Grantham, PA — Defeats in each of the first six matches put a serious damper on Messiah's 2010-2011 dual-match home opener Friday evening in Brubaker Auditorium, as the Falcons dropped a 28-9 decision to visiting Centenary College.
The Cyclones — ranked 15th in the latest Brute/Adidas Top 30 Poll — nabbed bonus point victories in the night's first three matches, shot out to a 23-0 lead and never looked back, handing Messiah (3-2) just its second dual-match loss of the season.
“(Centenary) is a tough team,” said Bryan Brunk, Messiah head coach. “They don't have any holes and are tough top to bottom. I thought we were in a lot of tough matches, but I thought they won a lot of the close situations. They really got after it.”
After suffering major decision defeats at both the 125- and 141-pound cards — and an extremely disheartening injury default at 133 — Brunk's squad dropped its first close match at 149. Sophomore Chris Hardenberg had riding time on Centenary's Jon Stillo, but an allowed escape with just 15 seconds remaining in the match gave Stillo a narrow, 8-7 win.
“I thought Chris wrestled a great match,” Brunk said. “But it was those situational things where we got beat. He gave up an escape with 15 seconds left in the match and another with just eight seconds left in the first period. Those make the difference in a close match like his. I was pleased with his effort though, and pleased with how he wrestled.”
Messiah failed to get on the board until freshman Ricardo Plummer earned an 8-5 decision over the Cyclones' Charles Cannella at 174, though the win got a bit of momentum rolling: Junior Tim Stewart followed with a 6-5 comeback win at the 184-pound match, while senior Pat Hogan closed the night with a 7-6 decision over opponent Joseph Zitone.
“Ricardo was a big highlight for us tonight,” Brunk said. “He outwrestled his opponent from start to finish. We'd like him to be more aggressive, but he's a freshman. He's going to continue to get better and better. Tim Stewart's M.O. continues to be, 'get behind early and come back.' You have to love that type of never-say-die mentality, though. He refuses to give in no matter what the score.”
Brunk and company started the evening without one of their top wrestlers, and ended it minus another: Junior Matt Cross sat out with a knee injury, while Bracey wrestled top-ranked 133-pounder Will Livingston for just over a minute before being pulled with a rib injury.
The Falcons' schedule is unforgiving, as the team will depart Grantham, Pa. early Saturday morning to compete in the North-South Duals at Ursinus College, scheduled to face Stevens Tech, Hunter College, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and ninth-ranked The College of New Jersey.
“It's our hope to come back in one piece,” Brunk said. “We're banged up right now. We're going to give it our best effort.”
#15 Centenary 28 over #19 Messiah 9
125: Jose Vega (CC) maj. dec. Danny Lethbridge (MC) 14-5 (0-4)
133: Will Livingston (CC) injury default Victor Bracey (MC) (0-10)
141: Dave Alsieux (CC) maj. dec. Ty Kanouff (MC) 13-1 (0-14)
149: Jon Stillo (CC) dec. Chris Hardenberg (MC) 8-7 (0-17)
157: Owen Vernon (CC) dec. Mike Bressler (MC) 3-1 (0-20)
165: Matt Regan (CC) dec. Davin Okerblom (MC) 9-5 (0-23)
174: Ricardo Plummer (MC) dec. Charles Cannella 8-5 (3-23)
184: Tim Stewart (MC) dec. JJ Mitchell (CC) 6-5 (6-23)
197: Tim Lutke (CC) tech. fall Tim Hopkins (MC) 23-7 (6-28)
285: Pat Hogan (MC) dec. Joseph Zitone (CC) 7-6 (9-28)
