Grantham, PA - The no. 2 Falcons finished 4-1 at the Mount Union Duals defeating Baldwin Wallace University 21-18, Muskingum University 54-0, no. 14 Thiel College 42-3, John Carroll University 46-3, and no. 24 Mount Union handed the Falcons their lone loss by a 21-18 score. Messiah improves to 7-1 overall on the season.

Match One: Baldwin Wallace University 21-18

No. 2 Lucas Malmberg started the match off with a dominating 18-2 technical fall in just the first period of the match at 125 pounds. Up next for the Falcons was Daniel Rodriguez who lost a hard fought match 6-0 to Jake Landers to make the team score 5-3 in the Falcons favor. At 141 pounds, no. 1 and defending national champion Kaleb Loht beat Joshua Decatur by a 14-3 major decision to increase the Falcons lead to 9-3. 

Messiah kept their win streak going at 149 pounds with Chris Williamson earning a third period fall to make the score 15-3 in the Falcons favor. At 157 pounds, no. 9 Larry Cannon won by a 12-6 decision over Grant Rathburn to increase the Falcons lead to 18-3. Messiah had a comfortable lead until Baldwin Wallace strung together a four match win streak to tie the score at 18 a piece. 

The win streak started at 165 pounds with Baldwin Wallace's no. 5 ranked wrester David Shapiro earning a pin over Jake English. Next, Messiah's no. 3 ranked wrestler, Josh Thomson lost a close 6-4 decision to Garrett Chase to make the score 18-12 in Messiah's favor. At 184 pounds Jeremy Bailes lost by a 10-4 decision to Ben Lebrun followed by a 9-3 decision by Baldwin Wallace's Andrew Shackelford over Jason Wright to tie the team score at 18.

The final match of the dual meet was at 285 pounds and would decide the outcome of the meet. Nick Havener grinded out a 5-1 decision over Nicholas Nader and gave the Falcons the 21-18 victory.

Match Two : Muskingum University 54-0

In the second match of the day Messiah defeated Muskingum University 55-0. The Falcons received three forfeits to start the match at 125 pounds, 133 pounds, and 141 pounds to take an 18-0 lead.
 
At 149 pounds, Messiah's Adam Peris won by fall over Keck in the first period. Next at 157 pounds, Tag Wilber won by a 12-6 decision over Sullivan. Kalann Washington earned a first period fall at 165 pounds, followed by another first period fall at 174 pounds by Derek Beitz.
 
Tyler Schell earned more bonus points for the Falcons with a first period fall to make the score 45-0 in the Falcons favor. At 197 pounds, Kyle Koser won by a 9-0 major decision and David Giovannacci finished the match with a fall at 285 pounds.
 
Match Three: No. 14 Thiel College 42-3

The third match of the day for the Falcons was against no. 14 Thiel College. No. 2 Lucas Malmberg started the dual meet at 125 pounds with a pin in just 1:11 to put the Falcons up 6-0. Up next for the Falcons was Daniel Rodriguez who earned a 14-3 major decision. No. 1 Kaleb Loht won by fall at 141 pounds in just the first period to give the Falcons a 16-0 lead. Up next was Chris Williamson at 149 pounds who won by an 11-5 decision.
 
Messiah's lone defeat of the dual meet came at 157 pounds as Thiel's Chris Nuss defeated Greg Kabakjian by a 9-4 decision. At 165 pounds, Jeff Hojnacki earned a 12-2 major decision followed by a pin from no. 3 Josh Thomson to put the Falcons ahead 29-3.
 
Messiah won the next three matches with a major decision at 184 pounds by Tyler Schell, a pin by Jason Wright at 197 pounds, and a 7-1 decision by David Giovannacci at 285 pounds to give the Falcons the 42-3 victory.

Match Four: John Carroll University 46-3

In the fourth match of the day for the Falcons they defeated John Carroll University 46-3. The match started with a forfeit at 125 pounds to give the Falcons an early 6-0 lead. Lucas Malmberg bumped up to 133 pounds and won by fall in the first period to increase their lead to 12-0. Kaleb Loht won by an early second period fall at 141 pounds and Chris Williamson won by a 10-6 decision at 149 pounds.
 
With the Falcons leading 21-0, Larry Cannon earned a 8-0 major decision to make the score 24-0. The lone loss for the Falcons in the dual meet came at 165 pounds as John Carroll's no. 6 Terner Gott defeated Jeff Hojncacki by a close 4-2 decision. Josh Thomson put the Falcons back in the win column with a third period fall. Messiah earned another fall at 184 pounds as Jeremy Bailes pinned his opponent in 4:57.
 
Kyle Koser won by a 5-0 decision at 197 pounds and Nick Havener finished the match by receiving a forfeit making the final score 46-3.

Match Five: No. 24 University of Mount Union 18-21

In the final match of the day, the Falcons wrestled the host school University of Mount Union. No. 2 Lucas Malmberg started the match out right for the Falcons at 125 pounds earning a 10-3 decision over Nick Mancini to give the Falcons an early 3-0 lead. At 133 pounds, no. 2 Jeremy Border from Mount Union won by fall in the first period over Daniel Rodriguez to give a 6-3 lead to Mount Union. 

Next at 141 pounds, no. 1 Kaleb Loht grinded out a tough 3-2 decision over Bryant Roby to tie the dual meet score at six. Ben Kazimir put three points on the scoreboard for Mount Union with a close 6-5 decision over Chris Williamson at 149 pounds. At 157 pounds, no. 9 Larry Cannon continued his winning ways earning a 6-1 decision over Jesse Gross. 

With the team score tied at nine, Messiah's Derek Beitz earned bonus points for the Falcons with a fall in the third period over Nick Hendershot to put the Falcons up 15-9. No. 3 Josh Thomson kept the momentum going with a 7-2 decision over Chad Ziegler to increase the Falcons lead to 18-9. Next at 184 pounds, Mount Union's Brent Kirk won by a close 3-1 decision over Jeremy Bailes. 

A huge momentum shift occurred at 197 pounds as Mount Union's Brian Olson won by fall over Kyle Koser to tie the match score at 18. Once again the dual meet came down to the final bout at 285 pounds. Mount Union's Jacob Alarie won by a close 3-2 decision over Nick Havener and gave Mount Union the close 21-18 dual meet victory over the Falcons. 

Messiah will return to the mat December 5, at the annual Messiah Petrofes Invitational in Grantham, PA. 



 

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