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BRISTOL, R.I. - Stephen Maloney finished as the Runner-Up at 149 lbs. to lead the Falcons to a third-place finish in the Roger Williams Invitational on Saturday. Messiah had a total of eight wrestlers finish in the top-eight in their respective weight class. The Falcons earned 108 team points en route to their third-place finish. Johnson and Wales claimed the top spot in the team standings with 153.5 team points and host Roger Williams took second with 132 points.
 
Along with the strong effort from Maloney, Messiah also had Josiah Gehr (4th - 125 lbs.), Nick Nunez (5th - 141 lbs.), Lee Cassel (5th - 157 lbs.), Matt Pangle (6th - 157 lbs.), David Stevens (5th - 165 lbs.), Victor DeFrance (4th - 174 lbs.), and Brian Shermeyer (5th - 184 lbs.) place in the tournament.
 
The Falcons will be back in action next Saturday, Nov. 17 in the Southeast Duals in Salem, Va. when they take on Mount Union, Penn College, Averett, and Ferrum.
 
In the Brackets
Josiah Gehr earned an early pin in first round of the 125 lbs. bracket against Greg Fischer of Wesleyan. Despite being pinned in the second round, Gehr won three-straight matches in the consolation bracket to advance to the third-place match where he was edged by Roger Williams' Kyle Kaiser, 8-4.
 
Nick Nuez had a stellar start in the 141 lbs. bracket with a pair of pins against Michael Clymer (Roger Williams) and Jonibek Davronov (Hunter). After dropping a decision in the quarterfinals, Nuez came right back and pinned Andrew Valdina (Bridgewater State University) in the consolations. On the day Nuez went 5-2 with three pins to take fifth-place at 141 lbs.
 
Stephen Maloney cruised through the first four matches of the day with a pin, two technical falls and a major decision to earn a spot in the Finals at 149 lbs. A technical fall started his day against Marvin Cunningham of Johnson and Wales before a fall in 2:31 against Jordan Gonzalez (Hunter) pushed the junior into the quarterfinals against Wesleyan's Shane Ross. A 16-5 major decision took care of Ross and a dominating 16-0 technical fall in 2:11 in the semis pitted Maloney against Da'mani Burns (Johnson and Wales) in the Finals. Burns had pinned his was to the Finals with four-straight. A tight battle favored Burns slightly, as he claimed a 7-3 decision. Maloney finished with a Runner-Up finish.
 
Strong showings from senior Lee Cassel and sophomore Matt Pangle highlighted Messiah's performance in the 157 lbs. bracket. Both Cassel and Pangle advanced to the semifinals on opposite sides of the bracket. Cassel earned a pair of falls to begin his run on Saturday, taking care of Cameron Smith in 35 seconds before pinning his teammate, Joshua Paige in 2:35. Tight decisions against Cole Karam (NYU) and Tyler Gazaway (Roger Williams) followed in the quarters and semis, respectively, with Cassel getting the better of Karma (5-3) before dropping a 2-0 decision against Gazaway. Cassel finished in fifth-place on the day.
 
Pangle had earned three-straight decisions to open his run in the bracket before his day was cut short due to injury in the semifinals. Prior to his injury, Pangle earned a 12-6 decision over Tucker Kirchberger (Wesleyan), a close 4-3 decision against Liam Dury (NYU), and a third decision against Brendan Weir of USM (6-2). Even with the injury, Pangle finished the day in sixth-place overall.
 
David Stevens finished the day in fifth-place in the 165 lbs. bracket. Stevens won his first three bouts of the day with a technical fall and a pair of decisions before running into the eventual champion at 165, Taylor Shay (Roger Williams) in the semifinals. Shay edged Stevens 3-1 in a tight match.
 
At 165 lbs., Victor DeFrance earned fourth-place after advancing to the semifinals with a fall in the first round, a dominating technical fall in round two, and a 6-3 decision against Nick Caracappa (Johnson & Wales) in the quarterfinals. After getting pinned in the semifinals, DeFrance came back to earn a major decision in the consolation bracket to secure fourth-place on the day.
 
Brian Shermeyer highlighted the effort at the upper weights for the Falcons earning a fifth-place finish at 184 lbs. Shermeyer earned a technical fall in his first bout of the day before falling in the quarterfinals. After battling his way through the consolation bracket, Shermeyer ended his day with a fall in the fifth-place match against Ryan DeVivo (Johnson & Wales) in 48 seconds.
 
As mentioned, Messiah finished third as a team with 108 team points, just 24 behind second-place Roger Williams and 12 ahead of fourth-place Wesleyan.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Salem Va. for the Southeast Duals against Mount Union, Penn College, Averett, and Ferrum.
 

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