GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah Wrestling team hosted nationally ranked The College of New Jersey on Saturday afternoon in Brubaker Auditorium. The Falcons trailed early before taking a team lead at 18-17 with one bout remaining. A decision in TCNJ's favor in the final bout gave the lions the 20-18 team victory. Five Falcons earned individual victories on the afternoon with a technical fall at 165 lbs. for
Keegan Demarest and a sudden victory at 149 lbs. for
Levi Snyder providing highlights for the Falcons.
Messiah will return to action on Friday, Feb. 13 when they travel to nearby Elizabethtown College at 7:00 p.m. for a dual with the Blue Jays.
Action on the Mats
At 125 lbs., Matthew Griffin earned a pair of first period takedowns against
Austin Jeffrey before securing the fall in 1:27 to take a 6-0 team lead.
Caiden Heller was defeated via 18-1 technical fall at 133 lbs. by Garrett Totten in 3:56 as the Lions took an 11-0 team lead.
Jacob Cunningham faced Luke Reitter at 141 lbs. and trailed 4-0 after two periods before securing a takedown with just over a minute left in the bout. Reitter tallied an escape and takedown before adding a riding time point for the 9-3 decision, extending the Lions lead to 14-0.
At 149 lbs.,
Levi Snyder earned the Falcons first win of the dual in thrilling fashion over J.J. Giordano . Snyder trailed 3-1 after the first before trailing 5-4 with one period remaining. He secured an escape early in the third and forced the bout into overtime. The pair remained scoreless through overtime and Snyder earned the Sudden Victory 6-5 to get the Falcons on the board, trailing 14-3.
Noah Rice secured an early takedown at 157 lbs. against Joey Fulco and held the 3-0 lead through two periods. He added an escape, takedown, and riding time point to earn the 8-0 major decision with Messiah now trailing 14-7.
At 165 lbs.,
Keegan Demarest took a 11-2 lead over Jordan Ayyash in the first period before earning an escape and pair of takedowns in the second to earn the 18-3 technical fall in 4:28 to cut the deficit, now trailing just 14-12.
At 174 lbs., nationally ranked No. 1 Hunter Mays took an 8-3 lead over
Zach Needles after two periods. Needles added a point late, but a riding time point gave Mays the 9-4 decision, extending the Lions lead to 17-12.
Austin Brass took a 6-2 lead in the first period at 184 lbs. against Luke Theis before extending his lead to 9-4 with one period remaining. Brass secured a riding time point to earn the 10-4 decision, bringing the team score to 17-15 in favor of the Lions.
At 197 lbs.,
Tucker Seidel secured an early takedown against Henry Saxon and held the 3-0 lead before earning an escape in the second. Saxon tallied an escape in the third, but a riding time point gave Seidel the 5-1 decision, giving Messiah the 18-17 team lead with only one bout remaining.
With the team result coming down to the final bout at 285 lbs., both
Kaleb Britting and Matt Coon came ready to battle. The pair remained scoreless through two periods as Coon selected to start bottom for the third. Britting started the period neutral, giving Coon the escape point to look for the takedown. Each wrestler took a number of shots before Coon secured a takedown with 0:21 remaining and added a riding time point to take the 5-0 decision and give the Lions the 20-18 team victory.
Up Next
Messiah will return to action on Friday, Feb. 13 when they travel to nearby Elizabethtown College at 7:00 p.m. for a dual with the Blue Jays.
Messiah University (18) vs. The College of New Jersey (20)
125 lbs. – Matthew Griffin over
Austin Jeffrey – Fall 1:27 (TCNJ 6-0)
133 lbs. – Garrett Totten over
Caiden Heller – TF 18-1 (3:56) (TCNJ 11-0)
141 lbs. – Luke Reitter over
Jacob Cunningham – Dec. 9-3 (TCNJ 14-0)
149 lbs. –
Levi Snyder over J.J. Giordano – SV 6-5 (TCNJ 14-3)
157 lbs. –
Noah Rice over Joey Fulco – MD 8-0 (TCNJ 14-7)
165 lbs. –
Keegan Demarest over Jordan Ayyash – TF 18-3 (4:28) (TCNJ 14-12)
174 lbs. – Hunter Mays over
Zach Needles – Dec. 9-4 (TCNJ 17-12)
184 lbs. –
Austin Brass over Luke Theis – Dec. 10-4 (TCNJ 17-15)
197 lbs. –
Tucker Seidel over Henry Saxon – Dec. 5-1 (MES 18-17)
285 lbs. – Matt Coon over
Kaleb Britting – Dec. 5-0 (TCNJ 20-18)
Ex. 149 lbs. – Sam Kotch over
Dylan Hart – TF 21-6 (6:23)
Ex. 285 lbs. –
Micah Martinez over Clifford Dirkes - DQ for Illegal Slam at 5:23
