Team Scores | Brackets

Wheaton, IL - The No. 4 Falcons of Messiah College crowned one champion and five place winners at the Pete Wilson-Wheaton Invitational for third place with 123 points. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater won the tournament with 131 points and University of Wisconsin-Parkside captured a runner-up finish with 127.5 points.  
 
No. 1 Lucas Malmberg finished in third place in the Wheaton Invitational at 125 pounds. Malmberg advanced to the semifinals by way of a technical fall and a 16-3 major decision at 125 pounds.  In his semifinal bout, Malmberg fell to Devan Richter from the University of Chicago by fall in 2:43 when he was caught with a big move.
 
Malmberg battled back through the consolation bracket and dominated No. 2 Ben Vosters of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point by a 10-2 major decision to secure a third place finish.
 
At 157 pounds, No. 9 Larry Cannon finished as a runner-up for his second consecutive year at the Wheaton Invitational. Cannon advanced to the semifinals with a decision and technical fall. During his semifinal bout, Cannon blanked No. 8 Josh Tardy of North Central College with a 5-0 decision and advanced to the championship bout.
 
In the championship match, Cannon fell to No. 5 Logan Meister of Ferrum College by a 4-2 score in sudden victory. Both wrestlers secured escapes and were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. The first overtime saw little action as both wrestlers couldn't come up with a takedown. Next, Cannon and Meister captured escape points in the 30 second ride outs and headed into the sudden victory period tied at two. Meister picked up the match winning takedown off an ankle pick that put Cannon in second place.
 
Jeff Hojnacki finished in sixth place in the Wheaton Invitational at 165 pounds. Hojnacki advanced to the semifinals by way of major decision and a close 7-5 decision over Tyler Hardtke of John Carroll University. Hojnacki was overmatched in his semifinal bout as he lost Division II No. 4 nationally ranked Nick Fishback of University of Wisconsin-Parkside by technical fall. Next, Hojnacki lost two matches in the consolation bracket including a 7-5 decision loss to Dan Weinmann in the fifth place bout.
 
At 174 pounds, No. 7 Ben Swarr finished second in the Wheaton Invitational. Swarr advanced to the semifinals with a major decision and a decision. During the semifinal round, Swarr handled Dan Squires of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point by an 11-5 decision.  
 
In the championship bout, Swarr fell to the No. 1 wrestler in the nation in Division II, Nick Becker of University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Becker captured a first period takedown and Swarr quickly scored an escape to trail Becker 2-1. The second period of action had Becker score two escapes and a takedown by Swarr. Trailing 4-3, Swarr notched an escape and tied the score at four. Next, Swarr was hit with two stalling points and fell to Becker by a 6-4 decision.  
 
No. 3 Josh Thomson captured a Wheaton Invitational title at 184 pounds. Thomson advanced to the semifinals by way of three pins. Thomson's quarterfinal win tied Messiah Wrestling's all-time wins record with 159 wins. Thomson had a historic semifinal win as he pinned Grant Wedepohl of University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 6:50 and captured the Messiah wrestling all-time wins record with 160 wins.
 
Thomson capped off his excellent tournament with a dominating 10-1 major decision over the 7th nationally ranked wrestler at Division II Montrail Johnson of University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Thomson secured two takedowns, an escape, four near fall points, and tacked on a riding time point during the victory. Thomson was named Outstanding Wrestler for his four pins and major decision en route to the Wheation Invitational Title.
 
At 197 pounds, No. 7 Kyle Koser placed in third in the Wheaton Invitational. Koser advanced to the semifinals with two pins. Next, Koser dropped a tight 2-1 decision in the semifinals to Mike Swider of Wheaton College. Koser finished 2-0 in the consolation bracket which included a pin in 1:40 over Zach Tooley from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the bronze medal bout.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Feb. 5 when they travel to York, Pa. and take on the Spartans of York College in a dual meet starting at 7:00 p.m.

 

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