GRANTHAM, Pa.- The Messiah Wrestling team earned a second-place finish at the 2024 Petrofes Invitational with a team score of 176 points, just beating out conference opponent Alvernia who finished third with 173.5 points. Springfield College took home the team title with a score of 180. Seventeen Falcons placed for Messiah with eight finishing in the top four. Highlighting the individual efforts were second-place finishes by
Levi Snyder (149 lbs.),
Keegan Demarest (165 lbs.),
Austin Brass (174 lbs.), and
Sawyer Dereszynski (197 lbs.)
Messiah is next in action on Wednesday, December 11, when they host the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays for a dual meet. Action on the mats will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Runner-Up Finishes
Messiah collected four runner-up finishes on Saturday with
Levi Snyder (149 lbs.),
Keegan Demarest (165 lbs.),
Austin Brass (174 lbs.), and
Sawyer Dereszynski (197 lbs.) each claiming second in their brackets.
Levi Snyder won four straight matches bookended with falls to earn a spot in the championship bout. He opened the weekend with a fall in 3:59 over Bridgewater State's James Calabrese. A 9-5 decision over Andras Fabian of Gettysburg and a closely contested 12-11 decision over Sampson Ross of Adrian to secure a spot in the semifinal. Snyder picked up his second fall of the weekend in 1:28 over Luke Temple of Springfield College to make his way to the championship. He was defeated via a 12-7 decision by Ethan Composto of Gettysburg.
Keegan Demarest was the second Falcon to claim a runner-up position, claiming second in the 165 lbs. weight class. Demarest had a bye to open the weekend and in his first contested bout, he defeated Misericordia's Jariel Severino in a 17-2 technical fall. He won his next bout via an injury at 4:16 before earning a 10-2 major decision over Gettysburg's Justin Richey in the semifinals. In the championship bout, he faced two-time National Champion Matt Lackman of Alvernia and was defeated via a close 2-1 decision.
In the next championship bout, at 174 lbs.
Austin Brass claimed second-place in the 174 lbs. weight class. He opened the weekend with back-to-back technical falls over Nick Costello of King's College and Nick Piatti of Springfield College with scores of 17-2 and 15-0 respectively. Brass advanced to the semifinals following a 13-4 major decision over Spencer Vos of Adrian. A semifinal fall in 5:20 over Springfield College's Jake Deguire advanced Brass to the championship bout. Brass was defeated in the championship by Alvernia's Nathan Lackman via an 11-2 major decision.
Messiah's last runner-up finish came at 197 lbs., with
Sawyer Dereszynski claiming second. Dereszynski started the weekend with a bye before claiming a 27-8 technical fall over James Ellis of Lycoming in his first contested bout. He then faced Bridgewater State's Christian Curley and defeated him via 11-9 decision. A fall in 2:16 over Jacob Jimenez of Averett sent Dereszynski to the championship bout where he was defeated by Isaac Kassis of Alvernia via an 8-2 decision.
Other Podium Finishes
Mason Casey claimed fourth at 133 lbs. after going 5-2 on the weekend. Casey started the weekend with two falls to open Friday afternoon. He defeated Julian Lavender of Misericordia via fall in a time of 1:27 before picking up a fall in 0:38 over Owen Caracciolo of Saint Vincent. He was then defeated by eventual champion Jaden Colwell of Springfield College via a 9-3 decision to move into the consolation bracket. Casey picked up a 17-0 technical fall over Thomas Conselyea of Lycoming and 11-0 major decision James King of Alvernia. A 9-2 decision over Averett's AJ Orlando earned Casey a spot in the third-place bout. Casey was defeated By Kyle McCollum of Saint Vincent via a 22-9 major decision.
Messiah claimed four of the podium spots in the 141 lbs. weight class with
Shaun Quirk's third-place finish highlighting the group. Quirk picked up a fall in 2:32 over Ryan Yocum of Saint Vincent and a fall in 1:15 over Kyle Gidman of Springfield College to open his weekend. He advanced through his third match via an injury forfeit before being defeated by Josh Wilson of Greensboro via a 19-4 technical fall to drop to the consolation bracket. In the consolation bracket, Quirk defeated teammate
Caiden Heller via a 6-5 decision to find himself in the third-place bout. A fall in 4:33 over Andrew Loniewski of Muhlenberg secured the third-place finish for Quick.
Asa Brunk and
Caiden Heller faced off in the fifth-place match. Brunk found his way to the bout after opening his weekend with an 18-2 technical fall over Misericordia's Kruz McCusker and a fall in 2:38 over Nick Bradbury of Thaddeus Stevens. Brunk then defeated Heller via a 3-0 sudden victory before being defeated by Ryan Kozdra of Springfield College to move into the consolation bracket. Brunk was defeated by Loniewski via a fall in 3:37 to be squared up with Heller for the second time of the weekend. In the second face-off between the Falcon teammates, Brunk was once again victorious, this time with a 3-1 decision to claim fifth.
Caiden Heller began his weekend fall in 0:57 over Gettysburg's Sam Soderman and an 8-1 decision over Mauricio Reyes of Averett before being defeated by teammate Brunk in a 3-0 sudden victory. Heller wrestled four bouts in the consolation bracket, each against a fellow Falcon. He opened the consolation bracket with a fall in 1:30 over
Daniel Pierce and a 2-1 decision over
Camerin Deville. Heller then dropped two straight bouts, losing to Quirk via a 6-5 decision and against Brunk in the fifth-place bout via 3-1 decision.
Rounding out the Falcon finishers at 141 lbs. was
Camerin Deville who claimed seventh. Deville began his weekend with a 1-1 decision over Adrian's Mack Baird and earned a 16-0 technical fall over Jay Lenio of Muhlenberg before being defeated by Ryan Kozdra of Springfield via a fall in 3:25. He earned a 17-5 major decision over Mauricio Reyes of Averett before being defeated by teammate
Caiden Heller via a closely contested 2-1 decision. He earned the seventh-place victory via medical forfeit.
At 149 lbs.,
Dalton Monger claimed fifth after going 4-2 on the day. Monger started the day with back-to-back falls over Kyle Rhoton of Bridgewater College and Gordon Watson of Shenandoah in 1:25 and 1:09 respectively. He then defeated Misericordia's Michael Williams via 10-7 decision. Monger was defeated in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Ethan Composto of Gettysburg via a 12-7 decision. In the consolation bracket, Monger was defeated via a 19-4 technical fall by Kobin Karper of Lycoming. Monger claimed fifth via medical forfeit.
Messiah earned a pair of podium finishes at 157 lbs., with
Clay Gainer earning third and
Noah Rice claiming fifth. Gainer earned two falls to open the weekend. In his opening bout, he defeated Springfield College's Jeremiah Cruz in 3:27 and followed it with a fall in 0:54 over Alex Guaman Castro of Bridgewater State. Gainer faced Martin Turi of King's College in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals after a 4-1 overtime win. He was then defeated by Jason Rezac of Alvernia via a 17-0 technical fall. In the consolation bracket, he defeated teammate
Noah Rice via a 5-2 sudden victory. He claimed third with a 2-1 decision over Chance Babb of Alvernia.
Noah Rice finished fifth at 157 lbs. after going 5-2 on the weekend. Like a number of other Falcons, he began his weekend with back-to-back falls. His first fall came over Averett's Jason Bennett in a time of 2:42 before picking up a second period fall over Ean Wilson of Gettysburg in 4:50. Rice was sent to the consolation bracket after being defeated by Adrian's Aiden Smith via a 16-3 major fall. He began the consolation bracket with a 19-3 technical fall over Muhlenberg's Charles Levine and a 11-6 decision over Anthony Taylor of Averett. Rice then faced teammate Gainer and was defeated in a 5-2 sudden victory. He faced Lucien Peria of Springfield College in the fifth-place bout and defeated him via a 2-1 decision.
A trio of Falcons placed in the 184 lbs. weight class on the weekend.
Ryder Slayton led the group with a fourth-place finish, going 4-2. He opened the weekend with a bye before defeating Oliver Parker of Springfield College via a 1-0 decision. He then defeated Thaddeus Stevens' Davian Waite via a 14-0 major decision. In the quarterfinals, Eli Crum of Lycoming earned the victory via 5-0 decision. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Alvernia's Hayden McLellan via 4-1 decision. In the third-place bout, Slayton was defeated by Adrian's Blake Williams via a 9-6 sudden victory.
Tim Eddinger earned sixth-place in the 184 lbs. weight class. He opened his weekend losing via fall in 1:01 to eventual champion Myles Leonard of Springfield College. He started the consolation bracket with a bye before defeating Grayson Ringwald of Averett via a 2:55 fall. He picked up two more falls in 1:59 and 4:27 over Noah Harris of Averett and Waite of Thaddeus Stevens respectively. Eddinger then earned a 10-1 major decision over Muhlenberg's Fletcher Goodman before being defeated via a fall in 4:03 against Adrian's Williams. In the fifth-place match, he was defeated by McLellan via an 11-7 decision.
Rounding out the Falcon places at 184 lbs. was Nathan Kovalcik with an eighth-place finish. He picked up a first round fall over Bridgewater State's Amauris Gomez in 2:59 and a 12-9 sudden victory over Nolan Gerwitz of Averett. Kovalcik was then defeated via 21-5 technical fall by Adrian's Williams. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Billy Bell of Greensboro via a fall in 3:41. Kovalcik was then defeated via a 21-5 techincal fall against McLellan. In the seventh-place match, he was defeated via a 15-4 major decision against Muhlenberg's Goodman.
Micah Kunkle started his weekend with a bye in the 197 lbs. weight class. He earned a fall in 4:17 over Springfield College's Joseph Boyle before being defeated by eventual champion Kassis via a 10-2 major decision. Kunkle started the consolation bracket with a 4-1 decision over Noah Schlofer of Muhlenberg and a 4-2 decision over Greensboro's Isiah Manning. Kunkle was then defeated by Jacob Jimenez of Averett via an 11-6 decision to be sent to the fifth-place match where he was defeated by Christian Curley of Bridgewater State via a fall in 3:32.
At 285 lbs.,
Micah Martinez claimed sixth with a 4-3 weekend. Martinez began the bracket with two first round falls. In the opening round, he defeated Lycoming's Michael Sipps in 1:06 before defeating Jamie Jinks of Greensboro in 1:16. Martinez was then defeated by Aiden Hidlay of Misericordia via 22-6 technical fall and continued his weekend in the consolation bracket. Martinez picked up back-to-back falls once again with times of 0:34 and 1:36 over Rives Hargis of Shenandoah and Brian Czaus of Alvernia. Martinez then was defeated by Misericordia's Shannon Clark via a 4-2 decision to move to the fifth-place match. He was defeated by Hidlay via 8-5 decision.
Up Next
Messiah is next in action on Wednesday, December 11, when they host the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays for a dual meet. Action on the mats will begin at 7:00 p.m.
