WHEATON, Ill. - The No. 16 Messiah wrestling team finished the Pete Wilson Invitational in fifth place with 88 team points over the weekend. Five Falcons placed in the invitational with Sean Redington (125 lbs.) leading the way with a fourth-place finish at 125 lbs.
 
Josiah Gehr (133 lbs.), Stephen Maloney (157 lbs.), and David Stevens (184 lbs.) all earned fifth-place finishes over the weekend while Nick Barnhart finished in seventh at 149 lbs.
 
No. 12 North Central won the team competition with 120.5 team points while No. 13 Wisconsin-Whitewater (111 points), No. 22 John Carroll (102), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (97), and Messiah (88) rounding out the top five.
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 7 when they travel to York to take on the Spartans at 7:00 p.m.
 
125 lbs. - Sean Redington - Fourth Place
    Semifinals - Andrew Perelka (John Carroll) won by decision (10-7) over Sean Redington
An eventful opening period had Perelka leading 6-4 after three minutes. Redington had a takedown and a reversal in the opening period, but Perelka countered with a pair of takedowns and two escapes. Perelka continued to grow his lead with two nearfall points and a takedown against two escapes from Redington. A stalling point was the only point awarded in the third period as Perlka advanced to the final with a 10-7 decision.
 
    Consolation Bracket - Sean Redington won by fall (5:50) over Denis Murphy (Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
In the consolation semifinal, Redington turned a close match into a blowout with a takedown and four nearfall points at the end of the second period. Prior to the takedown, Redington was tied 7-7 with Murphy. After the big six-point swing, Redington held a 13-7 lead heading to the third. After a reversal, Redington locked up the fall with just over a minute remaining in the match.
 
    Third-Place Match - Enzo Silva (North Central (IL)) won by decision (10-6) over Sean Redington
In his final bout of the weekend, Redington dropped a 10-6 decision against Silva. Both earned a takedown and a reversal, but six nearfall points were the difference for Silva. Redington earned an escape late, but was unable to score any more points in the final minute of the third period, finishing in fourth place.
 
133 lbs. - Josiah Gehr - Fifth Place
    Semifinal - David Massey (Mount Union) won by decision (4-2) over Josiah Gehr
A takedown in the final seconds of the opening period was all Massey needed to down Gehr and advance into the finals at 133 lbs. It looked like the two were going to head to the second period scoreless, but Massey earned a takedown just before the horn to earn a 2-0 lead. Late in the third period, Gehr tied things up with a reversal, but Massery quickly escaped and earned a point for riding time for a 4-2 decision.
 
    Consolation Bracket - Eron Haynes (Nebraska Wesleyan) won by fall (2:22) over Josiah Gehr
Haynes scored a pair of takedowns in the opening period, with Gehr picking up an escape in between. With less than 40 seconds remaining in the opening period, Haynes got Gehr to his back and earned the fall in 2:22.
 
    Fifth-Place Match - Josiah Gehr won by medical forfeit over Levi Englman (Ferrum)
 
149 lbs. - Nick Barnhart - Seventh Place
    Consolation Bracket - Anthony Rink (North Central (IL)) won by major decision (11-1) over Nick Barnhart
Rink earned a pair of takedowns and two nearfall points in the first period to take a 6-1 lead after three minutes on the mat against Barnhart. An escape a minute into the first period was all Barnhart would register as Rink went on for the 11-1 major decision.
 
    Seventh-Place Match - Nick Barnhart won by medical forfeit over Austin Smith (Ferrum)
 
157 lbs. - Stephen Maloney - Fifth Place
    Consolation Bracket - Stephen Maloney won by tech fall (16-0) over Brian Schneider (Elizabethtown)
Maloney made extremely quick work of Schneider in his first consolation bracket match on Saturday. A takedown just 21 seconds into the match set the tone as Maloney earned four sets of nearfall points to claim a 16-0 technical fall in just 2:32.
 
    Consolation Bracket - Cole Hersch (Olivet) won by major decision (11-1) over Stephen Maloney
After winning five-straight matches in the consolation bracket Maloney finally met his match in Hersch in the consolation semifinal. Hersch earned an early takedown and built a 4-1 lead after one period. He added four more points in the second and three more in the third to claim an 11-1 major decision.
 
    Fifth-Place Match - Stephen Maloney won by decision (5-0) over Charles Lipps (Mount St. Joseph)
Maloney scored all five points in the fifth-place match, earning a first-period takedown, a second-period reversal, and a third-period escape to claim fifth place with a 5-0 decision.
 
184 lbs. - David Stevens - Fifth Place
    Consolation Bracket - David Stevens won by decision (5-2) over Helton Vandenbush (Milwaukee School of Engineering)
After a quiet opening period, Stevens chose bottom and picked up an escape early in the period and a late takedown in the second to take a 3-0 lead. In the fourth, Vandenbush escaped from Stevens twice, but David earned a takedown to earn a 5-2 decision to begin his Saturday.
 
    Consolation Bracket - Isaac Odell (Wheaton) won by decision (7-1) over David Stevens
A close consolation semifinal was blown open by Wheaton's Isaac Odell with an escape, takedown, and two-point nearfall. Stevens trailed 2-1 heading into the third period, but the big period from Odell gave him a 7-1 decision over Stevens.
 
    Fifth-Place Match - David Stevens won by medical forfeit over Ben Sarasin (Chicago)

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