WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Messiah wrestling team began Day Two of the Budd Whitehill Duals in the Ninth-Place Bracket, starting Saturday with a dual against Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Falcons earned a tight, 24-20 victory over the Raiders to set a date with the host Lycoming Warriors in the Ninth-Place Dual. The Falcons hung tough with the Warriors, but ultimately fell 26-16 after a pair of late falls by the Warriors. Messiah finished the weekend in 10th place.
Josiah Gehr was named to the All-Tournamenet Team at 141 lbs. after going 4-0 with three falls and a technical fall on the weekend.
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 20 when they travel to York College for the 2024 MAC Championships beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Messiah defeats Milwaukee School of Engineering – 24-20
The Falcons fell into an early 9-0 hole against the MOSE Raiders. The Raiders picked up a fall at 125 lbs. and a 4-0 decision at 133 lbs. to build their early lead. It was a short-lived advantage for the Raiders as the Falcons earned a 46 second fall by
Josiah Gehr at 141 lbs. and
Dalton Monger claimed a dominating, 19-1 technical fall at 149 lbs. The consecutive bonus-point victories, put the Falcons up 11-9 through four bouts.
After a technical fall for the Raiders at 157 lbs., MSOE took a 14-11 lead heading to 165 lbs. The Falcons claimed three straight decisions thanks to wins from
Mikey Hollar (165 lbs., 10-3), Chris Cratsley (174 lbs., 7-5), and
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs., 7-2) to take the lead back at 20-14. An important, 8-0 major decision followed for
Sawyer Dereszynski at 197 lbs. to clinch the match for the Falcons. Despite a Raiders fall at 285 lbs., Messiah earned the 24-20 victory and punched their ticket to the ninth-place match against Lycoming College.
Lycoming earned a 31-14 victory over McDaniel in their first dual of the day.
Results
125 - Jesse Johnson (MSOE) over
Bryce Arnold (Messiah) Fall 5:41
133 - Alex Morales (MSOE) over
Caiden Heller (Messiah) Dec 4-0
141 -
Josiah Gehr (Messiah) over Max Sanderfoot (MSOE) Fall 0:46
149 -
Dalton Monger (Messiah) over Connor Nagela (MSOE) TF 19-1
157 - Michael Smith (MSOE) over
Clay Gainer (Messiah) TF 16-0
165 -
Mikey Hollar (Messiah) over Harry Nemcek (MSOE) Dec 10-3
174 - Chris Cratsley (Messiah) over Joseph Estrada (MSOE) Dec 7-5
184 -
Ryder Slayton (Messiah) over Gavin Graham (MSOE) Dec 7-2
197 -
Sawyer Dereszynski (Messiah) over Jake Schmitt (MSOE) Maj 8-0
285 - Noah Nieberle (MSOE) over
Christian Conner (Messiah) Fall 2:13
Lycoming defeats Messiah – 26-16 - Ninth-Place Match
In the ninth-place match, the Falcons squared off with the host Lycoming Warriors. The Falcons and Warriors fought back and forth throughout the match, but it was back-to-back falls in the final two bouts that gave Lycoming a 26-16 victory.
Messiah dropped the 125 lbs. match by technical fall, but responded with an 8-1 decision by
Caiden Heller at 133 lbs. and a 15-0 technical fall by
Josiah Gehr at 141 lbs. to take an 8-5 lead.
Lycoming tied the dual up at 8-8 with a low-scoring, 1-0 decision at 149 lbs. Messiah once again took the lead back after an 8-5 decision by
Clay Gainer at 157 lbs.
The Warriors picked up decisions at 165 lbs. and 174 lbs., but a convincing technical fall by
Ryder Slayton at 184 lbs. put the Falcons up 16-14 with two bouts remaining.
Messiah was not able to hold the lead, as Lycoming earned back-to-back, first-period falls to clinch the dual 26-16 and earn ninth place on the weekend. With the setback, the Falcons finish the weekend in 10th place.
Results
125 - Kaden Majcher (Lycoming) over
Bryce Arnold (Messiah) TF 20-1
133 -
Caiden Heller (Messiah) over Jaciah Whitcomb (Lycoming) Dec 8-1
141 -
Josiah Gehr (Messiah) over Cooper Gilham (Lycoming) TF 15-0
149 - Wiley Kahler (Lycoming) over
Camerin Deville (Messiah) Dec 1-0
157 -
Clay Gainer (Messiah) over Logan Bartlett (Lycoming) Dec 8-5
165 - Chase Chapman (Lycoming) over Andrew Kozubal (Messiah) Dec 9-5
174 - Eli Crum (Lycoming) over Chris Cratsley (Messiah) Dec 11-5
184 -
Ryder Slayton (Messiah) over Devon Green (Lycoming) TF 16-0
197 - Gable Crebs (Lycoming) over
Sawyer Dereszynski (Messiah) Fall 0:51
285 - Robbie West (Lycoming) over
Micah Kunkle (Messiah) Fall 3:00
