GRANTHAM, Pa – The Messiah Wrestling team hosted Gettysburg College on Friday night for dual action. Action began back-and-forth on the mats, with Gettysburg holding a 12-10 team lead. A technical fall for
Zach Needles at 174 lbs. gave Messiah the 15-12 lead and the Falcons never looked back. Highlighting the night for the Falcons was a fall for
Tucker Seidel at 197 lbs. in 4:15. Messiah claimed the 29-12 team victory over the Bullets.
The Falcons return to the mat tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 24, when they travel to nearby Elizabethtown when the Blue Team competes in the Elizabethtown Invitational beginning at 9:20 a.m..
Action on the Mats
Action opened at 125 lbs., with
Micah Lozano taking on Noah Hinkel. The pair battled the first minute before Hinkel secured a takedown and held a 3-1 lead after Lozano earned the escape. Hinkel secured an escape and a reversal before securing the fall in 6:24 to give the Bullets a 6-0 team lead.
Caiden Heller was next in action at 133 lbs. for Messiah against Torey Falkinburg. After a scoreless first, Heller chose to start down and secured an escape and takedown to hold a 4-0 lead with one period remaining. A stalling point and riding time point gave Heller the 6-0 decision and brought the team score to 6-3 in favor of Gettysburg.
At 141 lbs.,
Jacob Cunningham secured a takedown with one second remaining in the first period to take a 3-0 lead against Brendan Callahan. Callahan scored a reversal in the second to cut the lead, but Cunningham secured a reversal of his own to hold a 5-2 lead with a period remaining. In the third, Cunningham secured his win with a takedown, claiming the 8-2 decision to bring the team score to 6-6.
At 149 lbs.,
Dalton Monger and Jake Mitchell battled from the start. The pair were tied 3-3 after the second with Mitchell securing a takedown and Monger earning an escape and two points from stall calls against Mitchell. Mitchell used a takedown and riding time point to secure the 7-3 decision, giving Gettysburg the 9-6 team lead.
At 157 lbs.,
Noah Rice took on Gavin Pascoe faced off. Pascoe held a 3-2 lead after two periods, earning a first period takedown while Rice secured an escape in each of the first two periods. An escape for Pascoe in the third secured the 4-2 decision, extending the Gettysburg lead to 12-6.
Keegan Demarest and Ethan Composto have become familiar foes at 165 lbs. over the last two seasons. Demarest earned a takedown a minute into the first period and held the 3-0 lead until adding an escape and takedown in the second to extend to 7-0. An escape for Composto and a stalling point awarded to Demarest brought the score to 8-1 with one period remaining. After an early escape from Composto, Demarest strung together three takedowns to extend his lead to 17-4. Composoto earned an escape with 0:30 remaining before an unnecessary roughness penalty and riding time point gave Demarest the 19-5 major decision and to bring the Falcons deficit to two at 12-10.
At 174 lbs.,
Zach Needles earned an early takedown against Joe Dietz before he earned the escape. Needles secured a second takedown to take a 6-1 lead. In the second, a quick escape by Needles was followed by a takedown and second stall call on Dietz to extend Needles' lead to 11-1 with two minutes remaining. A pair of takedowns and a four-count nearfall gave Needles the 21-2 technical fall in 5:56. The Falcons extended their team lead to 15-12.
Austin Brass took a 6-1 lead at 184 lbs. with a pair of first-period takedowns against Ryan Gallagher. Each had an escape and takedown in the second before Brass secured a second escape to hold a 11-5 lead. A pair of third-period takedowns secured the 18-6 major decision for Brass, extending the Messiah lead to 19-12.
At 197 lbs,
Tucker Seidel was quick to score, as has become his habit this season. He secured a takedown and four nearfall points in the first 38 seconds of his match against Phil Nave. After an escape from Nave, Seidel secured a takedown and a late two-count nearfall to lead 12-1 at the end of the first period. Seidel earned an escape in the second before securing a takedown 30 seconds later and capitalized on the position to secure the fall in 4:15, extending the lead to 25-12 in favor of Messiah, securing the team win for the Falcons.
In the final match of the night,
Kaleb Britting and Marcus Richey squared off in the 285 lbs. weight class. After a back-and-forth two minutes, Britting secured a takedown before Richey escaped. With 10 seconds remaining in the first period, Britting scored a strong takedown to hold a 6-1 lead heading into the second. Britting chose to start bottom and added a point to his lead with an escape in the second. Richey matched that effort with an escape of his own after starting down in the third. Britting secured two more takedowns in the third to earn the 13-3 major decision, solidifying the 29-12 team victory for the Falcons.
Up Next
The Falcons return to the mat tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 24, when they travel to nearby Elizabethtown when the Blue Team competes in the Elizabethtown Invitational beginning at 9:20 a.m..
