GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah Wrestling team was in action for Day Two of the NCAA Division III Region III Regional on Saturday, March 1. The Falcons finished third out of 18 teams with 128.5 points.
Austin Brass (174 lbs.),
Ryder Slayton (184 lbs.), and
Sawyer Dereszynski (197 lbs.) each punched their ticket to Nationals with third-place finishes.
As mentioned,
Austin Brass,
Ryder Slayton, and
Sawyer Dereszynski will continue their season in Rhode Island at the DIII National Championships beginning Friday, March 14.
National Qualifiers
Messiah earned their first national qualifier at 174 lbs., when
Austin Brass secured the third-place finish. Brass started day two with a 10-3 loss via decision against Nathan Lackman of Alvernia. In Brass's first consolation bout, he defeated NYU's Nick Bell via 17-9 major decision. Brass had three takedowns in the first period to lead 9-3 before adding an escape and takedown to go up 13-4 with one period remaining. Bell outscored Brass 5-4 in the final period but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit and Brass moved on to the third-place bout with the hope for a national qualifier still alive. In the third-place bout, Brass squared up with Anthony Cerulli of Ursinus. Brass used a pair of first-period takedowns and two nearfall points to take an early 8-1 lead. After a scoreless second, Cerulli struck first with a takedown, but Brass solidified his win with an escape and takedown. Brass punched his ticket to Nationals with the 12-4 major decision.
The Falcons earned their next national qualifier at 184 lbs. when
Ryder Slayton earned the tiebreaker win in overtime in the third-place bout. Slayton started day two with a 2-1 loss against Elizabethtown's Ganon Smith. Smith was warned for stalling in the second period before choosing bottom for the third. Slayton let him out for the escape point in Smith's favor and Slayton earned a point when Smith was again called for stalling. The riding time from period two was enough to give Smith the bonus point and the 2-1 win. In the consolation bracket, Slayton earned a 2-1 win over TCNJ's James Romaine. Slayton had a one-point advantage after two periods and a riding time point gave Slayton the 2-1 win to advance to the third-place bout. Slayton squared off with Trent Furman of NYU in a closely contested bout. After three scoreless periods, the pair moved into overtime. In overtime two, Slayton secured the reversal with 10 seconds remaining. In the third overtime, Slayton was able to escape and punch his ticket to Nationals.
The Falcons final national qualifier came at 197 lbs. with
Sawyer Dereszynski finishing third. Dereszynski started his day with an 11-6 loss to eventual Regional champion DJ Henry of TCNJ. Henry led 9-2 after two periods and four points for Dereszynski were not enough in period three as he dropped the bout 11-6. In his first consolation match, he used a dominant first-period effort over Phil Nave of Gettysburg, earning an 18-3 technical fall in 3:00. Two takedowns and 10 nearfall points propelled Dereszynski to the win and advancement to the third-place bout with a chance to advance to Nationals. After a scoreless first period against Merchant Marine's Grant Mathias, Dereszynski earned a reversal and two nearfall points in the second and a scoreless third gave Dereszynski the 4-0 decision victory and a ticket to Nationals.
Other Podium Finishers
At 141 lbs.,
Shaun Quirk started his day with a loss against eventual Regional champion Sean O' Toole of Delaware Valley via 21-3 technical fall. In the consolation bracket, Quirk earned a 12-0 major decision over Gettysburg's Brendan Callahan. Quirk had a takedown and four nearfall points in the first period and added a reversal in the second. He secured his win with a takedown in the third period to advance to the third-place bout. In a tightly contested battle with Andrew Loniewski of Muhlenberg, Quirk led 3-1 after a first period takedown. He then extended his lead with an escape in the second. Loniewski used a pair of escapes, a penalty point, and a takedown in the third to earn the 7-6 decision.
Keegan Demarest started day two by dropping his bout against TCNJ's Nicholas Sacco via 7-3 decision in the 165 lbs. weight class. Sacco struck first with a takedown in period one and added an escape in period two. Demarest earned a takedown early in the final period, but Sacco added three points and secured the win. In his first consolation match, Demarest earned a 10-1 major decision over Johns Hopkins' Chris Roybal. Demarest had a takedown in the first period and added a pair in the second to lead 9-1. He added a riding time point to win 10-1. In the third-place bout against Gettyburg's Justin Richey, Richey led 3-2 after two periods. Demarest tied the bout with a penalty point with 10 seconds remaining before a buzzer-beater takedown gave Richey the win.
Caiden Heller started his day in the consolation bracket of 133 lbs. with a 12-11 decision over Wesley Wydick of Merchant Marine. Heller held a 4-3 lead after period one with a scoreless second. Heller's scoring in period three started with a reversal before he added two takedowns to win 12-11. In his second bout, he was defeated via sudden victory by Jacob Blair of Delaware Valley with a score of 11-4. The pair were tied 4-4 after regulation and Blair secured a takedown and four nearfall points for the sudden victory. In the fifth-place bout, Heller defeated Muhlenberg's Christian Horvath via fall in 4:44 after leading 5-3 to secure the fifth-place finish.
At 149 lbs.,
Dalton Monger began day two in the consolation bracket. Monger led Shane Kibler of King's 6-3 before earning the fall in 1:49. Monger then moved to the fifth-place bout after being defeated by Gettysburg's Ethan Composto via 11-2 major decision. In the fifth-place bout, Monger faced Misericordia's Michael Williams. Williams struck first with a takedown at 2:46 before Monger scored the reversal at 2:37 and earned the fall in 1:45 to earn fifth overall. Monger earned the tournament award for most pins in the least amount of time with four in 7:38.
Also finishing fifth was
Clay Gainer in the 157 lbs. weight class. Gainer opened his day in the semifinals with a 10-3 loss against Jason Rezac of Alvernia. In the consolation bracket, Gainer was tied 1-1 with Gettysburg's Gavin Pascoe to force overtime. Pascoe earned the takedown in overtime to secure the win and send Gainer to the fifth-place bout. Gainer earned a 16-0 technical fall in 5:55 over McDaniel's Xavier Howard to secure the fifth-place finish. Gainer had a takedown and four count nearfall in the first period before a reversal and four count nearfall in the second gave him a 13-0 lead. A takedown in the third secured the technical fall and fifth-place finish.
Rounding out the Falcon competitors was
Micah Martinez in the 285 lbs. weight class. Martinez started his day with an 11-3 major decision over Marymount's Brey Loving. After a scoreless first period, Martinez had two escapes, a takedown and four nearfall points to take a 9-3 lead after the second period. In the final period, Martinez earned a reversal to take the 11-3 major decision. In his next bout, he was defeated via fall in 2:31 by Logan Flynn of Delaware Valley. In the fifth-place bout, Martinez led with a takedown before Ksawery Niewadomy of Elizabethtown earned the escape and takedown and capitalized on his position to earn the fall in 2:03, placing Martinez in sixth.
Up Next
As mentioned,
Austin Brass,
Ryder Slayton, and
Sawyer Dereszynski will continue their season in Rhode Island at the DIII National Championships beginning Friday, March 14.
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