NWCA Rankings - Jan. 6

Williamsport, PA – Messiah College wrestling has taken the championship at the 2014 Budd Whitehill Duals hosted by Lycoming College for the first time in school history. The Falcons had to go through RIT (30-10), SUNY Oswego (36-9), Johnson & Wales (25-15), Olivet (19-17) and SUNY Cortland (21-15) to get the overall win.
 
The Budd Whitehill Duals have been in existence and hosted by Lycoming College since 1989. The Falcons' previous best-finish in the event was last season when they placed second overall.
 
In round one against RIT, eight Falcons secured a win with one pin coming from Jason Wright (197) at 2:44. Kyle Coblentz (133) and Kaleb Loht (141) went back to back with major decisions, followed later by Josh Thomson (184).
 
Round two provided similar results for the Messiah squad, winning eight out of the ten bouts. Lucas Malmberg (125) and Coblentz (133) starting things off with two pins at 4:37 and 4:21, respectively. Ricardo Plummer (174) later secured a pin of his own at 6:28.

The Falcons took down No. 14 Johnson & Wales University in the third round of competition with a ten-point advantage. Highlights of that match included Coblentz (133) once again, collecting his second pin of the day. Malmberg (125) again wrestled well and took a major decision victory.
 
The Falcons continued on Saturday where they left off on Friday with a win against No. 7 Olivet College. This match proved to be the closest of the day with a 19-17 decision. The slight edge came from winning six out of the ten match-ups; one of those coming by major decision from Malmberg (125).
 
Messiah didn't slow down going into the championship match and won the first four bouts against No. 8 SUNY Cortland. Arguably the biggest match-up of the day was the 149-pound win by Greg Kabakjian. Kabakjian lost all four of his previous matches but came up when it counted in the championship.
 
Stephen Cannon (165) and Josh Thomson (184) then went on to take wins in their matches and secure the victory.
 
Overall in the tournament, Messiah showed poise and consistency by having five wrestlers go undefeated throughout. Kyle Coblentz (133), Stephen Cannon (165), and Josh Thomson (184) all went 5-0, while Lucas Malmberg (125) and Kaleb Loht (141) each went 4-0.
 
Be on the lookout for the Falcons' next dual, coming up on Jan. 17 at Gettysburg College. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. 

Results:

Match #1 Champ. Round 1: Messiah defeated RIT 30-10
125 - Marshall Myers (Messiah) over Andrew Flanagan (RIT) Dec 7-5
133 - Kyle Coblentz (Messiah) over Rory Bruce (RIT) Maj 14-1
141 - Kaleb Loht (Messiah) over Jake Sepor (RIT) Maj 13-2
149 - Brad Mayville (RIT) over Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) Maj 11-2
157 - Jake English (Messiah) over Wonsik Kim (RIT) Dec 7-0
165 - Stephen Cannon (Messiah) over Tory Cain (RIT) Dec 8-7
174 - Ricardo Plummer (Messiah) over Nicholas Greenquist (RIT) Dec 7-3
184 - Josh Thomson (Messiah) over Tyler Brent (RIT) Maj 12-1
197 - Jason Wright (Messiah) over Wyatt Albanese (RIT) Fall 2:44
285 - Eddie McBride (RIT) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #2 Champ. Round 2: Messiah defeated SUNY Oswego 36-9
125 - Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) over Jacob Yankloski (SUNY Oswego) Fall 4:37
133 - Kyle Coblentz (Messiah) over Quamaine Thomas (SUNY Oswego) Fall 4:21
141 - Tomas Garcia (SUNY Oswego) over Jacob Younger (Messiah) Fall 3:36
149 - Abubakarr Sow (SUNY Oswego) over Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) SV-1 13-11
157 - Larry Cannon (Messiah) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
165 - Stephen Cannon (Messiah) over David Hall (SUNY Oswego) Dec 9-7
174 - Ricardo Plummer (Messiah) over Christopher Farrell (SUNY Oswego) Fall 6:28
184 - Josh Thomson (Messiah) over Scott Bova (SUNY Oswego) Dec 10-3
197 - Ben Kramer (Messiah) over Joseph Gorsuch (SUNY Oswego) Dec 5-1
285 - Jason Wright (Messiah) over Branden Jones (SUNY Oswego) Dec 5-1

Match #3 Quarterfinal: Messiah defeated Johnson & Wales 25-15
125 - Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) over Joe Smith (Johnson & Wales) Maj 13-2
133 - Kyle Coblentz (Messiah) over Nate Colicci (Johnson & Wales) Fall 3:38
141 - Kaleb Loht (Messiah) over Michael Ferinde (Johnson & Wales) Dec 7-3
149 - Joey Gaccione (Johnson & Wales) over Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) Fall 2:58
157 - Larry Cannon (Messiah) over Ethan Farrell (Johnson & Wales) Dec 12-7
165 - Stephen Cannon (Messiah) over Stephen Jarrell (Johnson & Wales) Dec 15-8
174 - Ricardo Plummer (Messiah) over Dae`Sean Brown (Johnson & Wales) Dec 9-5
184 - Josh Thomson (Messiah) over Colin Lenhardt (Johnson & Wales) Dec 6-0
197 - Contstantine Rissiotis (Johnson & Wales) over Jason Wright (Messiah) Dec 7-2
285 - George Madosky (Johnson & Wales) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #4 Semifinal: Messiah defeated Olivet 19-17
125 - Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) over Kyle Gillies (Olivet) Maj 11-2
133 - Kyle Coblentz (Messiah) over Micheal Gancer (Olivet) Dec 7-2
141 - Kaleb Loht (Messiah) over Justin Holm (Olivet) Dec 2-0
149 - Gage Pederson (Olivet) over Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) TF 16-1
157 - Kyle Witgen (Olivet) over Jake English (Messiah) Dec 4-1
165 - Stephen Cannon (Messiah) over Daniel Fleet (Olivet) Dec 3-1
174 - Ricardo Plummer (Messiah) over Nicholas Allen (Olivet) Dec 9-4
184 - Josh Thomson (Messiah) over Jeff Holm (Olivet) Dec 2-1
197 - Thomas Hall (Olivet) over Ben Kramer (Messiah) Dec 5-1
285 - Trevor Timmreck (Olivet) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

Match #5 1st Place Match: Messiah defeated SUNY Cortland 21-15
125 - Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) over Mat Bradice (SUNY Cortland) TF 24-6
133 - Kyle Coblentz (Messiah) over Troy Feniger (SUNY Cortland) Dec 3-1
141 - Kaleb Loht (Messiah) over Anthony Battista (SUNY Cortland) Maj 9-1
149 - Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) over Lucas Ciancamino (SUNY Cortland) Dec 7-5
157 - James Ondris (SUNY Cortland) over Larry Cannon (Messiah) SV-1 8-6
165 - Stephen Cannon (Messiah) over Joeseph Cataldo (SUNY Cortland) Dec 8-2
174 - Lou Puca (SUNY Cortland) over Ricardo Plummer (Messiah) Dec 3-2
184 - Josh Thomson (Messiah) over Jagger Rebozo (SUNY Cortland) Dec 8-3
197 - Joey Giaramita (SUNY Cortland) over Jason Wright (Messiah) Dec 12-7
285 - Lance Moore (SUNY Cortland) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

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