GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah wrestling team hosting the opening day of the annual Petrofes Invitational on Friday in Hitchcock Arena. Messiah had 11 wrestlers advance to Day Two of the tournament with six still alive in the Championship bracket, that currently sits in the semifinals.
As a team, the Falcons sit in seventh place of the 17 teams in attendance this weekend. Messiah has 74.5 team points through the first day of competition. Alvernia leads the team standings with 97 points. McDaniel (88.5 points), Muhlenberg (88), Mount Union (83.5), and SUNY Cortland (83) round out the top-five in the team standings.
Asa Brunk and
Josiah Gehr will square off in the semifinals at 141 lbs.
Camerin Deville (149 lbs.),
Garret Cornell (157 lbs.),
Nick Barnhart (157 lbs), and
Zach Needles (165 lbs.) all have advanced to the semifinals as well.
In the consolation bracket, both
Ike Bryner and
Jake Coniglio are alive at 149 lbs. while
Hunter Zacerous (165 lbs.), Ryder Slaton (284 lbs.), and
Carter Urich (285 lbs.) remain as well.
The 11 Falcons that remain in the brackets have ensured themselves at least a sixth-place finish in the tournament. Tomorrow the wrestling begins at 9:00 a.m. in Hitchcock Arena with the Championship Matches expected to take place late in the morning or earlier afternoon.
All-Messiah Semifinal at 141 lbs.
The top-half of the bracket at 141 lbs. features an all-Messiah semifinal on Saturday.
Asa Brunk and
Josiah Gehr will square-off with a trip to the championship on the line after both went 3-0 on Friday. Both earned a pair of falls and a tech fall to advance to the semifinal battle.
Brunk started his day with a fall over SUNY Cortland's Ryan Holt in 4:34 and then picked up a huge 26-8 tech fall of Anthony Cascio (Gettysburg). In the quarterfinals, Brunk pinned Richard Davis (Alderson Broaddus) in the first period to advance.
Back-to-back pins started Gehr's Friday needing less than 1:45 in each of his first two bouts earning falls over Jake Stein (Gettysburg) and Connor Platt (Alvernia). A well-rested Gehr then earned a 16-0 technical fall over Armon Nettey (Alderson Broaddus) to set up a date with his teammate tomorrow morning.
Three Alive at 149
Messiah's most successful weight class on Friday might have been 149 lbs. Three Falcons remain in the action heading into Saturday with
Camerin Deville in the semifinals and
Ike Bryner and
Jake Coniglio fighting through the consolation bracket. Deville earned three-straight decisions on Friday to go 3-0 on the day. He started his day with a 13-7 victory over Michael Ruane (Muhlenberg) before a slim 5-2 victory over SUNY Cortland's Kyle Klien. In the Quarterfinals, Deville needed an overtime takedown of Mount Union's Zach Larue to seal a 6-4 decision and move into the semifinals.
Ike Bryner advanced to the quarter finals with a fall of Christian Logan (Washington & Jefferson) and a 17-4 major decision over Jeovannie Martinez (McDaniel). After dropping a decision in the quarters, Bryner defeated Eli Blackwell (Southern Virginia) 8-3 to advance to Saturday.
Jake Coniglio also battled his way through the consolation bracket to arrive at Saturday's action. Coniglio started his day with a quick 25-second fall of Reimy Santiago De La Cruz (Thaddeus Stevens), but dropped a decision in the second round. Three-straight victories followed for Coniglio, including a tech fall over Michael Ruane (Muhlenberg), a major decision over Cooper Leszczuk (Gettysburg), and a fall in 1:24 over Nathaniel Taylor (Alderson Broaddus). He went 4-1 on the day and heads to Saturday with a full head of steam.
Cornell and Barnhart into the Semifinals at 157
Two of the most dominate wrestlers in the gym on Friday were in the same weight class and both wore Messiah on their singlet.
Garret Cornell and
Nick Barnhart may be on a collision course at 157 lbs. after both advanced to the semifinals with stellar efforts on Friday. Carnhart earned three falls in a total of 8:34. First-period falls over Dean Palmer (Muhlenberg) and Jamal Everette (Alderson Broaddus) started his day. Barnhart then pinned Xavier Howard (McDaniel) in 4:51 to move into the semifinals on Saturday.
On the other side of the bracket, Cornell earned a 9-0 major decision over Jared Viancourt (Mount Union) before pinning Southern Virginia's Weston Hirschi in just 16 seconds to move into the quarterfinals. Once there another first-period fall advanced him to Saturday. His quarterfinal victim was Gettysburg's Jake Dressler, who found his shoulders on the mat in 2:20.
Two Falcons at 165 Advance to Saturday
At 165 lbs. both
Hunter Zacerous and
Zach Needles remain in the brackets with Needles sitting in the semifinals and Zacerous battling through the consolation bracket. After a first-round bye, Needles earned a pair of dominating tech falls defeating Luke Billig (Thaddeus Stevens) 16-1 in the Second Round and Bailey Butler (SUNY Cortland) 20-1 in the quarterfinals.
Zacerous also earned a bye into the Second Round and picked up a first-period fall over Graham Chandler (Gettysburg) before getting bounced to the consolation bracket in the quarterfinals. Once there, Zacerous earned his second stick of the day in 2:54 against Reginald Snowden (Greensboro) to head to Saturday's action.
A Pair Alive in Consolations at Upper Weights
Both
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) and
Carter Urich (285 lbs.) advanced to Saturday in their respective weight classes. Slayton and Urich had similar paths to Saturday by moving into the quarterfinals before dropping their matches and winning in the consolation bracket.
Slayton wrestled in four bouts decided by decisions, winning his first two by five-point margins over Ikia Garcia (Southern Virginia) and Russ Hanes (Thaddeus Stevens). After dropping a tight decision in the quarterfinals, Slayton rebounded with a 3-2 decision over William Grace (King`s) to punch his ticket to Saturday.
Urich moved to the quarterfinals with a convincing 7-1 decision over Demetrius Daniels (Alderson Broaddus). After a tough match with McDaniels Anthony Wuest, Urich squared off with teammate
Hayden Benner in the consolation bracket. Uriched earned the first-period fall to advance to Saturday.
What's Up Next
As mentioned, the Falcons will be back on the mats tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. for the Day Two of the Petrofes Invitational.
