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Messiah Takes Down Lycoming For First Time In Program History
Freshman Rich Pennisi drove hard against Lycoming's Eric Grecco Friday evening, earning a 4-1 win at 133.
Grantham, PA — History was made Friday night in Brubaker Auditorium, as the Messiah wrestling team claimed a 20-13 decision over rival Lycoming College — the first win over the Warriors in the 38-year history of the Falcons program. Messiah (8-9) rattled off wins in six of the first seven weight classes to record the feat, helping to turn around an 11-23 defeat to Lyco just a week earlier at the Bud Whitehill National Duals in Williamsport, Pa. The win also cleansed the sour taste of a disheartening, 9-29 loss earlier in the week at rival Elizabethtown College, a match in which Falcons head coach Bryan Brunk was less than satisfied. “I really laid into the guys after our E’Town match,” Brunk said late Friday night. “We wrestled as if we were feeling sorry for ourselves. We talked a lot about that this week, and again before tonight’s match. I thought we really responded well. Everyone wrestled hard, disciplined and with maximum effort tonight. I’m absolutely ecstatic.” Messiah — ranked 27th in the latest NWCA Top 30 National Poll — had reason to be pessimistic Tuesday at Elizabethtown, as the team was without four starters including 165-pound junior standout Trent Zempel. Ranked 10th in the nation among all 165-pounders in the latest NWCA Individual Poll, Messiah learned it would be without Zempel for the remainder of the season, courtesy of a torn ACL in his left knee in a bout in the North-South Duals at Ursinus College. All these factors made Friday night’s result improbable, but clearly not impossible. Freshman Danny Lethbridge got things started with an impressive 4-0 decision over Lyco’s James Couturiaux in the 125 bout, reversing a 3-5 loss to Couturiaux a week earlier. Freshman Rich Pennisi then followed with a 4-1 win at the 133 card, fighting through a tender shoulder to help Messiah to an early 6-0 lead. Following a 1-9 defeat at the 141 weight class, Messiah ripped off four straight wins – two coming via major decision. Sophomore Mike Bressler (3-0 at 149), senior Craig Gin (10-1 at 157), freshman Matt Cross (13-2 at 165) and sophomore David Jones (4-3 at 174) helped the Falcons to a 20-4 lead, and after freshman Tim Stewart kept things close in a 0-4 loss at 184, the match was mathematically secured. “We gave devotions in the middle of this week and we talked about what it meant to be a Christian wrestler,” Brunk said. “We agreed that Christian wrestlers need to be prepared, disciplined, confident and unshakable. I thought, from top to bottom, we wrestled that way today. Even after the (team scoring) was wrapped up, you had (sophomore) Zane Bachert wrestling hard with 20 seconds left (in the 197 bout) to get a reversal. Even though he lost his match, he was wrestling to glorify God.” Perhaps the biggest upset of the evening came courtesy of Bressler, as the 149-pounder defeated Lycoming’s Mike Maurer by the aforementioned 3-0 difference. That win avenged a 2-8 loss to Maurer at the Whitehill Duals, giving the Warriors’ star just his third defeat in 15 matches. “We give kudos following every match, and it was tough to try and select just one or two guys after tonight,” Brunk said. “We went with Danny Lethbridge, who reversed his score from less than a week ago, Rich Pennisi, who pulled it together to beat a kid with his shoulder really hurting, and Bressler, who was just awesome tonight. But really, this was a true team win from top to bottom. Every single guy wreslted with maximum effort. And it wasn’t just the 10 guys on the mat tonight, but also their training partners who push them in practice every day.” Friday’s victory was Messiah’s first following 32 defeats to Lycoming. Brunk became the first of Messiah’ five program leaders to accomplish the task. Those facts were not lost on the team afterward. “We jumped around and celebrated in the wrestling room,” Brunk said following virtually no emotion from the team in Brubaker. “We tried to be discreet.” Messiah will next host its Messiah Open tomorrow, an individual tournament to be held in Hitchcock Arena. The team will then return to dual meet action Wednesday, when the Falcons will host third-ranked Delaware Valley College to Brubaker Auditorium. Match time is set for 7 p.m. Results: #27 Messiah College 20 over #24 Lycoming College 13 |
