GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah wrestling team hosted Day One the annual Petrofes Invitational on Friday in Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons had a number of strong showings with Zach Needles (165 lbs.) and Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) advancing to the semifinals on Saturday. Four other Falcons are also still battling their way through the consolation brackets with Caiden Heller (125 lbs.), Noah Rice (149 lbs.), Camerin Deville (149 lbs.) and Austin Brass (174 lbs.) set for the consolation quarterfinals.
 
As a team, the Falcons currently stand in fifth place out of the 15 team in attendance. Messiah earned 72.5 points on Day One and currently sit 6.5 points ahead of Shenandoah (66 points) for fifth place. After the first day of competition, Alvernia leads the team standings with 119 points. Springfield (96 points), Muhlenberg (91), SUNY Cortland (90), and Messiah (72.5) round out the top five.
 
As mentioned, Zach Needles Ryder Slayton are into the semifinals after both earning 3-0 records on Friday. Zach Needles had the most dominate day of any Messiah wrestler earning his 3-0 record at 165 lbs. with a pair of technical falls and a 14-4 major decision. In his three Friday matches, Needles outscored his opponents 52-10. He will wrestle Springfield's George Glaropoulos for a spot in the finals.
 
At 184 lbs., Ryder Slayton also put together a 3-0 day, moving into the semifinals with a pair of decisions and a massive 16-0 technical fall in the second round. Slayton with square off with top-seeded Brian Torres from SUNY Cortland on Saturday morning in the semifinals.
 
Four other Falcons will also wrestle on Saturday in the consolation brackets. All four remain after earning multiple victories on the day against just one loss. At 149 lbs., Noah Rice and Camerin Deville will meet in the consolation quarterfinals to begin their day on Saturday. Both wrestlers went 3-1 on Friday. Rice picked up a major decision and an OT decision to advance to the quarterfinals. After dropping his quarterfinal bout, Rice earned a decision in the consolation bracket to move into Saturday.
 
Deville also went 3-1 on Friday, but he took a route through the consolation bracket. Deville dropped his first match of the day, but picked up a fall, major decision, and an OT decision to advance to Saturday.
 
Austin Brass was the third Falcon to go 3-1 on the day, doing so at 174 lbs. Like Rice at 149 lbs., Brass advanced to the quarterfinals with a decision and a fall before dropping a 9-2 decision to top-seeded Kade Kravits (King's). Once in the consolation bracket, Brass earned a tech fall to punch his ticket to Saturday's action.
 
At 125 lbs., Caiden Heller is still battling his way through the consolation bracket. Heller earned a first-period fall over Cortland's Wyatt Gentzel to advance to the quarterfinals. A tough draw against the second seed, dropped Heller into the consolation bracket where he earned a 9-3 decision to advance to the consolation semifinals and earn a placement on the weekend.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will conclude the Petrofes Invitational tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Hitchcock Arena. The Championship bouts will be live streamed at GoMessiah.tv.

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