GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah wrestling team claimed the Petrofes Invitational Championship on Saturday afternoon, scoring 176.5 team points. The Falcons saw 14 wrestlers place in the two-day tournament with Hayden Benner highlighting the effort with a title in the 285 lbs. weight class. In addition to Benner, four Falcons earned runner-up finishes with Dalton Monger (149 lbs.), Zach Needles (165 lbs.), Austin Brass (174 lbs.), and Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) all wrapping up their tournament in the first-place match.
 
The Falcons won their home tournament with Springfield (146 points), Alvernia (143), Averett (142.5), and Muhlenberg (123.5) rounding out the top-five team finishes on the day.
 
Messiah will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 8 when they host the Gettysburg Bullets at 7:00 p.m. for a dual in Hitchcock Arena.
 
Benner is Best
Hayden Benner highlighted Messiah's afternoon on Saturday, capping off the weekend with an exciting victory at the 285 lbs. final bout. Wrestling against Peyton Wentzel (Thaddeus Stevens), Benner earned a third-period takedown with under a minute left to clinch the match. He eventually earned a 5-2 decision to take home Messiah's lone individual title.
 
Prior to his victory in the final, Benner went 3-0 with a fall in the opening round, a tie-breaker victory in the second round and an 11-1 major decision in the semifinal against Ben Krauss (Muhlenberg).
 
Four Runners-Up
In addition to Benner's first-place finish at 285 lbs., Messiah had four other wrestlers compete in the finals. Dalton Monger (149 lbs.), Zach Needles (165 lbs.), Austin Brass (174 lbs.), and Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) finished their day with runner-up finishes.
 
Zach Needles dominated his way through the 165 lbs. bracket with a trio of technical falls to advance to the quarterfinals. Once there, Needles earned a 15-4 major decision over Chance Babb (Alvernia) to earn a spot in the first-place match. Once there, the tournament's most outstanding wrester, Matt Lackman (Alvernia) ended Needles' perfect run through the bracket with a 15-2 major decision.
 
Austin Brass was just as dominate one weight class up at 174 lbs. Brass earned back-to-back falls to start his weekend before picking up an 18-3 technical fall against Michael Gabbard (Averett) in the quarterfinals. He moved into the first-place match by way of a third-period injury. In a tight battle with Shenandoah's Dylan Weaver, Brass came up just short, dropping a 3-2 decision to finish as the runner-up.
 
Like Needles and Brass, Ryder Slayton earned bonus point victories to start his tournament, picking up a technical fall, fall, and major decision to advance to the semifinals. He punched his ticket to the first-place match with a close 6-5 decision against Ryan Fairchild (Muhlenberg) in the semifinals. Slayton finished as the runner-up at 184 lbs. after finishing on the wrong end of a 6-0 decision against George Moseley (Averett).
 
Strong Showing at 149 lbs.
Dalton Monger led a strong Messiah contingency at 149 lbs. this weekend. Monger finished as the runner-up, but Noah Rice and Levi Snyder also advanced to the semifinals alongside Monger. While Gettysburg's Ethan Composto won the bracket, Messiah had three finishers in the top five with Snyder taking fourth and Rice finishing in fifth.
 
Monger rattled off three-straight falls to begin his tournament securing first-period pins against Derick Guerrero (Bridgewater State), Shane Kibler (King`s College), and Quinn Tobin (Alvernia). Monger defeated teammate Levi Snyder by an 8-2 decision in the quarterfinals, before finishing as the runner-up to Gettysburg's Composto by a 10-0 major decision.
 
Noah Rice also faced Composto along the way, dropping an 8-6 decision against him in the semifinals. Rice would finish his weekend with a 10-6 decision in the fifth-place match against Martin Turi (King`s College). Rice's weekend was highlighted by a pair of technical falls to begin his tournament.
 
Levi Snyder took home fourth place at 149 lbs. Snyder started his tournament with a fall and a technical fall before advancing to the semifinals with a 7-3 decision in the quarterfinals against Aiden Swann (Alvernia). After dropping his semifinal match against Monger, Snyder went 1-1 in the consolation bracket to finish in fourth.
 
Other Notable Finishers
Garret Cornell picked up the lone third-place finish for the Falcons on the day, earning his medal at 157 lbs. Cornell clinched this third-place finish with a first-period fall against Xavier Swanson (Averett), the last of four pins on the weekend for Cornell. In his six matches, Cornell went 5-1 with four falls.
 
At 141 lbs., Messiah had Asa Brunk and Malachi Harvey both advanced to the fifth-place match. Both advanced to the semifinals with a pair of bonus point victories in their first two matches, before being bumped to the consolation bracket. The two did not wrestle, with Brunk officially taking fifth and Harvey finishing in sixth.
 
Clay Gainer took home fifth at 157 lbs. after going 4-2 on the weekend, plus a medical forfeit. Gainer had to battle through the consolation bracket after advancing to the quarterfinals. In all four of his victories, Gainer earned bonus points for the Falcons.
 
Sawyer Dereszynski had a strong showing at 197 lbs., finishing in fifth place. On the weekend, Dereszynski went 4-2 with his two losses coming by just one point each. In his victories, Dereszynski earned a pair of falls and a decision before ending his weekend with a 12-3 major decision against Paul Parise (Muhlenberg).
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will host the Gettysburg Bullets on Friday, Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m. in Hitchcock Arena in their first home dual of the season. The Bullets were at the Petrofes Invitational this weekend, finishing the weekend in seventh place with 95.5 team points.

   

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