YORK, Pa. – The Messiah wrestling team finished in fourth place at the 2024 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon, hosted by the York Spartans. The Falcons earned a pair of champions with
Josiah Gehr claiming the 141 lbs. weight class and
Hayden Benner earning the title at 285 lbs.
Austin Brass also wrestled in his championship bout, finishing as the runner-up at 174 lbs.
In total, nine Falcons placed in the top-six of their respective weight class.
As a team, the Falcons earned 100.5 points to finish in fourth place of the six teams competing on Saturday. The Stevens Ducks claimed their third-straight MAC Championship with 166.5 team points while the Alvernia Golden Wolves (158 points) and Delaware Valley Aggies (118.5) finished above the Falcons in the team standings in second and third place, respectively. York (70.5) and King's (53.5) rounded out the team standings in fifth and six place.
Messiah will be back in action next weekend when they will send their starting line-up to the Wheaton Invitational hosting by the Wheaton Thunder in Illinois. The Wheaton Invitational will begin on Friday at 11:00 a.m. CT/noon ET and conclude on Saturday.
Gehr and Benner Stand atop Podium
Josiah Gehr and
Hayden Benner led the Falcons on the day, both earning first place in their respective weight classes of 141 lbs. and 285 lbs. For both Gehr and Benner, it was the first career MAC Championships. Gehr had previously finished as the runner-up in 2022, but clinched the top spot this afternoon with a 9-4 decision over Nico Diaz (Stevens). Gehr went 3-0 on the day with a first-period fall and a dominating 20-0 technical fall to earn his spot in the finals against Diaz.
Hayden Benner also went a perfect 3-0 on the day, picking up a first-period fall and a 5-0 decision to advance to the championship bout at 185 lbs. Once there, Benner claimed a 7-2 decision over King's Bill Grace to claim the top spot on the podium.
Brass Earns Runner-Up Finish
Austin Brass began his day with a pair of decisions to earn a spot in the 174 lbs. championship bout. Brass started his day with an 8-6 decision against Alvernia's Gavin Hollingsworth before edging Luke Moore (DelVal), 4-1 to advance. While he dropped a 6-0 decision to Stevens' Stefan Major, Brass earned his first placement in a conference championship.
Six Other Falcons Place on Saturday
Four Falcons earned fourth place finishes on Saturday with
Caiden Heller (133 lbs.),
Dalton Monger (149 lbs.),
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) and
Sawyer Dereszynski (197 lbs.) all wrapping up their day in the third-place match.
Christopher Crastley (174 lbs.) and
Nate Kovalcik (184 lbs.) also placed on Saturday, finishing in sixth place in their respective weight classes.
