No. 5 Messiah at Messiah Petrofes Invitational
GRANTHAM, Pa. -- Messiah dominated the 44th annual Petrofes Invitational, capturing the team title for the first time under head coach Bryan Brunk's leadership. The Falcons started the day with 16 wrestlers competing and concluded the tournament with five champions, two second-place finishers and one third-place finish.
Freshman Lucas Malmberg became Messiah's first champion of the invitational at 125. Malmberg cruised through his bracket with three pins en route to an 8-3 decision against Wilkes' Guesseppe Rea in the finals.
Kaleb Loht, Messiah's champion at 141, took home the most outstanding wrestler award - his second honor in as many years. Loht was dominant in his final bout, pinning his opponent, Bryant Roby of Mount Union, in 2:14.
Messiah's next champion came at 165. Stephen Cannon moved into the final after two falls in early bouts and a 13-9 decision against McDaniel's Logan Yox in the semi final. Cannon earned the final victory after his opponent suffered an injury in the first 32 seconds.
Ben Kramer was one of two wrestlers pushed to the brink and into overtime in their final bouts. Kramer was sharp all weekend, earning two major decisions (12-0, 10-0) and a 7-2 decision before getting the 8-6 overtime win.
The other Falcon to get an overtime win was Josh Thomson at 184. Thomson, who came in second in last year's Petrofes Invitational, made his way through this year's bracket 8-1, 8-0, 5-1 and won the final 8-6.
No. 6 Wilkes at Messiah Petrofes Invitational
GRANTHAM, Pa. -- Wilkes concluded day two of the Messiah Invitational finishing in second place as 13 Colonels earned top-seven finishes including two titles at 149 pounds and 197 pounds.
Messiah claimed the team title with 183 total points. Wilkes followed in second with 165.5 points while Mount Union finished third with 143.5 team points.
Wilkes' first title came at 149 as No. 6 Mark Hartenstine remained perfect on the season with wins in the semifinals and finals. Hartenstine recorded a 7-0 decision against Derek Arnold of Ursinus in the semis before cruising in the title bout with a 15-0 technical fall against Ursinus' Eli Gaylor. Hartenstine went 5-0 during the invitational including three falls and the tech. fall in the finals.
Eric Bach claimed the title at 197 first earning a 6-3 decision against No. 8 Hunter Ayen of Springfield in the semis. Bach then posted a 3-1 overtime victory in the championship bout against Messiah's Jason Wright.
Guesseppe Rea reached the finals at 125 pounds after his opponent took a medical forfeit in the semifinals. Rea dropped an 8-3 decision to No. 9 Lucas Malmberg of Messiah who upset No. 6 Tommy Casper of Springfield to reach the title bout.
No. 7 Ithaca at New Standard Invitational
YORK, Pa. -- Ithaca freshman Carlos Toribio was named as the tournament's most outstanding wrestler and the Bombers placed second as a team in a field of 13 teams at the New Standard Invitational hosted by York (Pa). Johnson & Wales took home the team title with 119.5 points -- two more than Ithaca -- while No. 10 Delaware Valley ended in third with 99.
Toribio placed first at 174 pounds, and was one of two individual champions for the Bombers, as Kristopher Schimek won the title at 165. Ithaca had five wrestlers advance to the championship semifinals in total, and nine place winners at the event.
Toribio's MOW honor capped a day that saw him go 4-0 in his bouts. He won his first match by decision, and his quarterfinal by injury default at 4:38. In the semifinals, Toribio scored a 9-2 decision, and then defeated nationally ranked Zach Zotollo of TCNJ in the finals by a 5-4 decision. Toribio improved his overall record to 11-2 on the season.
Schimek placed first in the 165-pound bracket with a perfect 3-0 record, and yielded just one point against his opponents in scoring convincing wins. Schimek started with an 8-0 win in the quarterfinals, a 7-0 shutout in the semifinal and a 9-1 decision in the championship bout. He is 10-2 overall this season.
Four Ithaca wrestlers placed third in their weight classes.
No. 8 Coe at Simpson Invite
INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Coe competed at the Simpson Invitational on Saturday, finishing second in the 13-team field. Two Kohawks earned individual titles and nearly every weight class featured a Coe wrestler who placed.
Sophomore Farai Sewera was one of the two Kohawks who won their weight class. Sewera was victorious at 165 pounds, defeating Grand View's Nathaniel Stadeker in the finals. Sewera began his day by pinning Truman State's Josh Wells in 1:53 and followed that up by pinning Roak Whittington in 1:35. Sewera recorded his third consecutive fall in the quarterfinals, pinning Grand View's Derrick Huber in 6:06. In the semifinals, Sewera earned a hard fought 2-1 decision against Central Missouri's Josh Thomson before pinning Stadeker in 2:36 in the finals.
The other Coe wrestler to earn a title was junior Donnie Horner at 197 pounds. Horner defeated Central Missouri's Roy Hickman in his first match of the day by a score of 6-3. He then pinned Jared Bevins of Simpson in 2:26 to advance to the finals. In the finals, Horner battled Grand View's AJ Mott to a 2-2 tie before defeating him 4-2 in sudden victory.
No. 9 Wisconsin-Whitewater at Little States
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- Anthony Edgren won the 285-pound weight class to lead the Warhawks to a third-place finish at the 54th annual Little States tournament hosted by Wabash.
Edgren opened the meet with a major decision followed by a 56-second pin against Wabash's Paul Snyder. Another major decision in his third bout of the day sent him into the finals. Edgren topped Evan Wooding of Indianapolis in a 9-8 decision.
Two Warhawks finished second in their weight classes. Corey Meyer went 2-1 in the 141-pound weight class. He opened with a pin in 0:28 followed by a 3-1 decision to head into the championship. Indy's Justin Kieffer went on to win the weight class. Andrew Pettit added a second-place finish at 184 pounds in similar fashion to Meyer. Pettit notched a technical fall, 16-0 in 5:16 in his first match of the day followed by a major decision 9-0 against Dennie Brown of Calumet. In the championship bout, Wabash's Riley Lefever picked up the win.
