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CLEVELAND, Ohio – After qualifying a program-record eight wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, Messiah wrestling is has earned an eighth-place finish with three Falcons garnering All-American honors.
Messiah's season came to an end in the morning session, as the only wrestler with a shot to reach the finals,
Ben Swarr, fell in the semifinal to drop into the consolation bracket. When the third session was over, Swarr finished in fifth-place, while
Kevin Edwards and
Jeff Hojnacki each concluded the tournament in sixth-place.
The Falcons held on to eighth-place as a team with 38.0 points, three ahead of ninth-place Wisconsin-Whitewater. Wartburg ran away with the Championships, tallying 136.5 points. In a narrow battle for National Runner-Up, Augsburg edged out Ithaca by three with 82 total points.
Stellar Seniors
Messiah will undoubtedly miss this years' senior class, as five of the eight qualifiers are graduating this year:
Hunter Harris at 133,
Jeff Hojnacki at 165,
Ben Swarr at 174,
Derek Beitz at 184, and
Kyle Koser at 197. In their four years, those five combined for a total individual record of 634-199, team record of 72-11, six All-Americans, and 13 NCAA Championships qualifiers.
In his second appearance at the national tournament,
Hunter Harris came out strong with a pin of 2-seed Owen Doster of Wabash in the opening round. However, back-to-back ensuing defeats would deny Harris his first All-American recognition. Harris finished his career with an overall record of 106-55, holding the Messiah program record in career falls with 77.
Jeff Hojnacki earned his redemption at this year's championships, finishing as an All-American for the second time after missing the tournament last season. Hojnacki completes a great Messiah career with a record of 119-42, tied for tenth in program history in career wins. Hojnacki also finishes his career in the top-10 in Messiah history in takedowns and escapes.
Despite coming up short in his attempt to reach the finals for the third-straight year,
Ben Swarr ends his Messiah career as one of the most decorated in program history. Swarr is one of just six Falcons to earn All-American honors three times and one of only two to reach the finals multiple times (Lucas Malmberg '17 did so four times). Swarr finishes with a career record of 133-15, sixth all-time in wins and eighth in win percentage (.899).
Derek Beitz reached the National Championships for the second-straight year, but could not get past the first day as the senior went 2-2 over the first two sessions on Friday. Beitz's career record stands at 122-47, with his 122 wins ranking eighth in program history and 48 career pins ranking fourth.
Kyle Koser was an NCAA qualifier for the third-straight year, but could not repeat his All-American performance from last season as the senior went 1-2 on Day 1. Koser finished his career with a record of 154-40, and etched his name all over Messiah's record books. His 154 wins are fifth in program history, .794 winning percentage is 17th, and 44 pins are eighth. He also finishes in fourth in nearfalls with 168 after setting a Messiah single-season record of 82 this year.
We'll See You Next Year
Sean Redington surprised many by making the championships this year at 125, as at regionals, the sophomore dropped his first match but came back to win five in a row to grab the third and last qualifying spot. Redington proved it was not a fluke on Friday, taking down 7-seed Victor Gilva of Augsburg in the first round. However, Redington dropped his next two bouts to end the impressive run.
Stephen Maloney also reached the championships at 149 for the first time in his sophomore campaign. However, his season ended early on Friday, as he came up short in his first two bouts.
Kevin Edwards made quite the statement in his freshman season, becoming the first Falcon rookie to capture All-American status since Lucas Malmberg in 2014. Edwards was pinned in his first bout on Friday, but stormed back with four-straight wins to reach the consolation semifinals. That was as far as the win streak would go, though, as Edwards dropped the next two matches to finish in sixth-place.
See below for a summary of this morning's matches:
157 – Kevin Edwards – Sixth Place
In the consolation quarterfinal, Edwards matched up with Raymond Jazikoff of NYU. Edwards scored the first takedown to go up 2-0, but Jazikoff tied it up by escaping out of that and notching another escape to begin the second round. Edwards was hungry for more, though, as he executed a huge takedown right in front of the scorer's table and came within a second of earning a fall. Instead, the takedown and nearfall gave the freshman a commanding 8-2 lead. The rest of the match was spent holding on, and Edwards came away with a 9-7 victory to guarantee at least sixth place.
Edwards struggled in the consolation semis, falling behind early before getting pinned by Cole Erickson of Coe at 2:05 to drop to the fifth-place match. The final bout of the tournament was much of the same, as Mark Choinski of Wisconsin-Oshkosh pinned Edwards at 2:51. The sixth-place and All-American finish for Edwards is the first time since Lucas Malmberg's runner-up placing in 2014 that a Falcon freshman received All-American honors.
165 – Jeff Hojnacki – SIxth Place
Hojnacki had the tough draw of facing 1-seed Mike Ross of Wartburg in opener of the consolation bracket on day two. It was Hojnacki, though, who had the upper hand, scoring an early takedown and going up 4-0 at the end of the first round. Ross gained a point with an escape to begin the second round, but another takedown for Hojnacki and an escape in the third pushed the senior to a 7-1 victory to ensure at least a sixth-place finish.
In the consolation semifinal, Hojnacki had to face Anthony Arroyo of Baldwin-Wallace for the second time in the tournament after losing to Arroyo in the opening round yesterday. Hojnacki was unable to get anything going and Arroyo made no mistakes as Hojnacki fell 7-2 to move to the fifth-place match.
Hojnacki squared off with Nick Remke of Coast Guard, and could not execute a takedown before the third round was over, falling 4-3. After an All-American accolade in 2016, Hojnacki missed the tournament entirely last season, but came back this year for his second All-American honor and a sixth-place finish.
174 – Ben Swarr – Fifth Place
In the championship semifinals, Swarr had the tall task of facing an opponent that he had given him one of just two losses all season, Jairod James of Mount Union. Swarr got on the board first, as an illegal hold by James gave him a 1-0 lead. However, James was able to earn an escape and then a takedown of Swarr to go up 3-1. Throughout the entire second and third periods, Swarr gave it his all but could not escape the hold of James, eventually falling by a score of 6-1 to drop into the consolation semifinal.
Swarr had to try to get over the disappointment of not reaching the final for the third-straight year quickly, as he squared off with Darden Schurg of Wabash less than an hour later. Unfortunately, Schurg was able to score a couple of takedowns and a reversal, and Swarr could not tie it up with a takedown in the final seconds as he fell 7-5 to drop to the fifth-place match.
One of the most decorated wrestlers in program history, Swarr was able to end his storied career with a win, defeating Sawyer Massie of Wisconsin-La Crosse 6-3 to finish fifth and take his third-straight All-American distinction.
