GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah University Wrestling team opened their 2024-25 season by hosting the 2024 Messiah Invitational on Saturday, November 2. The Falcons finished with a team score of 162.5, earning first place at the invitational. Messiah had a strong showing across the board, with two freshmen taking the top spot in their weight classes.
Keegan Demarest earned the victory in the 165lbs bracket, while
Micah Martinez earned the victory in the 285lbs bracket.
Messiah had a pair of individual champions with
Keegan Demarest claiming the 165 lbs. weight class and
Micah Martinez claiming the 285 lbs. weight class. The Falcons had a trio of runner-up finishes.
Shaun Quirk earned the second-place finish at 141 lbs.
Austin Brass (174 lbs.) and
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.) Â also picked up runner-up finishes.
Asa Brunk claimed the third spot at the 141 lbs. weight class and
Clay Gainer took third at 157 lbs. Nathan Kovalcik and
Tim Eddinger finished tied in third at 184 lbs. after both contesting six matches prior to the third place match.
Sawyer Dereszynski earned third at 197 lbs. to round out the Falcons top three finishes.
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 9 when they head to the Racich Rumble hosted by Ursinus College. The action will begin at 10:00 a.m.
First-Place Finishers
As mentioned, Messiah had two individual champions, with a pair of freshmen earning the title in their respective weight classes.Â
Keegan Demarest finished 5-0 on the day in the 165 lbs. bracket. Demarest earned three falls and two technical falls en route to his championship. Demarest earned the victory in his title bout via a fall at 6:52 over Washington and Lee's Mark Troni. At 285 lbs.,
Micah Martinez went 4-0on the day, picking up two falls, a major decision and a technical fall. He earned a commanding victory in his title match with a 15-0 technical fall over Carter Stack of Washington and Lee.
Top-Six Finishers
Messiah had 14 top six finishers in addition to their two individual champions.
Bryce Arnold earned the six-place finish at 125 lbs. Despite dropping his opening match, Arnold went 4-2 in the consolation bracket to earn his sixth-place finish. A trio of Falcons placed in the 141 lbs. weight class.
Shaun Quirk picked up the runner-up finish while teammate
Asa Brunk finished third. Quirk went 4-1 on the day, picking up two falls in his series and a 21-6 technical fall in one of his consolation rounds. Brunk went 3-1, earning three falls on the day, two under a minute, before being defeated by Quirk. Brunk earned a tight 5-4 decision in the third-place match.
Caiden Heller earned sixth after falls in the first two bouts, and two wins in the consolation bracket.
Dalton Monger and
Levi Snyder earned fifth and sixth respectively in the 149 lbs. weight class. Monger won by a 7-6 decision after an opening bye round before falling to Max Parnis of Ursinus. He then picked up two wins in the consolation round before winning the fifth-place match with no contest. Snyder picked up an 18-5 major decision and a fall in his 4-1 effort. At 157 lbs.,
Clay Gainer finished third while
Mikey Hollar placed sixth. Gainer had a first-round bye before picking up a fall in 15 seconds in the second round. He picked up a second fall before being defeated by Colin Bridges of Washington and Lee. Gainer faced two more Washington and Lee opponents and defeated them with 4-0 and 4-3 decisions to earn third. Hollar earned a fall in his first match before entering the consolation bracket. In the consolation bracket, Hollar picked up a16-0 technical fall, an 8-0 major decision, a fall and a decision.
Picking up a second-place finish at 174 lbs. was
Austin Brass. Brass finished with a 4-1 record that included two technical falls and two decisions. He finished the first two rounds with 22-5 and 20-3 technical falls before more closely contested quarter and semifinal rounds that ended 6-5 and 6-4.
Jared Butler took sixth at 174 lbs. after a bye and decision in the opening two rounds. He picked up a 14-4 major decision and 11-8 decision in consolations to battle back to sixth.
Messiah placed a trio of finishers in the 184 lbs. weight class, with
Ryder Slayton (second), Nathan Kovalcik (third) and
Tim Eddinger (third) all performing well in the season opener. Slayton picked up two majors with scores of 13-1 and 8-0 after an opening round bye before defeating teammate Eddinger by a close 3-2 decision. Eddinger had two byes before picking up a 19-8 major decision to put him in the matchup with Slayton. He then picked up a fall in 2:51 in the consolation semifinals. Kovalcik earned a 19-3 technical fall followed by a fall in 3:39.
Sawyer Dereszynski finished third at 197 lbs. After a 50 second fall in the second round, Dereszynski fell in the quarterfinal and battled back in the consolations, picking up two falls, a 17-1 technical fall, and a 5-1 decision.
Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 9 when they head to the Racich Rumble hosted by Ursinus College. The action will begin at 10:00 a.m.
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