Elizabethtown, PA — Think there's no place like home? Both Messiah's and Elizabethtown's wrestling programs don't need reminded.
The Blue Jays captured a 22-10 decision in their own Thompson Gymnasium Saturday night, extending a tradition of home dominance when the rival squads meet: Including Saturday's result, the host team has won each of the last five Messiah-Elizabethtown duals.
“I think it just attests to how competitive both of our programs are, and how evenly matched we are,” said Bryan Brunk, Messiah head coach. “I know we look forward to wrestling Elizabethtown each year, and I think they look forward to going against us as well. It's become a healthy rivalry that can bring out the best in both teams.”
Perhaps thanks to the backdrop, Elizabethtown proved better in seven of Saturday's 10 tilts, though several were nip-and-tuck decisions. After junior Danny Lethbridge suffered a 6-2 loss to E'Town's Will Bentley to open the action, freshman backup Matt DelGallo scored a 15-14 barnburner win at the 133-pound card, tying the team score at 3-3.
“I was really impressed with Matt DelGallo,” Brunk said. “He had to pull a five-point move with about 20 seconds to go in order to to come from behind to win. He showed a ton of heart and used a reversal to the opponent's back to pull the match out.”
Senior Andrew Clark nearly repeated DelGallo's feat in the 141-pound match-up, falling behind by a big deficit but using constant motion to pick up a reversal in the third period. Unfortunately, Clark couldn't hold on late, getting reversed by E'Town's Jordan Stepanchick with about 45 seconds to go. Unable to escape, Clark fell by an 8-7 score.
Junior Dave Standridge then lost a major decision to former national qualifier Tye Boyer at 149, but senior Mike Bressler got some points back in a 2-1 decision over the Blue Jays' Zach Sheridan. Those matches set up perhaps the two marquee match-ups of the evening, as senior Dave Jones faced off against Elizabethtown's Quint Eno at 165 and freshman Ricardo Plummer took on sixth-ranked 174-pounder Julian Meaney.
At 157, Eno secured a takedown on the edge of the mat as time ran out in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead. Each wrestler escaped in the following periods, but Jones couldn't find his shot and ended up falling by a 4-1 count with a riding-time point added.
“Both Eno and Jones looked to feel each other out in the first period,” Brunk said. “There were several scoring opportunities, but Eno got the takedown right before the period ended. In a bout so evenly matched, that proved to be the difference.”
Plummer almost pulled the a similar move against Meaney to start the 174-pound bout, nearly taking down the nation's sixth-ranked wrestler on a single-leg attack in the waning moments of the period, only for Meaney to scramble out of danger. Each wrestler escaped in their opportunities, entering the third period tied at 1-1.
With a little over a minute remaining in the match, Plummer attacked once again, but this time Meaney was able to counter-attack, catching Plummer's arm and stopping the Falcons' freshman phenom on his back — charting quick near fall. While Plummer quickly escaped, he found himself in a 5-2 hole and couldn't come back: Another forced attempt late led to another Meaney takedown, concluding the match in a 7-2 decision.
“Both Jones' and Plummer's matches could have gone either way, as well as Clark's match at 141, and proved to be the difference in the dual,” Brunk said.
Senior Tim Stewart collected Messiah's final points in a 10-2 major decision over the Blue Jays' Anthony DiMarco at 184. Classmates Tim Hopkins and Pat Hogan each fell in the final two bouts of the evening, dropping 10-5 and 2-0 decisions, respectively.
“It was a hard fought dual and I was pleased with our effort,” Brunk said. “The guys wrestling certainly gave us a chance to win. Top to bottom, I felt like our guys battled the whole time. It certainly was an exciting dual with a lot of close matches.”
Brunk and company will now take a two-week hiatus before heading into the second season, as the team will travel to the Empire Conference Championships Saturday, Feb. 26 at Ithaca College. Wrestling is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
“We're a little banged up, but we've proven we have quality depth and some guys who are on the cusp of putting their best matches in front of them,” Brunk said. “We've got two weeks to prepare. We want to use this time to put forth our best showing in a couple weeks.”
Elizabethtown 22 over Messiah 10
125: Will Bentley (EC) dec. Danny Lethbridge (MC), 6-2 (0-3)
133: Matt DelGallo (MC) dec. Marty Harnish (EC), 15-14 (3-3)
141: Jordan Stepanchick (EC) dec. Andrew Clark (MC), 8-7 (3-6)
149: Tye Boyer (EC) major dec. Dave Standridge (MC), 12-4 (3-10)
157: Mike Bressler (MC) dec. Zack Sheridan (EC), 2-1 (6-10)
165: Quint Eno (EC) dec. David Jones (MC), 4-1 (6-13)
174: Julian Meaney (EC) dec. Ricardo Plummer (MC), 7-2 (6-16)
184: Tim Stewart (MC) major dec. Anthony DiMarco (EC), 10-2 (10-16)
197: Phil Landis (EC) dec. Tim Hopkins (MC), 10-5 (10-19)
285: Tim Katzaman (EC) dec. Pat Hogan (MC), 2-0 (10-22)
