Final Brackets
Grantham, PA - Messiah College dominated the 44th Annual Petrofes Invitational this weekend, capturing the team title for the first time under Head Coach
Bryan Brunk's leadership. The Falcons started the day with 16 wrestlers competing and concluded the tournament in impressive fashion with five champions, two second place finishers, and one third place finish.
Against a very strong field, five of nine teams are nationally ranked in the
National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, the #4 Falcons showed tremendous confidence and impressive depth.
"We wrestled okay yesterday, but we were really good today. We had a ton of momentum after the semi-finals," Brunk said, referring to the fact that the Falcons saw seven of ten wrestlers win their semi-final bouts and advance to the finals. "We know we can compete among the best and we prepare for that each day. Our guys have a certain mindset and it shows. We are wrestling really well right now," Brunk said.
Freshman phenom
Lucas Malmberg became Messiah's first champion of the invitational at 125. Malmberg cruised through his bracket with three pins en route to an 8-3 decision over Wilkes University's Guesseppe Rea in the finals.
Kaleb Loht, Messiah's champion at 141, took home the Outstanding Wrestler award - his second honor in as many years. Loht was dominant in his final bout, pinning his opponent, Bryant Roby of Mount Union, in 2:14.
Messiah's next champion came at 165.
Stephen Cannon moved into the final after two falls in early bouts and a 13-9 decision over McDaniel's Logan Yox in the semi-final. Cannon earned the final victory after his opponent, who suffered an injury in the first 32 seconds.
Ben Kramer was one of two wrestlers pushed to the brink and into overtime in their final bouts. Kramer was sharp all weekend, earning two major decisions (12-0, 10-0) and a 7-2 decision before getting the 8-6 overtime win.
The other Falcon to get an overtime win was
Josh Thomson at 184. Thomson, who came in second in last year's Petrofes Invitational, made his way through this year's bracket 8-1, 8-0, 5-1 and won the final 8-6. He also received the inaugural Stan Dutterer Sportsmanship Award, which is voted on by the referees at the invitational and is given in honor of a long-time referee who tragically died earlier this year.
Messiah also had strong finishes at 133, 157 and 197.
Kyle Coblentz finished third at 133 with a 16-0 technical fall.
Larry Cannon and
Jason Wright took second place at 157 and 197, respectively.
"It's really awesome to see how the guys performed this weekend," Brunk said. "So many guys showed tremendous improvement and proved that they can be champions. Having this much success at this point in the season gets me really excited for what could happen this year."
The Falcons will have a two-week hiatus before their next competition when they head to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in the Gator Duals on December 21.
Final Team Scores
|
Messiah |
183 |
|
Wilkes |
165.5 |
|
Mount Union |
143.5 |
|
Springfield |
122.5 |
|
Ursinus |
120 |
|
McDaniel |
104.5 |
|
Bridgewater |
64.5 |
|
Muhlenberg |
15.5 |
|
Gettysburg |
5.5 |
