Team Scores |
Brackets
BRISTOL, RI. – No. 4 Messiah wrestling advanced six different wrestlers to finals and earned two champions to finish second overall at the Roger Williams Invitational on Saturday. The Falcons scored 169.5 points, and trailed Johnson & Wales by just 1.5 for the team title.
Ben Swarr (174) and
Kyle Koser (197) earned individual titles, and Koser was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Invite.
Hunter Harris (133),
Stephen Maloney (149),
Jeff Hojnacki (165), and
Derek Beitz (184) all finished as finalists in their respective classes.
Records Are Made to be Broken Fall
Last year
Hunter Harris set a new Messiah single-season record for pins (32), breaking a 38-year-old mark by Dan Morrison (28). Today, he set a new Messiah career record in the same category, breaking a two-year-old mark set by
Josh Thomson '16. Harris collected two pins to push his career total to 63 passing Thomson (61) for the top mark.
Harris' two pins pushed him into the semifinal today, where he won 5-4 over Ownen McClave from US Coast Guard. Harris lost in the final Jay Albis of Johnson & Wales, 7-2.
100 Win Club
The Falcons had two wrestlers—
Ben Swarr and
Derek Beitz—each reach 100 wins for their careers. Swarr won all four of his matches—including two by tech fall, and also a major decision in the final—to win at 174. The four wins pushed him to 101 in his career.
As for Beitz, he won three matches—all by fall— to advance to the finals at 184. He 7-3 in the final to Khamri Thomas of Johnson & Wales. He also finished the day with 101 career wins.
Finals Notes
As mentioned, six Falcons made the finals for their respective weight classes, and more than a few impressive wins were collected along the way. At 149
Stephen Maloney earned a noteworthy 6-5 decision in the semifinal over
d3wrestle.com Contender Carter Armendarez.
Jeff Hojnacki (165) picked up a win over Southern Maine's Josh Smith in the semifinal (8-2), with Smith listed on the
d3wrestle.com Honorable Mention list.
Kyle Koser, the aforementioned Outstanding Wrestler, took home the title at 197 with a momentous pin (5:33) over Devon Carrillo, who was ranked No. 5 on
d3wrestle.com—two spots behind No. 3 Koser.
Also of note was
Kevin Edwards' four wins in the 157 bracket. Edwards lost in the semifinal to Roger Williams' Tyler Gazaway, but not before picking up a quarterfinal win over Thomas Grippi, a
d3wrestle.com Honorable Mention wrestler from Johnson & Wales.
Up Next
Messiah will be off until next weekend when they travel to Alliance, Ohio to participate in the Mt. Union Duals.
