WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – No. 11 Messiah wrestling capped off a strong weekend at the Budd Whitehill Duals with a championship-match win over College of New Jersey, 26-15. The Falcons went behind 12-0 but, like they did in their opening bout yesterday against Springfield, they rallied from a large deficit to win.
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The win marked Messiah's fifth-straight championship at the Budd Whitehill Duals, good for the longest streak by any team in the tournament's history.
Kyle Koser was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler, and
Ben Swarr was also named to the All-Tournament Team-- both wrestlers earned the most points per match at their respective weight class.
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All of Messiah's points were scored in successive fashion, starting with
Stephen Maloney's pin at 149. His fall was earned at the 2:17 mark, and it turned the entire match as
Kevin Edwards (157) and No. 5
Jeff Hojnacki (165) followed with back-to-back decisions to tie the score.
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No. 2
Ben Swarr continued the assault with a dominating 15-0 tech fall, giving him a 4-0 weekend and moving his season record to 24-0.
Victor DeFrance made it 20-12, and No. 4
Kyle Koser sealed the win with a pin in just 1:38.
Earlier in the day Messiah took down York by a 27-16 score to advance to the championship match of the Budd Whitehill Duals. The Falcons won four of the final six bouts to pull away, and they'll next face TCNJ at 1:30 p.m.
The Falcons'
Sean Redington (125) and
Nick Nunez (141) each collected pins across the first three bouts to help Messiah go up 12-6.
Stephen Maloney the battled impressively against No. 3 Gregory Warner, but a 3-0 decision for Warner brought York within 12-9.
Kevin Edwards (157),
Jeff Hojnacki (165), and
Ben Swarr (174) each followed with decisions of their own, and Messiah was up 21-9 and on their way to taking the match.
The win for Hojnacki was the 100th of his career, making him the 26th wrestler in program history to reach the mark, the fourth wrestler to reach the milestone this year (Derek Beits, Swarr, and
Hunter Harris), and the fifth wrestler on the current roster to boast triple-digit victories (
Kyle Koser, who earned a fall at 197 against York, started this season with over 100 wins).
Friday, Jan. 12
Messiah wrestling got off to a fast and ferocious start at the Budd Whitehill Duals today, with wins over Millikin, Springfield, and RIT. The Falcons will start Championship Bracket play on Saturday when they oppose York at 10:30 a.m.
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On Friday, the Falcons' first win came by forfeit over Millikin, who backed out of the Duals earlier this week. Messiah's second match of the day was a 25-16 win over Springfield highlighted by 25-straight points between five-straight classes starting with
Kevin Edwards at 157. That five-bout stretch domination not only turned the match—Messiah was behind 13-0 at the time— but included two majors, one tech fall, and pins from
Jeff Hojnacki (165) and
Victor DeFrance (184).
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In their third match of the day Messiah defeated RIT by a score of 37-9. Messiah won eight of the 10 bouts, with four different tech falls and one pin (
Kyle Koser at 197). The Falcons never trailed against RIT.
Messiah 25, Springfield 16
| 125 |
Joel Zambrano (Springfield) over Sean Redington (Messiah) Dec 10-8 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 133 |
Ian Tolotti (Springfield) over Ka'au Estrella (Messiah) Maj 8-0 |
0 |
4.00 |
| 141 |
Derek Bohle (Springfield) over Matt Darok (Messiah) Dec 5-1 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 149 |
Roger Moyer (Springfield) over Stephen Maloney (Messiah) Dec 7-4 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 157 |
Kevin Edwards (Messiah) over Kearney Gutierrez (Springfield) Maj 11-0 |
4.00 |
0 |
| 165 |
Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) over Aarin Feliz (Springfield) Fall 5:45 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 174 |
Ben Swarr (Messiah) over Ryan Harty (Springfield) Maj 9-1 |
4.00 |
0 |
| 184 |
Victor DeFrance (Messiah) over George Tarwo (Springfield) Fall 1:44 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 197 |
Kyle Koser (Messiah) over Ryan Gray (Springfield) TF 18-0 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 285 |
Joe Fusco (Springfield) over Jared Schell (Messiah) Dec 10-3 |
0 |
3.00 |
Messiah 37, Rochester Institute of Technology 9
| 125 |
Sean Redington (Messiah) over Andrew Flanagan (RIT) TF 20-5 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 133 |
Alex Prunoske (RIT) over Ka'au Estrella (Messiah) Dec 3-2 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 141 |
Nick Nunez (Messiah) over Shane Murphy (RIT) Maj 12-2 |
4.00 |
0 |
| 149 |
Stephen Maloney (Messiah) over Zarek Thomas (RIT) TF 18-0 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 157 |
Kevin Edwards (Messiah) over Kaidon Winters (RIT) Dec 7-2 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 165 |
Brian Shermeyer (Messiah) over Colby Hall (RIT) TF 18-0 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 174 |
Ben Swarr (Messiah) over Joe Lupisella (RIT) TF 20-2 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 184 |
Derek Beitz (Messiah) over Trevor Snow (RIT) Maj 15-3 |
4.00 |
0 |
| 197 |
Kyle Koser (Messiah) over Matt Cicco (RIT) Fall 0:21 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 285 |
Connor Calkins (RIT) over Jared Schell (Messiah) Fall 2:29 |
0 |
6.00 |
Messiah 27, York, 16
| 125 |
Sean Redington (Messiah) over Dylan Nuttall (York (PA)) Fall 1:15 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 133 |
Zachary Dwyer (York (PA)) over Ka'au Estrella (Messiah) Fall 4:46 |
0 |
6.00 |
| 141 |
Nick Nunez (Messiah) over Jeffery Walker (York (PA)) Fall 4:18 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 149 |
Gregory Warner (York (PA)) over Stephen Maloney (Messiah) Dec 5-0 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 157 |
Kevin Edwards (Messiah) over Eric Hutchinson (York (PA)) Dec 11-6 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 165 |
Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) over Jackson Drum (York (PA)) Dec 5-2 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 174 |
Ben Swarr (Messiah) over Joseph Sindoni (York (PA)) Dec 6-2 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 184 |
Francis Krauss (York (PA)) over Derek Beitz (Messiah) Dec 3-1 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 197 |
Kyle Koser (Messiah) over Hasan Alic (York (PA)) Fall 1:03 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 285 |
Stefanos Karpontinis (York (PA)) over Jared Schell (Messiah) Maj 9-0 |
0 |
4.00 |
Messiah 26, TCNJ 15
| 125 |
Dan Ortega (TCNJ) over Sean Redington (Messiah) Dec 6-4 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 133 |
Jake Giordano (TCNJ) over Ka'au Estrella (Messiah) Fall 3:59 |
0 |
6.00 |
| 141 |
Robert Dinger (TCNJ) over Nick Nunez (Messiah) Dec 4-0 |
0 |
3.00 |
| 149 |
Stephen Maloney (Messiah) over Eric Friedman (TCNJ) Fall 2:17 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 157 |
Kevin Edwards (Messiah) over JT Beirne (TCNJ) Dec 10-7 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 165 |
Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) over Dominic Fano (TCNJ) Dec 8-5 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 174 |
Ben Swarr (Messiah) over Daniel Kilroy (TCNJ) TF 15-0 |
5.00 |
0 |
| 184 |
Victor DeFrance (Messiah) over Thom Anderson (TCNJ) Dec 6-1 |
3.00 |
0 |
| 197 |
Kyle Koser (Messiah) over Patrick Schinder (TCNJ) Fall 1:38 |
6.00 |
0 |
| 285 |
Kyle Cocozza (TCNJ) over Jared Schell (Messiah) Dec 6-0 |
0 |
3.00 |
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