GRANTHAM, Pa. - On Saturday, the Messiah wrestling team took to the mats as they hosted the Messiah Open. While there was no team scoring on Saturday, a total of 12 Falcons were in action on Saturday with five making an appearance in the quarterfinals. Highlighting the effort for the Falcons were
Jake Coniglio (149 lbs.) and
Hunter Rinehart (133 lbs.), who both finished in fifth place.
In addition to Coniglio and Rinehart, three other Falcons placed on Saturday.
Jordan Howard (125 lbs. - Sixth),
Joshua Paige (157 lbs. - Seventh), and
Kevin Diehl (174 lbs. - Eighth) all lost their first match of the day, but fought their way back in the consolation bracket to place in their respective weight classes.
Messiah will be back in action on Friday night when they host the Elizabethtown Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. in Hitchcock Arena.
Highlighting the Effort
As mentioned, Messiah earned a pair of fifth-place finishes from
Hunter Rinehart (133 lbs.) and
Jake Coniglio (149 lbs.). The two took slightly different routes to their respective finishes. Rinehart dropped his first match of the day, but battled back to earn his spot in the fifth-place match. Coniglio on the other hand, advanced to the semifinals behind a pair of decisions.
At 133 lbs., Rinehart fell by a 16-1 technical fall in his opening match against the eventual runner-up Chandler Olson from Drexel. Rinehart rebounded with a massive 28-8 technical fall of his own against York's Daoud Ilayan. After a medical forfeit, Rinehart picked up a 10-5 decision to move into the consolation semifinal. Despite dropping that match, Rinehart finished fifth thanks to a medical forfeit in the fifth-place match.
Battling Back to Place
Three other Falcons dropped their first match of the day, but battled back to place on Saturday. Led by
Jordan Howard's sixth-place finish at 125 lbs.,
Joshua Paige (157 lbs.) and
Kevin Diehl (174 lbs.) both placed as well after battling their way through the consolation bracket.
After dropping his opening match of the tournament to Penn's Jeremy Ridge,
Joshua Paige picked up a first-period fall over his teammate
Max Martin to advance in the consolation bracket at 157 lbs. Paige was edged, 10-3 to another Penn wrestler, Adam Kirsh, but moved into the seventh-place match where he defeated Carsten DiGiantomasso by a 7-4 decision to finish in seventh.
At 174 lbs.,
Kevin Diehl fell in his first bout of the day against Colin Shannon (unattached) by way of a pin, but advanced in the consolation bracket with a 12-10 decision against Frank Medina from Stevens. A medical forfeit advanced Diehl another round, but a pin put him into the seventh-place match. Diehl dropped his final match of the day to take eighth.
In the lightest bracket, 125 lbs.,
Jordan Howard moved into the quarterfinals with a bye, but dropped a decision against TCNJ's Nick DeNora. In his second match of the day, Howard earned a 5-1 decision against Millersville's Travis Kotelnicki to advance to the consolation semifinals. After finishing on the wrong side of an 11-5 decision, Howard moved into the fifth-place match where he dropped an 8-2 decision against Lycoming's Garrett Lee to take sixth on the day.
Filling Out the Bracket
The Falcons had three other wrestlers advance to the semifinals in
Dalton Daugherty (141 lbs.),
Max Martin (157 lbs.), and
Sam Blevins (285 lbs.). All three dropped their quarterfinal match and their first bout in the consolation bracket.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back on the mats next weekend when they host home duals on back-to-back days on Friday and Saturday. First the Falcons will honor their seniors and host the Elizabethtown Blue Jays on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday afternoon, No. 6 The College of New Jersey will travel to Grantham to take on the Falcons at 12:00 p.m.
