GRANTHAM, Pa. - Eight Falcons are still alive after Day One of the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional. The Messiah wrestling team has five wrestlers that have moved into Saturday's semifinals with three more battling their way through the consolation bracket. As a team, Messiah sits in third place with 78.5 team points, trailing only Stevens (82 team points) and Washington & Lee (80.5 team points).
Sean Redington (125 lbs.),
Josiah Gehr (133 lbs.),
Stephen Maloney (157 lbs.),
Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.), and
David Stevens (184 lbs.) have all advanced into Saturday's semifinals while
Garret Cornell (141 lbs.),
Matt Pangle (165 lbs.), and
Carter Urich (285 lbs.) are hanging tough in the consolation bracket.
Day Two of the Southeast Regional gets underway Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. with the top-three finishers in each weight class punching their ticket to the National Championship on Mar. 13-14, 2020 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Into the Semifinals
Five Falcons punched their ticket into the semifinals with undefeated efforts on Friday.
Sean Redington (125 lbs.),
Josiah Gehr (133 lbs.),
Stephen Maloney (157 lbs.),
Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.), and
David Stevens (184 lbs.) all were undefeated on Friday to advance into the semifinals of the Regional Tournament. With a win in their next match, all five could earn a trip to Nationals.
Brian Shermeyer was the lone member of the five that advanced into the semifinals that needed to wrestle in a prelim, earning a major decision over Stefan Major (Stevens) by a score of 12-2. Shermeyer then picked up a convincing technical fall in the First Round over Kyle Strazdus (York) needing just 4:38 to complete the 20-4 victory. Once in the quarterfinals, Shermeyer completed Day One with a 5-2 decision against Washington & Lee's Nicholas Konovalchik. He earned a takedown in both the first and second periods to claim his spot in Saturday morning's semifinal.
At 184 lbs.,
David Stevens picked up a pair of decisions over Delaware Valley's Kyle Hillermeier and Johns Hopkins' Nathan Wertheimer to advance into the semifinals. Stevens opened his day against Hillermeier and picked up a takedown in every period en route to securing the 8-4 decision. He then picked up a 7-1 decision against Wertheimer to earn a spot in the semifinals against Averett's George Moseley.
Stephen Maloney battled his way through his first two matches at Regionals. Against Ferrum's Elijah Martin in the First Round, Maloney scored a takedown and four nearfall points in the opening minute of the match. That was all he would need as he picked up a 6-2 decision. In the Second Round, Maloney picked up a 15-3 major decision over Conan Wilson from Greensboro, but the match felt closer than the score indicated. Maloney held a 3-1 with less than a minute remaining in the second period, but he scored 12-straight points to earn a spot in Saturday's semifinal round.
At the lighter weights,
Sean Redington (125 lbs.) and
Josiah Gehr (133 lbs.) bullied their way into Saturday's action. The pair went 4-0, earning bonus points in all but one of their matches. Redington started his day with a second-period fall over Nicholas Malinowski from McDaniel before claiming a 6-2 decision against Ferrum's JD McMillin. Redington will square off with Washington & Lee's Riley Parker tomorrow morning with a spot in the finals on the line.
Josiah Gehr picked up a technical fall and a major decision on Friday to advance into Saturday's action. Gehr opened his day with a technical fall in 3:34 against Gettysburg's Jake Stein, winning the bout by a 18-3 final score. Then against Lycoming's Samuel Hanley, Gehr picked up a 13-5 major decision to finish the day undefeated. Gehr will square off with Delaware Valley's Kordell Rush in the semifinals. Rush is ranked No. 10 in the nation at 133 lbs.
Battling Back
Messiah has three wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket after Friday's action.
Garret Cornell (141 lbs.),
Matt Pangle (165 lbs.), and
Carter Urich (285 lbs.) all remain despite each dropping one match on the day. All three have ensured themselves a top-eight finish in the region and are still in the running to earn one a spot at Nationals. With three-straight wins tomorrow, they would earn a third-place finish and lock up a spot at the National Championships in two weeks.
Garret Cornell earned a first-period fall against Ferrum's Hayden Funk to start his day, but suffered a 5-1 decision in the quarterfinals to Hai Siu from Greensboro. In his first match in the consolation bracket, Cornell picked up a fall in 55 seconds against Tyson McDuff (York) to advance to Saturday's action. Cornell will face Kyle Medrow from Wilkes in his first match on Saturday.
At 165 lbs.,
Matt Pangle was randomly selected to wrestle in a prelim match ahead of the First Round. Pangle was ruthless in an 18-0 technical fall over Tyron Dudley (Greensboro), using four sets of nearfall points to earn the first period technical fall. Pangle then earned one of the fastest pins of the day in a fall in 34 seconds in the First Round against Garrett Vanderwalk (McDaniel). After dropping a major decision to Shane Conners (Washington & Lee), Pangle earned a 13-0 major decision over Thiel's Peyton Hearn to stay alive in the bracket overnight.
Carter Urich dropped his First-Round match against Southern Virginia's Nico Ramirez by a fall in 59 seconds, but responded with a fall of his own in 3:48 over Thiel's Gavin Colligan to advance in the consolation bracket. A forfeit by his opponent in the consolation bracket, moved Urich into Saturday when he will take on York's Thomas Tabatneck.
Closing Out the Year
Messiah had a pair of wrestlers close out their season's on Friday.
Nick Barnhart (149 lbs.) and
Joe Embleton (197 lbs.) were unable to advance through Friday's action. Barnhart earned a fall in his First-Round match against Wilkes' Kyle Tino in 4:53 to advance into the quarterfinals. In the next round, Barnhart and Joe Santomarco (Lycoming) were deadlocked 1-1 after an escape each way. After a scoreless first overtime, Santomarco earned four points in the second overtime to seal the 5-2 decision over Barnhart moving him into the consolation bracket. Barnhart was unable to advance in the consolation bracket, falling 8-6 to McDaniel's Raymond Kable.
At 197 lbs.,
Joe Embleton dropped a major decision against Michael Dooley from Stevens by a final score of 14-5 before falling by a pin to Brody Keefe (Lycoming) to conclude his season.
What's Up Next
The action gets back underway on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. in Hitchcock Arena when the semifinals and the consolation quarterfinals get started. Messiah will have eight wrestlers still in action on Saturday, looking to qualify for the National Championships with a top-three finish this week.
