COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Messiah Wrestling team traveled to Ursinus College to compete at the Racich Rumble on Saturday, Nov. 9. Messiah took bronze as a team, collecting 119 points. New York University claimed the team title with 158.5 points and Washington and Lee took second with 128.5 points. The Falcons had ten podium finishers, with
Keegan Demarest highlighting the efforts of the day with a first-place finish at 165 lbs.
The Falcons are next in action on Saturday, Nov. 16, when they travel to Winchester, Va. to compete at the Shenandoah Invitational.
Podium Finishers
Keegan Demarest claimed first place in the 165 lbs. weight class.
Levi Snyder (149 lbs.) and
Shaun Quirk (141 lbs.) both picked up second-place finishes. The Falcons claimed a pair of third-place finishes with
Asa Brunk (141 lbs.) and
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.).
Clay Gainer (157 lbs.),
Micah Martinez (285 lbs.), and
Mikey Hollar (157 lbs.) each earned fourth in their respective brackets. Rounding out the podium finishers for Messiah were
Dalton Monger (149 lbs.) and
Camerin Deville (141 lbs.) who claimed fifth and sixth, respectively.
First- Place Finisher
For the second weekend in a row,
Keegan Demarest found himself atop the field in the 165 lbs. bracket. Demarest started the day with two commanding victories, earning a 15-0 technical fall in the first round and a 21-6 technical fall in the second round. In his quarterfinal match, he picked up a fall in 2:38 to move on to the semifinals. He punched his ticket to the championship bout via an 8-5 decision over his Stevens Tech opponent. Demarest met Washington and Lee's Mark Troni in the 165 lbs. championship match for the second week in a row and earned the decision with a score of 6-2.
Top Six Finishers
Messiah had a trio of Falcons finish on the podium at 141 lbs. Leading the three was
Shaun Quirk. After starting the day with a bye, Quirk picked up a fall in 1:41 in the round of 32 and a 17-1 technical fall in the round of 16. A fall in 6:00 gave quirk a spot in the quarterfinal where he defeated his NYU opponent with a score of 22-6, picking up his second technical fall of the day. He squared off with NYU's Tyler Kadish in the championship match and lost via major decision with a final score of 14-1.
Asa Brunk picked up the third-place finish at 141 lbs. after going 4-1 on the day. After a first-round bye, Brunk earned a 21-2 technical fall to start his day. In the round of 16, Brunk picked up a fall in 2:01. An 18-5 major decision in quarterfinals sent Brunk to the semifinal where he lost to Tyler Kadish of NYU via fall in 2:38. In his final match of the day, Brunk claimed third after a medical forfeit.
Camerin Deville picked up a sixth-place finish after dropping his second match of the day and battling back in the consolation bracket. After a first-round bye, Deville picked up a tight 6-5 decision in the round of 32. After suffering a fall in 3:32 in the round of 16, Deville picked up four wins en route to the sixth-place finish. Deville picked up a convincing 15-0 technical fall followed by 4-2 and 4-1 decisions. He picked up his final victory of the day with an 11-5 decision over Aiden Hebert of Trinity.
A pair of Falcons found themselves on the 149 lbs. podium with
Levi Snyder earning the runner-up finish and
Dalton Monger finishing fifth. Snyder started his day with a 12-2 major decision before picking up a fall in 4:13 in the round of 32. Snyder continued his high scoring matches with a 15-0 technical fall and 17-10 decision to secure a spot in the semifinals. After a 4-2 victory over Misericordia's Michael Williams, Snyder was defeated in the championship bout with a 17-0 technical fall against Max Parnis of Ursinus.
Dalton Monger picked up a fifth-place finish after going 5-1 on the day. Monger started his day with a bye before picking up a back-to-back falls in 0:46 and 1:06. Eventual champion Max Parnis of Ursinus earned the fall against Monger in 4:06 to send him to the consolation bracket. Monger picked up his second 0:46 fall over a York opponent before picking up a 16-13 decision. In the fifth-place bout, Monger picked up a fall in 2:17 over Tyler Roe of Stevens Tech.
Clay Gainer and
Mikey Hollar both earned fourth place finishes at 157 lbs. After starting his day with a bye, Gainer picked up three straight decisions (10-4, 5-0, and 8-1) to move to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Gainer was unable to finish the match, and the medical forfeit was awarded to NYU's Cooper Pontelandolfo.
Mikey Hollar picked up a 17-0 technical fall after starting with a first-round bye. Hollar then picked up a fall in 2:45 and an 11-0 major decision to move into the semifinals. Hollar was defeated by Washington and Lee's Colin Bridges via a 9-1 major decision. A third-place bout was not contested and both Gainer and Hollar were awarded fourth place.
At 184 lbs.,
Ryder Slayton claimed third after a 4-1 day. Slayton began his day with a bye followed by a 9-3 decision. In the quarterfinals, Slayton picked up a 19-4 technical fall before losing in the semifinals by a 5-2 decision against Elizabethtown's Ganon Smith. Slayton earned the win in the third-place bout via medical forfeit.
Micah Martinez claimed fourth in the 285 lbs. weight class behind a 3-2 day. After a first round bye, Martinez picked up two straight falls in 0:53 and 4:27 to claim a spot in the semifinals. Shannon Clark of Misericordia earned the fall over Martinez in 2:31 to move Martinez to the consolation bracket. In the third-place bout, Martinez suffered a fall against Misericordia's Aiden Hidlay in 4:05 to take fourth.
The Falcons are next in action on Saturday, Nov. 16, when they travel to Winchester, Va. to compete at the Shenandoah Invitational.
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