WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - At 285 lbs., Denny Karas picked up three falls in three matches to lead the No. 24 Messiah wrestling team on Friday at the Budd Whitehill duals. Messiah opened the day with a pair of tight victories over Wesleyan University (23-18) and SUNY Cortland (26-22), but Wisconsin - Stevens Point edged the Falcons (25-24) in their final dual of the day to give Messiah second place in their group. The Falcons now move on to the bracket stage tomorrow where they will compete for fifth-place in the 20-team tournament. Messiah will take the mat on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. against SUNY - Oswego. The winner of that match will take on the winner of Wilkes and Wisconsin - Eau Claire for fifth-place at 1:30 p.m.
 
Messiah defeats Wesleyan - 23-18 - Results
The Falcons bookended their 23-18 victory over Wesleyan with pins from Josiah Gehr (125 lbs.) and Denny Karas (285 lbs.). Along with the pair of falls, Stephen Maloney (149 lbs.) and Victor DeFrance (184 lbs.) earned major decisions and Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.) picked up a decision.
 
As mentioned, Gehr got the day started for the Falcons with a third-period fall in 5:42 to earn six, key team points for Messiah in their first bout of the mathch. Wesleyan responded with a pair of decisions at 133 and 141 lbs. before Stephen Maloney earned a dominating, 15-1 major at 149 lbs., narrowly missing out on a technical fall.
 
Major decisions at 157 and 165 lbs. followed for Wesleyan to put Messiah behind 14-10 with four bouts remaining. At 174 lbs. Brian Shermeyer claimed a close, 4-3 decision before Victor DeFrance picked up an 8-0 major decision in the 184 lbs. bout to put Messiah in front 17-14.
 
After Weslyan earned a 16-6 major decision at 197 lbs., the Falcons trailed 18-17 in the team score and it all came down to the heavyweight bout to decide the dual. Denny Karas earned a pin with just over a minute remaining in the third period to seal the match for the Falcons by a score of 23-18.
 
Messiah defeats SUNY Cortland - 26-22 - Results
Once again, it was Denny Karas playing the hero for the Falcons with a fall at heavyweight to cap off a Messiah victory. The Falcons trailed 22-20 heading into the final bout and needed Karas to earn a victory. The freshman took the bout in a big way, topping the Red Dragons' Zach Herbert with a second-period pin in 3:52.
 
Earlier in the match, Stephen Maloney (149 lbs.) and Victor DeFrance (184 lbs.) also earned falls, while Josiah Gehr (125 lbs.) picked up a dominating technical fall with a score of 19-0.
 
The Falcons' dual against SUNY Cortland was nearly a carbon copy of their match against Wesleyan earlier in the day. Messiah won the same five bouts against the Red Dragons as they did against Wesleyan (125, 149, 174, 184, and 285 lbs.), but picked up three extra team points thanks to a trio of falls from Karas, DeFrance, and Maloney.

Wisconsin - Stevens Point defeats Messiah 25-24 - Results
The Pointers built a 19-10 lead after six bouts thanks to a fall, two major decisions and a technical fall. Messiah battled back with a sudden victory by Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.), a technical fall by Victor DeFrance (184 lbs.), and a fall by Denny Karas (285 lbs.), but the strong showing by the upper weight classes fell just short as Wisconsin - Stevens Point claimed a 25-24 victory.
 
Just as they did in the first two duals of the day, Messiah won the same five weight classes in their final dual of the afternoon. In addition to victories from Shermeyer, DeFrance, and Karas, the Falcons picked up the third victories of the day from Josiah Gehr (125 lbs., forfeit) and Stephen Maloney (149 lbs., major decision).
 
Messiah went 15-15 in their individual bouts on the day with Gehr (125), Maloney (149), Sheymeyer (174), DeFrance (184), and Karas (285) accounting for all 15 of their victories.
 
With their narrow victory over Messiah, the Pointers won the group and advanced to the first-place bracket tomorrow. Messiah took second in the group and will take on SUNY Oswego at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning as they look to finish in fifth in the 20-team tournament. Regardless of the results tomorrow, Messiah has already earned a top-eight finish in the tournament.

Results
Messiah defeats Wesleyan - 23-18
125 - Josiah Gehr (MC) over Zack Murillo (WU) Fall 5:42
133 - Tristan Stetson (WU) over Dalton Daugherty (MC) SV-1 3-1
141 - James Matias (WU) over Matthew Darok (MC) Dec 8-3
149 - Stephen Maloney (MC) over Shane Ross (WU) Maj 15-1
157 - Aaron Goldman (WU) over Kevin Edwards (MC) Maj 14-2
165 - Roy Forys (WU) over David Stevens (MC) Maj 14-4           
174 - Brian Shermeyer (MC) over Marco Gaita (WU) Dec 4-3    
184 - Victor DeFrance (MC) over Duncan Kreutter (WU) Maj 8-0
197 - Simon Chee (WU) over Joe Embleton (Messiah) Maj 16-6        
285 - Denny Karas (MC) over Harrison Karp (WU) Fall 5:49

Messiah defeats SUNY Cortland - 26-22
125 - Josiah Gehr (MC) over Benjarmin llyod (SUNY-C) TF 19-0
133 - Matt Maquet (SUNY-C) over Sean Redington (MC) Fall 4:04
141 - Alex D`Angelo (SUNY-C) over Nick Nunez (MC) Maj 10-1
149 - Stephen Maloney (MC) over Dustin Harris (SUNY-Cortland) Fall 1:38
157 - Gianno Silba (SUNY-C) over Kevin Edwards (MC) Dec 9-5
165 - Demitereus Henry (SUNY-C) over David Stevens (MC) Dec 10-4
174 - Brian Shermeyer (MC) over Charlie Buckley (SUNY-C) Dec 5-2
184 - Victor DeFrance (MC) over Joseph Puca (SUNY-C) Fall 3:44
197 - Dylan Dubuque (SUNY-C) over Joe Embleton (MC) Fall 1:01
285 - Denny Karas (MC) over Zach Herbert (SUNY-Cortland) Fall 3:52

Wisconsin - Stevens Point defeats Messiah - 25-24
125 - Josiah Gehr (Messiah) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
133 - Ben Vosters (Wis.-Stevens Point) over Dalton Daugherty (Messiah) Maj 16-6
141 - Matt Berlin (Wis.-Stevens Point) over Matthew Darok (Messiah) TF 23-7
149 - Stephen Maloney (Messiah) over Alex Heiden (Wis.-Stevens Point) Maj 12-4
157 - Luke Smiley (Wis.-Stevens Point) over Kevin Edwards (Messiah) Maj 11-3
165 - Jordan Weinzetl (Wis.-Stevens Point) over David Stevens (Messiah) Fall 4:05
174 - Brian Shermeyer (Messiah) over James Borgen (Wis.-Stevens Point) SV-1 4-2
184 - Victor DeFrance (Messiah) over Graysen Sorensen (Wis.-Stevens Point) TF 19-3
197 - Jerry Lipke (Wis.-Stevens Point) over Joe Embleton (Messiah) Fall 3:00
285 - Denny Karas (Messiah) over Steve Anderson (Wis.-Stevens Point) Fall 2:55

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