Team Scores |
Brackets
GRANTHAM, Pa. - No. 4 Messiah wrestling collected 142.5 points and took first place in the season-opening Messiah Invitational on Saturday. Seven different Falcons qualified for the finals in their weight class, with three Falcons—
Jeff Hojnacki (165),
Ben Swarr (174), and
Derek Beitz (184) – all winning titles.
"We had a solid first showing, and we have both a lot to be excited about and a lot to work on," said Messiah head coach
Bryan Brunk. "It's just November, so you can't really get into 'wins' and 'losses' too much. We want to analyze what we need to improve upon.
"But it was a great to have 12 different guys place in the top four of their weight class, and to have seven guys in the finals. That's a great start."
"We had a solid first showing, and we have both a lot to be excited about and a lot to work on," said Messiah head coach
Bryan Brunk. "It's just November, so you can't really get into 'wins' and 'losses' too much. We want to analyze what we need to improve upon.
"But it was a great to have 12 different guys place in the top four of their weight class, and to have seven guys in the finals. That's a great start."
What's Your Major?
Senior
Ben Swarr was recently ranked No. 1 by the NWCA for the 174 lb. weight class, and he showed why today with five convincing wins to earn the title. He started off with back-to-back tech falls (17-0, 16-1) and then collected three-straight major decisions by a combined score of 44-10.
The five wins put Swarr at 97 career victories, one less than
Derek Beitz who collected four wins himself to earn the title at 184. Beitz collected three pins to get to the final where he defeated Isaac Odell of Wheaton by a 20-5 score.
Lopsided Start, Thrilling Finish
Jeff Hojnacki collected five wins to take the title at 165, and the first four of them went tech fall (22-7), pin, pin, and major (15-5). In the final he faced off with Joseph Scott of Liberty University, and he came away with a hard-fought 5-4 decision.
Fall Weather
Hunter Harris picked up right he left off last winter, as he collected three pins on his way to the finals at 133. He dropped a 10-8 overtime match to Ricky Cavallo in the finals, but his three falls tied him with
Josh Thomson '16 atop the program's career leaderboard with 61.
Big Showing
Besides Hojnacki, Swarr, and Beitz, the Falcons had four other wrestlers advance to the finals of their weight class: Harris,
Nick Nunez (141),
Stephen Maloney (149), and
Kyle Koser (197). Like Harris, both Nunez (10-8) and Maloney (6-5) lost by narrow scores in their final bout.
Up Next
The Falcons will wrestle next Saturday at the Roger Williams Invitational in Bristol, R.I. The tournament is set to start at 10:00 a.m
.
