197: Russ Korbul (LC) maj. dec. Tim Hopkins (MC) 8-0 (23-11)
285: Pat Hogan (MC) dec. Chris Geisel (LC) 7-2 (26-11)
