WHEATON, Ill. – The Messiah Wrestling team was in action Friday at Day One of the 2026 Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational.
Keegan Demarest (165 lbs.) has earned a spot on Day Two in the championship bracket after a 3-0 day.
Jacob Cunningham (141 lbs.),
Dalton Monger (149Â lbs.),
Zach Needles (174 lbs.), and
Tucker Seidel (197 lbs.) all have one loss and will continue to Day Two in the consolation bracket. The Falcons sit in ninth out of 29 teams.
The Falcons return to the mats on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9:00 a.m. for Day Two of the 2026 Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational.
Advancing to Day Two
At 141 lbs.,
Jacob Cunningham opened with a bye round before securing a 4-2 decision over Matthew Maldonado of North Central. Cunningham led 3-2 after a takedown in the second before securing the 4-2 win with an escape in the third. In his bout against second-seeded Justin Fortugno of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Cunningham battled back from a 7-2 deficit after the second period but was unable to secure the win with Fortugno earning the 8-7 decision to send Cunningham to the consolations. Cunningham kept his weekend alive with an 8-5 decision over Alma's Dominic Gumtow in his first consolation bout.
At 149 lbs.,
Dalton Monger opened his weekend with a takedown and nearfall in the first period against Cornell's Owen Adlfinger before securing the fall in 2:00. Monger made quick work of his second bout, securing a fall in 51 seconds over Alex Morales of Milwaukee School of Engineering. In a tightly contested quarterfinal bout, Monger trailed Landon Church of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 9-8 before Church secured the fall in 4:40 to send Monger to the consolations. In the consolations, Monger earned a fall over Rhode Island's Saliou Job in 36 seconds to advance to day two.
Keegan Demarest advanced to day two in the 165 lbs. bracket with three technical falls on day one. First, claiming a 21-5 technical fall in 3:23 against Blake Delsman of Wisconsin-Platteville. Demarest tallied five first-period takedowns to hold a 15-4 lead before a reversal and takedown paired with a riding time gave Demarest the 21-5 technical fall. In his next bout, Demarest took a 12-3 lead in the first period with four takedowns before adding an escape and pair of takedowns in the second to secure the 19-4 technical fall over Aiden Stecker of Mount Union in 3:53. In his quarterfinal bout against Roanoke's Cade Parent, Demarest held a 6-2 lead after the first two periods. He opened the third with a reversal before tacking on four takedowns and a riding time point to earn the 21-6 technical fall in 7:00 to advance to day two with a 3-0 record.
At 174 lbs.,
Zach Needles began his weekend with a 24-6 technical fall over Jake Starkey of Mount Union. Needles tallied four takedowns, an escape, and a reversal in the first period as he took a 15-6 lead. In the second period, Needles started with an escape before securing a takedown with four nearfall points and a riding time point to earn the 24-6 win. Needles then picked up an 11-2 major decision against Joe Zereini of Roanoke before falling to Jermaine Butler of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the quarterfinals via 5-0 decision to drop to the consolation bracket. He secured an 11-6 decision over Ohio Northern's Jack Hoffman to advance to day two.
Tucker Seidel earned a 15-0 technical fall in 1:30 against Mount Union's Brayden McFetridge at 197 lbs. to open his weekend. Seidel earned a takedown before tallying 12 nearfall points in 27 seconds to secure the technical fall. Seidel advanced to the quarterfinals after a 12-3 major decision against Zeke Harris of Wheaton before falling to top-seeded Gunnar Garriques of the University of Chicago via fall to drop to the consolations. Seidel advanced to day two following an 8-0 major decision over Tyler Haydon of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Other Day One Action
At 125 lbs.,
Austin Jeffrey lost his first bout against Brady Phelps of Wisconsin-Whitewater via fall. Jeffrey then earned a 21-5 technical fall over Arcadia's Hobe Givens in 4:55, tallying four takedowns, a reversal, and six nearfall points, in addition to a penalty point to advance. The weekend came to an end for Jeffrey following a loss via fall to Edward Alizio of Case Western Reserve.
Caiden Heller opened his day at 133 lbs. with a fall in 2:35 over Elmhurst's Donovin Fields after capitalizing on a takedown late in the first period. In his second bout, Heller earned a thrilling 3-0 sudden victory decision over Concordia's Kie Anderson following three scoreless periods. Heller fell to the consolation bracket following a loss to Art Martinez of Case Western Reserve following a 9-3 decision in the quarterfinals. Heller's weekend came to a close with a loss via 3-1 decision against Nolan Frye of Mount Union.
Clay Gainer won his opening bout at 157 lbs. via 12-7 decision over Jared Gumila of North Central. Gumila took a 6-2 lead in the first, but Gainer used a takedown and nearfall to notch the match 7-7 with one period remaining. An escape, takedown, and riding time point in the third gave Gainer the win. Gainer dropped to the consolations following a loss via 11-1 major decision against Thomas Wagner of Case Western Reserve. Gainer led Carter Hutchison of Millikin 13-2 in the first period before securing the fall in 2:56. He then ended his weekend with a loss via 11-6 decision against Mount Union's Giovanni Duniec.
Austin Brass opened his day at 184 lbs. with a 7-0 decision over Cal Ries of Wisconsin-Platteville. Brass earned one takedown in each of the first two periods and added a riding time point to secure the win. In his second bout, Brass secured a 15-0 technical fall over Concordia's Aiden Russell in 4:43 to advance. Brass held a 3-0 advantage after the first period before tallying an escape, takedown, and eight nearfall points in the second. Brass then fell in the quarterfinals via 2-1 decision to Sedeeq AlObaidi of Wisconsin-Lacrosse to drop to the consolations. Brass' weekend came to a close with a loss via 5-3 decision to RJ Samuels of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
At 285 lbs.,
Kaleb Britting dropped to the consolation bracketed after falling to Mason Swanson of Concordia via technical fall. Britting earned a 13-2 major decision over Buena Vista's Colton O'Hern before his weekend ended with a loss to Roanoke's Nicholas Cook via 14-3 major decision.
Up Next
The Falcons return to the mats on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 9:00 a.m. for Day Two of the 2026 Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational.
