GRANTHAM, Pa. - On a Saturday filled with excitement and adrenaline, five Falcons punched their ticket to the National Championships with top-three finishes at the Southeast Regional in Hitchcock Arena. Sean Redington (125 lbs.) and David Stevens (184 lbs.) took care of business the low stress way, winning their semifinal match first thing in the morning to lock up a spot in the finals. Garret Cornell (141 lbs.), Stephen Maloney (157 lbs.), and Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.) all took a slightly different approach, battling back through the consolation bracket to take third and advance to Nationals.
 
As a team, the Falcons saw their streak of six-straight Regional Championships come to an end, but finished in third place as a team with 123.5 team points. The Stevens Ducks won the Regional with 163.5 team points and Washington & Lee finished just ahead of Messiah in second with 130 team points.
 
Messiah's five National Qualifiers will now prepare for the NCAA Division III National Championships on Mar. 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This is the eighth-straight year that Messiah has qualified at least four wrestlers to the National Championships.
 
Smooth Sailing to Finals
Messiah entered Saturday with five wrestlers in the semifinals, all needing just one win to earn a spot at Nationals. Two of those five converted on their opportunity on Saturday morning with Sean Redington (125 lbs.) and David Stevens (184 lbs.) winning their semifinal match to move into the Championship.
 
Redington opened the day with what might have been the most thrilling match of the entire day across all 10 weight classes. Taking on Washington & Lee's Riley Parker, Redington and Parker went back and forth throughout the entire match. The opening period alone featured three takedowns, a reversal, two escapes, and a set of nearfall points. After three minutes, Redington trailed 9-5, but he quickly came back in the second with a reversal, two nearfall points, and a takedown, pulling within one at 12-11. In the final period, Redington earned a pair of takedowns to secure the thrilling 16-13 victory to clinch his spot at Nationals.
 
Later in the semifinal round, David Stevens locked up his first trip to Nationals with a sudden victory decision over Averett's George Moseley. Stevens and Moseley each picked up escape points to send the match to overtime. Once in overtime, Stevens claimed the victory with a takedown to send the home crowd into a frenzy just 27 seconds into the extra period.
 
Both Redington and Stevens would drop decisions in their Championship Match, but their ticket was already punched thanks to strong performances in the semifinals.
 
Challenging Road Back
While Redington and Stevens were able to advance into the Finals with three-straight victories in their respective brackets, a trio of Falcons stormed their way through the consolation bracket to put a trip to Nationals on their calendar. Both Stephen Maloney (157 lbs.) and Brian Shermeyer (174 lbs.) advanced into the semifinals before dropping into the consolation bracket, needing two victories to advance to Nationals. Garret Cornell (141 lbs.) entered the day in the consolation bracket and earned three-straight victories to climb all the way back to take third and punch his ticket to the National Championships.
 
In the 157 lbs. semifinals, Stephen Maloeny was pinned in 2:05, but was dominate in his two matches in the consolation bracket. He earned a first-period technical fall over Waynesburg's Colby Morris befor handling Johns Hopkins' Bradlee Lamontagne by a 14-4 major decision in the third-place match to make his third-straight trip to Nationals.
 
Brian Shermeyer hung with top-seeded Hadyn Swartwood from Lycoming in the semifinals at 174 lbs., but lost 3-1 in sudden victory when Swartwood picked up a takedown. Like Maloney, Shermeyer breezed through his first match in the consolation bracket, earning a fall over John DeVito (Wilkes) in just 1:09 to move into the third-place match. Against Ferrum's Malik Barr, Shermeyer picked up a 2-0 decision after a strong second-period ride. The riding time point and a third-period escape were the only two points scored in the match as Shermeyer advanced to Nationals for the second-straight year.
 
Garret Cornell wrestled three matches on Saturday, earning a pair of falls and an 8-0 major decision. Against' Kyle Medow from Wilkes, Cornell was taken down early, but earned a quick reversal and put Medow on his back. Cornell earned the fall in 1:05 to advance to the consolation semifinals. There he defeated Washington & Lee's Bryce Crew by an 8-0 major decision to move into the third-place match. Cornell's third-place match rivaled Redington's semifinal victory for match of the day, but in very different styles. Wrestling Brandon Woody from Averett, the score stood 0-0 heading into the third period after Cornell chose bottom in the second and Woody rode him out. Woody selected bottom in the third, but Cornell made him pay for that decision. Thirty-one seconds into the third period, Cornell rolled through and stuck him for the fall in 5:31, clinching a spot at the National Tournament in two weeks.
 
Capping Off the Year
Josiah Gehr (133 lbvs.) Matt Pangle (165 lbs.), and Carter Urich (285 lbs.) all capped off their seasons on Saturday. Urich dropped his first match of the day to Thomas Tabatneck (York) by an 11-4 decision and was pinned in the seventh-place match, taking eighth in the region.
 
Matt Pangle took home fifth place for the Falcons on Saturday. Pangle earned a tight 3-2 decision against the Kade Kravits (King's) in his first match of the day before dropping into the fifth-place match after a 9-1 setback against Jared Walker (Washington & Jefferson).
 
Josiah Gehr took a tough luck loss against Kordell Rush from Delaware Valley in the semifinals. Gehr took a number of hard hits in the match, but hung tough with Rush, falling 12-10 in sudden victory. Unfortunately, Gehr was unable to wrestle after his semifinal match, due to injury. He ended the tournament in sixth place.
 
What's Up Next
Messiah's five National Qualifiers will now move onto the NCAA Division III National Championships on Mar. 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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