LEXINGTON, Va. - The Messiah wrestling team opened the 2020 calendar year with a trip to the Jim Crytzer Invitational hosted by Washington and Lee on Saturday. Messiah earned 146.5 team points to finish third among the 10 teams in attendance. Josiah Gehr (133 lbs.) and Matt Pangle (165 lbs.) claimed titles in their respective weight classes while three other Falcons earned runner-up finishes with Jake Coniglio (149 lbs.), Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.), and David Stevens (184 lbs.) advancing to the championship match.
 
The Falcons earned a total of nine top-five finishes with Jordan Howard (125 lbs.) and Dalton Daugherty (133 lbs.) finishing in third place and Nick Nunez (149 lbs.) and Carter Urich (285 lbs.) claiming fifth-place finishes.
 
The host, Washington and Lee Generals won the invitational with 153.5 team points while the Ferrum Panthers finishing just ahead of the Falcons with 148 points. Messiah's 146.5 points slotted them third while Averett (101.5 points) and Southern Virginia (70 points) rounded out the top five.
 
Messiah will be back on the mats next weekend when they travel to Lycoming for the Budd Whitehill Duals, contested on Jan. 10-11.
 
A Pair of Winners
Josiah Gehr highlighted the day with a huge victory over the top-ranked wrestler in the nation in the finals at 133 lbs., defeating Levi Englman from Ferrum 5-3. Gehr trailed 3-0 midway through the second period after Englman earned a takedown and an escape, but Gehr earned a takedown with 35 seconds remaining in the second and flipped Englman to his back for a pair of nearfall points before the end of the period. Gehr escaped in the third to complete the scoring in the match as he earned the 5-3 decision to hand Englman just his third loss of the season.
 
Gehr advanced to the finals after a dominating run through the bracket. The Messiah sophomore earned back-to-back technical falls over Averett's Easton Halliday and Ferrum's Steven Muller before disposing of Charlie Cunningham from Washington and Lee in the semifinals by an 8-0 major decision.
 
Matt Pangle won the 165 lbs. bracket with an effort that was just as dominate as Gehr's run. Pangle picked up a fall in just over a minute against Reid Dentner (Washington and Lee) to start his day. An 18-0 technical fall over William Merritt (Averett) followed before Pangle punched his ticket to the final match with a 9-0 major decision against Ferrum's Galilee Kissell. A medical forfeit late in the first period of the final bout gave Pangle the title.
 
Across his four matches, Pangle did not allow a point, winning with bonus points in every one of his matches.
 
Three Runner-Ups
The Falcons earned a trio of runner-up finishes on the afternoon with Jake Coniglio (149 lbs.), Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.), and David Stevens (184 lbs.) all advancing to the title match. All three dropped decisions, with Shermeyer and Stevens needing extra time to decide their matches.
 
Coniglio earned a first-period fall over Tyler Vinson (Mount Olive) to start his day before moving into the semifinals with a medical forfeit. A takedown in the first period was all Coniglio would need to get by Washington and Lee's Joe Salerno in the semifinals. Facing another Washington and Lee foe in the finals, Coniglio dropped a 10-3 decision against Alex Winant to finish as the runner-up at 149 lbs.
 
Brian Shermeyer moved into the finals at 174 lbs. after a first period fall over Washington and Lee's Patrick Hofstedt and back-to-back major decisions over Austin Roskos (Gettysburg) and Jacob Grady (Ferrum). In the final, Malik Barr from Ferrum and Shermeyer went toe-to-toe with the two tied 1-1 after three periods. After a quiet first overtime, Barr earned a reversal in the second overtime and a takedown in the third overtime to earn a 5-1 victory.
 
At 184 lbs., David Stevens earned a pair of first-period falls and a decision to advance to the finals against Rexx Hallyburton (Washington and Lee). Stevens started his day with a fall in 2:35 over Pablo Zanistanavicus (Ferrum) before earning a 10-4 decision to move into the semifinals. Against Kent State - Tuscarawas' Mason Contini, Stevens pinned his way to the final in 2:46.
 
Like Shermeyer in the finals, Stevens went to overtime against Hallyburton with the score tied 1-1. With 15 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Hallyburton earned a takedown to earn the sudden victory 3-1 decision.
 
Five Others Place
In addition to the five Falcons that advanced to the title match, five other Falcons battled their way through the consolation bracket to place on Saturday. Jordan Howard (125 lbs.) and Dalton Daugherty (141 lbs.) both earned third-place finishes after advancing into the semifinals. Howard earned a second-period fall in the consolation semifinals before picking up a forfeit in the third-place match to earn the third-place finish.
 
At 141 lbs., Daugherty earned a 6-1 decision to move into the semifinals. After moving into the consolation bracket, Daugherty earned an 11-0 major decision and a 6-3 decision to finish the day in third place.
 
Nick Nunez also won his last match of the day, finishing his effort in fifth place with an 11-1 major decision over Averett's Caleb Harmon. Nunez finished his day with a 3-2 record with a fall, a major decision and a decision.
 
Carter Urich also claimed a fifth-place finish after a solid run through the consolation bracket. Urich earned a fall in his first match of the day before picking up a pin and a decision to move into the consolation semifinals. Despite falling into the fifth-place match, Urich picked up his third fall of the day to cap off his effort with a fifth-place finish at 285 lbs.
 
Joe Embleton was the sixth-place finisher at 197 lbs. After starting his day with a second-period fall, Embleton fell into the consolation bracket and earned a major decision and a decision to advance into the consolation semifinals. Back-to-back defeats ended his day in sixth place.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action at Lycoming for the historic Budd Whitehill Duals. The two-day tournament begins on Friday Jan. 10 at 9:00 a.m. and continues on Saturday Jan. 11 at 9:00 a.m. as well.
 

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