Williamsport, PA – The No. 24 Messiah College wrestlers took part in the annual Budd Whitehill Duals, hosted by Lycoming College.
They entered the two-day event after going 2-2 at last weekend's North-South Duals.
The Falcons took the first round of day one against the United States Coast Guard Academy 23-13. Highlights include two major decisions from sophomore
Kaleb Loht (141) and junior
Charles Jones (285).
Messiah finished up a successful day one at the duals with a decisive victory over No. 19 Ohio Northern University 26-10. Helping the team to a win was Loht with a pin at 6:20, Jones, securing another major decision, and freshman
Josh Thomson (184), with a major decision. The team win put them into the semifinals of the tournament.
The first day success for the Falcons continued into day two as they took down No. 14 Wabash College 20-15. Highlights of the match include two major decisions from Loht and senior
Travis Ebersole (197).
“Wabash was missing a couple starters,” said head coach
Bryan Brunk. “So were able to capitalize there while also utilizing some guys that don't normally get starts.”
The semifinal win put the Falcons into the championship match against No. 12 UW-Stevens Point.
Messiah battled extremely hard but ultimately fell to UW-Stevens Point 18-16. It was a come from behind victory for the Pointers as they were down 13-3 at one point in the match. Going into the final bout at 285 lbs. Messiah was up 16-15 but just couldn't hold on for the victory, losing in a 3-1 decision.
“Of course it's an awesome result for the guys,” coach Brunk said. “But it's also a little disappointing to come so close to a major win for this team.”
It is an incredible finish for the Falcons, placing second when their previous best finish was last year's sixth place result.
Highlights in the match against UW-Stevens Point include sophomore
Jake English with a big win against the No. 10 wrestler in the country at 157 lbs., Ben Strobel. Junior
Kyle Coblentz (133) was also able to get a major decision in his bout.
Kaleb Loht's match against Jordan Kost ended in exciting fashion in double overtime. Loht was able to get the final point because Kost false started three times.
With the win Loht finished 4-0 in the tournament while
Josh Thomson and junior
Chris Williamson also went 4-0 on the weekend.
Messiah will return to the mats next Saturday for the Empire Conference Championships hosted by Cortland State.
Friday, January 11 Results
Round 1: Messiah 23, Coast Guard 13
125:
Kurt Rodriguez (MC) by forfeit
133: Nate Giorgio (CGA) dec.
Zach Snow, 5-2
141:
Kaleb Loht (MC) maj. dec. Mike Giorgio, 11-3
149:
Chris Williamson (MC) dec. Joe Kidwell, 9-2
157: Ben Greene (CGA) dec.
Josh Bressler, 3-2
165: Mike Shermot (CGA) maj. dec.
Kyle Dayhoff, 17-7
174: Luke Taylor (CGA) dec.
Ricardo Plummer, 7-0
184:
Josh Thomson (MC) dec. Marc Wagner, 4-2
197:
Jason Wright (MC) dec. Joel Wyman, 6-2
285:
Charles Jones (MC) maj. dec. Mark Howard, 9-1
Round 2: Messiah 26, Ohio Northern 10
125: Jerry Pasquale (ONU) dec.
Kurt Rodriguez, 5-2
133:
Kyle Coblentz (MC) dec. Jeremy Jones, 6-4
141:
Kaleb Loht (MC) fall Cody Harting, 6:20
149:
Chris Williamson (MC) dec. JP Hoopes, 5-3
157:
Jake English (MC) dec. Jeff Stover, 10-4
165: Tyler Gargano (ONU) dec.
Kyle Dayhoff, 5-3
174: Kyle Kwiat (ONU) maj. dec.
Ben Kramer, 11-3
184:
Josh Thomson (MC) maj. dec. Kyle Raber
197:
Travis Ebersole (MC) dec. Michael Pawlitz, 7-3
285:
Charles Jones (MC) maj. dec. Cody Lovejoy, 9-0
Saturday, January 12 Results
Round 3: Messiah 20, Wabash 15
125: Tommy Poynter (WC) fall
Kurt Rodriguez, 2:09
133:
Zach Snow (MC) dec. Robbie Carter, 9-4
141:
Kaleb Loht (MC) maj. dec. Michael Venezia, 14-6
149:
Chris Williamson (MC) dec. Zach Boren, 8-6
157: Conner Lefever (WC) dec.
Josh Bressler, 7-2
165: Ethan Farmer (WC) dec.
Kyle Dayhoff, 7-2
174:
Ben Kramer (MC) dec. Drew Songer, 4-2
184:
Josh Thomson (MC) dec. Josh Sparks, 5-2
197:
Travis Ebersole (MC) maj. dec. Levi Kinney, 10-1
285: Abe Hall (WC) dec.
Charles Jones, 3-2
Round 4 (Championship): UW-Stevens Point 18, Messiah 16
125: Lance Fabry (UWSP) dec.
Kurt Rodriguez, 6-1
133:
Kyle Coblentz (MC) maj. dec. Ryan Osse, 12-0
141:
Kaleb Loht (MC) dec. Jordan Kost, 2-1
149:
Chris Williamson (MC) dec. Shane Sweeney, 5-3
157:
Jake English (MC) dec. Ben Strobel, 9-3
165: Jordan Schulte (UWSP) fall
Kyle Dayhoff, 2:06
174: Ryan Conat (UWSP) dec.
Ben Kramer, 6-1
184:
Josh Thomson (MC) dec. Andy Borchardt, 6-2
197: Dustin Wozniak (UWSP) dec.
Travis Ebersole, 9-3
285: Jordan Koranda (UWSP) dec.
Charles Jones, 3-1
