COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – No. 14 Messiah wrestling earned a perfect 4-0 mark at the North-South Duals this afternoon, with wins over Hunter, No. 10 Stevens, Delaware Valley, and Southern Maine. The strong showing pushed the Falcons' season record to 8-4.
 
Mighty Falcons
Messiah entered the day with an even 4-4 record in duals, but they built on a recent impressive outing at the Division I Lock Haven Classic with a statement against No. 10 Stevens. Messiah overcame a 12-0 deficit in the match, too, with six wins in the final seven bouts. The highlight of the match was undoubtedly Jeff Hojnacki's 3-1 decision over returning All-American and No. 3-ranked Zach Wilhelm at 157.
 
No. 1 Ben Swarr (174) followed Hojnacki with a dominating 16-0 tech fall over Zach Kovacs, and Messiah eventually ended the match by scoring 27 of the final 30 points.
 
The Big 1-0-0
With a 6-4 decision over Brenden Velez of Delaware Valley, Hunter Harris became the 26th wrestler in program history to reach 100 career wins. Harris is also the third Falcon to reach the milestone this season joining Derek Beitz and Ben Swarr.
 
The Undefeated
Hojnacki's impressive win over Wilhelm highlighted a perfect 4-0 day, and he was joined by Derek Beitz (184) and Kyle Koser (197) to go undefeated across at least three matches. Notably, Ben Swarr (174) went 2-0 with a pin in 39 seconds against Southern Maine to with his aforementioned tech fall in Messiah's win over Stevens.
 
From the Coach
"I thought our lightweights really set the tone today," said Messiah head coach Bryan Brunk in compliment of a Messiah roster that best known for its heavier classes. "Even in the losses they wrestled really well and put our team in the right direction."
 
Across the 125, 133, and 141 classes Messiah went 5-7 on the day, with Harris (3-1) leading the way and both Sean Redington and Nick Nunez also picking up wins.
 
Up Next
The Falcons will return to action next week at the annual Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College. The tournament will start on Friday, Jan. 12 and run across two days.


Messiah 46, Hunter 7
125 – Sean Redington (Messiah) pinned Hamad Amir, 3:37
133 – Hunter Harris (Messiah) won by forfeit
141 – Nick Nunez (Messiah) pinned Elliot Natanov, 2:02
149 – Lee Cassel (Messiah) pinned John Sherlock, 0:52
157 – Sean Miller (Hunter) dec. Dan Swarr, 8-6
165 – Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) maj. dec. William Heine, 8-0
174 – David Stevens (Messiah) pinned Serjey Thomas, 2:58
184 – Derek Beitz (Messiah) won by forfeit
197 – Declan Grey (Hunter) maj. dec. Karrington Washington, 16-4
285 – Jared Schell (Messiah) pinned Constantious Stavroulakis, 2:43

Messiah 27, Stevens 15
125 – Joseph Borai (Stevens) dec. Sean Redington, 9-4
133 – Troy Stanich (Stevens) maj. dec. Hunter Harris, 12-2
141 – Brett Kaliner (Stevens) tech fall Nick Nunez, 18-1
149 – Stephen Maloney (Messiah) tech fall Mike Derin, 16-0
157 – Dylan Van Sickell (Stevens) dec. Kevin Edwards, 5-3
165 – Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) dec. Zach Wilhelm, 3-1
174 – Ben Swarr (Messiah) tech fall Zach Kovacs, 16-0
184 – Derek Beitz (Messiah) pinned Bruce Parola, 4:56
197 – Kyle Koser (Messiah) tech fall Collin Myles, 2:17
285 – Jared Schell (Messiah) dec. Joe Moreno, 7-4

Messiah 35, Delaware Valley 9
125 – Kordell Rush (DV) dec. Sean Redington, 8-3
133 – Hunter Harris (Messiah) dec. Brenden Velez, 6-4
141 – Tim Ambacher (DV) dec. Matthew Darok, 7-1
149 – Lee Cassel (Messiah) pinned Devan Nole, 1:45
157 – Matt Pangle (Messiah) pinned Chris Richardson, 2:05
165 – Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) tech fall Brandon Rudy, 18-2
174 – Eliias Vega (DV) dec. David Stevens, 6-2
184 – Derek Beitz (Messiah) maj. dec. Nick Bord, 11-0
197 – Kyle Koser (Messiah) tech fall Steve Horvath, 19-0
285 – Dan Kiser (Messiah) pinned Oscar Daniels, 2:45

Messiah 34, Southern Maine 18
125 – Peter Del Gallo (So. Maine) dec. Sean Redington, 7-3
133 – Hunter Harris (Messiah) pinned Casey Abshire, 0:57
141 – Austin Shorey (So. Maine) tech fall Nick Nunez, 15-0
149 – Brendan Weir (So. Maine) maj. dec. Lee Cassel, 9-1
157 – Kevin Edwards (Messiah) tech fall Juan Vernaza, 16-0
165 – Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) pinned Josh Smith, 6:57
174 – Ben Swarr (Messiah) pinned Raul Gierbolini, 0:39
184 – Victor DeFrance (Messiah) pinned Kolby Smith, 1:57
197 – Kyle Koser (Messiah) tech fall Brandon Cousino, 15-0
285 – Mike Risti (So. Maine) pinned Dan Kiser, 2:49
 

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