Allentown, PA — When Messiah actually wrestled at Muhlenberg College Friday night, the team was impressive.
It wasn't much different in the other five matches, either.
A shorthanded Mules' side forfeited half of Friday's weight classes and the Falcons claimed the five bouts that actually did transpire, handing Muhlenberg a 51-0 blasting to open the squad's final weekend of regular-season wrestling. Senior Pat Hogan capped the quick evening with a win by fall in 2:12 at the heavyweight position, helping Messiah to its most lopsided win since a 43-3 decision over York College in last year's York College quad match.
“I felt bad for (Muhlenberg head coach) Mike (Kocsis),” said Bryan Brunk, Messiah head coach. “They're extremely banged up and they had actually asked to cancel the match. But I felt we needed the chance to wrestle for a variety of reasons, and we got some younger guys some good mat time tonight. We didn't hurt any of their guys, and we didn't get hurt, so it was a good night.”
After junior Danny Lethbridge won by forfeit at 125, freshman Kyle Coblentz picked up a 16-1 technical fall decision over Muhlenberg's Michael Slevin in 7:00, becoming the Falcons' season-leader in near falls along the way. Freshman Dave Standridge then claimed an 11-1 win over the Mules' Kevin Homan at 149, giving Messiah a 21-0 lead after another forfeit at 141.
“I thought Dave wrestled a really sharp match,” Brunk said. “Dave was a really heralded recruit for us and, over the second half of the season, he has really started to translate things to the college level. He wrestled a really good first and third period tonight. We got after him a bit in the second period to keep wrestling hard, no matter how big of a lead he had. He responded really well in the third period.”
Senior Mike Bressler (157) and freshman Ben Kramer (165) each captured decisions following Standridge's win, with Kramer securing a winning record in his first season as a Falcon. Bressler finished a back-and-forth match with Muhlenberg's Keith Swanson by scoring a reversal in the last 20 seconds of the third period.
“Mike showed a lot of poise when things went wrong positionally,” Brunk said.
Three straight forfeits fast-forwarded to the heavyweight bout, where Hogan had the aforementioned win by pin over Muhlenberg's Nick Pallotta.
“We wrestled three freshmen and two backups tonight, and that was primarily why we wanted to get this match in,” Brunk said. “We're working toward the conference championships, and these opportunities are important for us.”
Messiah will get a major opportunity tomorrow, as the team will travel to rival Elizabethtown College. The dual is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Blue Jays' Thompson Gymnasium. Over the last four years, the home team has won each meeting.
“I have confidence in the guys we're going to put on the mat,” Brunk said. “Yeah, we're banged up, but we've developed our program to the point where we can be competitive because of our depth. We're looking to go to E'Town and really compete.”
Messiah 51 over Muhlenberg 0
125: Danny Lethbridge (MC) by forfeit (6-0)
133: Kyle Coblentz (MC) tech. fall Michael Slevin (MU), 16-1 (11-0)
141: Andrew Clark (MC) by forfeit (17-0)
149: Dave Standridge (MC) maj. dec. Kevin Homan (MU), 11-1 (21-0)
157: Mike Bressler (MC) dec. Keith Swanson (MU), 8-6 (24-0)
165: Ben Kramer (MC) dec. Patrick Gibson (MU), 4-0 (27-0)
174: Ricardo Plummer (MC) won by forfeit (33-0)
184: Tim Stewart (MC) by forfeit (39-0)
197: Tim Hopkins (MC) by forfeit (45-0)
285: Pat Hogan (Me) pin Nick Pallotta (MU), 2:12 (51-0)
