GRANTHAM, Pa. -
Noah Rice (149 lbs.) and
Austin Brass (174 lbs.) earned falls for the Messiah wrestling team to highlight a 31-15 victory over the Gettysburg Bullets on Friday night in Hitchcock Arena. The Falcons trailed 9-3 after three bouts, but a late second-period takedown and fall from
Noah Rice at 149 lbs. leveled things up at 9-9. The Falcons rattled off the next four bouts to build a 28-9 lead, eventually claiming six of the final seven contested matches to come away with the 31-15 victory.
Highlighting the upper weight classes was
Austin Brass. He was relentless at 174 lbs., earning a takedown just 18 seconds into his match and proceeding to turn his opponent three times. The final of those turns resulted in a fall just 1:42 into the match.
Friday night's dual began with a Gettysburg decision at 125 lbs. The Falcons quickly responded with an overtime victory from
Caiden Heller at 133 lbs. Heller was taken down late in the first and trailed 3-0 after the opening period. After a successful rideout in the second, Heller chose bottom in the third and earned a reversal. A riding time forced extra time where Heller earned a takedown just 42 seconds in to claim the 6-3 decision.
Gettysburg built a 9-3 lead with a pin by Luke Kowalski in exactly two minutes at 141 lbs.
Noah Rice was next on the mat for the Falcons. at 149 lbs. Facing Ethan Composto for the second-straight weekend, Rice avenged a loss against Composto in the semifinals at the Petrofes Invitational a week ago with a massive fall late in the second period on Friday night. Trailing 1-0 with less than 20 seconds remaining in the second, Rice put Composto on his back on the edge of the mat. Just moments later, Rice stuck him for the fall in 4:52, leveling the team competition at 9-9 in the process.
After Rice's pin Messiah started rolling.
Garret Cornell earned an exciting 14-10 decision at 157 lbs. Cornell earned three takedowns in the match, putting Messiah up 12-9. After
Zach Needles earned a forfeit at 165 lbs.,
Austin Brass put together the most dominating effort of evening at 174 lbs. Brass earned a takedown just 18 seconds into the match and proceeded to turn Gettysburg Graham Chandler for two sets of nearfall points. On his third turn, Brass earned the fall in just 1:42 into the match and put Messiah up 18-9 overall.
At 184 lbs.,
Ryder Slayton earned a 14-1 major decision, claiming three takedowns, escaping once, picking up a pair of stall points, and finishing with 1:21 of riding time. The major decision put Messiah in the lead by a score of 21-9.
The Bullets earned a fall in the opening minute at 197 lbs., but
Hayden Benner closed out the night for the Falcons with an exciting victory at 285 lbs. Benner needed the tiebreaker periods to claim a 3-2 victory. Earning a locked hands call in the second of the two tiebreaker periods to earn his tight decision.
In the end, Messiah won seven of the 10 bouts, picking up a pair of falls, a forfeit, and a major decision to defeat the Bullets 31-15 on Friday night.
The Falcons will have a quick turnaround as they head to McDaniel College tomorrow afternoon for matches against Marymount University at 4:00 p.m. and the host McDaniel Green Terror at 7:00 p.m.
Messiah defeats Gettysburg – 31-15
125 – Antonio Abate (Gettys) dec. (12-9) over
Tyler Ratledge (Mess)
133 –
Caiden Heller (Mess) dec. (6-3 OT) over Brendan Callahan (Gettys)
141 – Luke Kowalski (Gettys) fall (2:00) over
Asa Brunk (Mess)
149 –
Noah Rice (Mess) fall (4:52) over Ethan Composto (Gettys)
157 –
Garret Cornell (Mess) dec. (14-10) over Gavin Pascoe (Gettys)
165 –
Zach Needles (Mess) wins by forfeit
174 –
Austin Brass (Mess) fall (1:42) over Graham Chandler (Gettys)
184 –
Ryder Slayton (Mess) maj. dec. (14-1) over James Doliscar (Gettys)
197 – Phil Nave (Gettys) fall (0:44) over
Sawyer Dereszynski (Mess)
285 –
Hayden Benner (Mess) dec. (3-2 OT) over Simon Taylor (Gettys)
Ex. 141 –
Mason Casey (Mess) maj. dec. (17-6) over Torey Falkinburg (Gettys)
Ex. 149 –
Levi Snyder (Mess) maj. dec. (11-3) over Julian Amadio (Gettys)
