GETTYSBURG, Pa. – No. 5 Messiah wrestling hit the road on Friday night and scored the first 38 points in a convincing 38-3 win at Gettysburg. The performance pushed the Falcons to 3-2 on the season, with Gettysburg falling to 3-1.
The Falcons will turn around immediately and host King's tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
Third Time's a Charm
Although the final score was lopsided, there were more than a few great bouts throughout the night. Included among them were wins by
Sean Redington (125) and
Nick Nunez (141), with each of them earning victories over opponents to whom they had lost twice to already this season. First up was Redington against Lenny Ogozalek, with Redington avenging a pin at the Messiah Invite and a 9-3 decision at the Messiah Petrofes with a 10-4 decision tonight.
Nunez's win over Sean Thompson was equally as impressive after Thompson beat Nunez just last weekend (10-3 decision) on his way to taking third at the Petrofes. Thompson also beat Nunez at the Messiah Invitational Championship (10-8), but tonight Nunez went to overtime and earned a thrilling takedown on the edge of the circle to win 6-4.
All Eyes Watching
The must-see bout of the night may well have come at 165 where No. 7
Jeff Hojnacki won 7-6 over No. 5 Colin Kowalski. Last weekend Kowalski took a 5-4 decision over Hojnacki in the Petrofes Championship, and he started strong tonight with an early takedown.
Hojnacki battled back to tie the score 4-4 in the second period, but another takedown by Kowalski put him up 6-4 with more than 30 seconds of riding time. An escape by Hojnacki cut the deficit in half, and with just over a minute left in the final period Hojnacki forced a stall warning on the Gettysburg junior. With under a minute left Hojnacki fought off a shot and roll into a reversal for a 7-6 lead with just seconds remaining.
Falcon Flex
Four of the Falcons' victories came in convincing fashion, including a major by No. 7
Hunter Harris (133), and tech falls by both No. 1
Ben Swarr (174) and No. 4
Kyle Koser (197).
Kevin Edwards also collected the night's only pin at 147.
Results (all rankings via d3wrestle.com)
125: Sean Redington (M) won by decision over Lenny Ogozalek (G), 10-4
133: #7
Hunter Harris (M) won by major decision over Louie Carusillo (G), 14-6
141: Nick Nunez (M) won by decision over Sean Thompson, 6-4 (SV-1)
149: Stephen Maloney (M) won by decision over Colin Devlin (G), 4-2
157: Kevin Edwards (M) pinned Marc Larson (G), 3:41
165: #7
Jeff Hojnacki (M) won by decision over #5 Colin Kowalski (G), 7-6
174: #1
Ben Swarr (M) won by technical fall over Austin Roskos (G), 17-1 (5:30)
184: Victor DeFrance (M) won by forfeit
197: #4
Kyle Koser (M) won by technical fall over Mike Iodice (G), 20-2 (5:47)
HWT: #6 Paul Triandafilou (G) won by decision over
Jared Schell (M), 6-2
