Final Brackets
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Messiah wrestling finished the 2017 year in impressive fashion as they took third as a team at the Lock Haven Classic. The Falcons'
Kyle Koser (197) placed third overall with
Hunter Harris (133) and
Derek Beitz (184) each placing fourth, respectively, in a tournament that was filled heavily with Division I competition.
"This was a great tournament for us," said Messiah head coach
Bryan Brunk. "These guys really rose to the occasion against really tough competition, and each one of our guys wrestled like they belonged here. This was a good stepping stone in our process to get better each day."
Kyle Koser's third place finish came in exciting fashion as he pinned VMI's Max Gallahan less than a minute into the bout (0:46). Earlier in the day Koser also earned an 11-6 decision over Division I George Mason's Eli Spencer.
As mentioned,
Hunter Harris and
Derek Beitz each took fourth place, with Harris collecting two pins along the way. His first pin came in the opening round against Jaquan Loney of Old Dominion, and his second pin came against Trevor Mello of George Mason—in 19 seconds nonetheless. Harris settled for fourth place when Loney avenged the earlier loss with a 5-3 decision in the third-place bout.
Beitz's afternoon included three-straight wins in the consolation bracket, including a 4-3 decision over Old Dominion's Connor Frey. The only two losses for Beitz both came to Drew Phipps of Bucknell, first in the opening round and then in the third-place bout.
Stephen Maloney also had a strong afternoon for Messiah in the 149 bracket as he earned two wins: first, an 18-5 major over Seth Hogue of Bucknell; and second, a fall (1:41) over Stevan Smith of VMI.
The Falcons will now be off until next weekend when they travel to Ursinus College to participate in the North-South Duals.
Lock Haven Classic Team Scoring
| Bucknell |
113 points |
| Old Dominion |
103.5 |
| Messiah |
35 |
| Buffalo |
22.5 |
| Virginia Military Institute |
22 |
| George Mason |
3.5 |
