PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Messiah Wrestling team has three members in action at the 2025 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15.
Austin Brass will be competing at 174 lbs.,
Ryder Slayton will be competing at 184 lbs., and
Sawyer Dereszynski will be competing at 197 lbs.
Brass will begin his weekend with a bye round and will face either Conner Gregory from Castleton or Javen Estrada of North Central. Gregory finished third in Region I and Estrada finished as the Region V champion and is ranked eighth in the country. In the later rounds, Brass could face the top-seed Jared Stricker from Wisconsin - Eau Claire.
Slayton will also begin Friday with a bye round before facing Marcus Orlandoni who is a fellow senior returning National Qualifier. Orlandoni is ranked fifth in the country and finished as runner-up in the Region VII championship. The winner will wrestle Jack McCusker of Washington and Lee or the winner of Sampson Wilkes of Castleton and Austen Wetzel of Westminster. Slayton earned a major decision over McCusker at the Budd Whitehill Tournament earlier this season. Wilkes is a returning All-American. Wetzel finished as the Region I runner-up.
Sawyer Dereszynski will face Ian Pepple of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in the first round. Pepple defeated Dereszynski in the Pete Wilson Tournament earlier this year. The winner will face seventh-seeded Dylan Harr of Johnson and Wales University who is a returning 2x All-American and was the Region I winner.
The three Falcons will look to wrestle strong Friday and advance to day two and keep their seasons alive.
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