Final Brackets  |  Team Results  |  Bout-By-Bout  |  Finals Summary
 
Wheaton, IL – Messiah College wrestling placed third in the 2014 Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational behind two first-place finishes by Lucas Malmberg (125) and Kaleb Loht (141). The Falcons scored a total of 100.5 points for the competition behind UW-LaCrosse (120.5) and UW-Whitewater (155.5). 

To get to the final bout at 125 pounds, Lucas Malmberg defeated Robert Bidlingmaier of Olivet College with a 10-3 decision. Malmberg then edged out Jesse Gunter of Baldwin Wallace in a 6-5 decision to take the first place crown.
 
Kaleb Loht (141) defeated Adam Yde with a 12-4 major decision in his semifinal matchup. In the championship bout, Loht didn't let Justin Holm of Olivet score any points on him to take the title with a 4-0 decision.
 
The third wrestler competing for a first-place title in the tournament was Josh Thomson (184). His matchup with Eric Twohey of UW-La Crosse was forced into the tiebreaker periods where Twohey won the bout with an escape. The loss is just Thomson's third of the year.
 
Ricardo Plummer fought his way up the wrestlebacks, winning his remaining four matches to take third place at 174 pounds. All of them came by decision; the third place bout was a 5-2 result.
 
The final wrestler who made it to the Saturday competition was Charles Jones, but he fell to the No. 8 seeded Nino Majoy in his first bout of the day.
 
For the Falcons, the result is the second podium finish in two years and they double up on the number of individual champions from last year.
 
Messiah will next wrestle at home this Friday, Feb. 7, in Brubaker Auditorium against Johns Hopkins University. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Friday Night Update
 
So far there have been three rounds of action in each weight class in the championship brackets and four in wrestlebacks. Three Messiah wrestlers remain in their championship brackets, while two others are fighting in the wrestlebacks.
 
In just the first round of competition, four different Falcons recorded wins via pin and three were given byes. Lucas Malmberg (125) was one wrestler with a fall, and proceeded to win his next match by way of a pin as well. Malmberg also won his third round match with a 6-5 decision and will compete in the semifinals tomorrow. 
 
Kyle Coblentz (133) and Kaleb Loht (141) saw similar results through two rounds; both grapplers won with first-round byes and then won with decisions in the second round. Loht, though, went on to win his third round bout with a 7-2 decision. Coblentz was knocked out of the tournament with two consecutive losses. 
 
Another wrestler with a fall in the first round was Greg Kabakjian (149), but he would go on to lose his next two bouts to be eliminated from the tournament.
 
Larry Cannon (157) worked his way up the wrestlebacks but lost his third bout to Dan Argueta, however he collected two wins by pin on his way there. His brother Stephen Cannon (165) unfortunately had to exit the tournament due to medical forfeit.
 
Coming off of their wins in the MAC Championship, Ricardo Plummer (174) and Josh Thomson (184) went two for two through the first two rounds. Plummer collected two decisions, while Thomson secured a major decision and a 15-0 tech fall. Plummer then fell to Jamie Jakes of Alma but won his next bout to stay alive in the wrestlebacks. Thomson won his third round match, joining Malmberg and Loht in the semifinals. 
 
Ben Kramer (197) won his first round bout but was elimnated after two losses thereafter. Charles Jones (285) remains as the second Messiah wrestler in the wrestlebacks after winning three in a row. The first of which was a victory by fall in just 22 seconds. 
 
The Falcons will continue action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Continue to check the tournament homepage for the most updated results.

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