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Messiah Knocks Off #29 Oneonta State In Vaunted North-South
Sophomore Tim Stewart went 2-0 on the day at the North-South Duals, as Messiah faced three ranked opponents.

Collegeville, PA — It was a literal who’s-who of NCAA Division III wrestling at Saturday’s North-South Duals at Ursinus College, as Messiah faced four nationally-ranked opponents — coming away with one team win and narrowly missing out on another.

The Falcons opened the day with a dominating 24-12 win over Oneonta State University — ranked 29th in the latest Brute/Adidas NWCA Top 30 Poll — before falling to fourth-ranked Ithaca College by a 33-6 count.

A 15-25 loss to sixth-ranked The College of New Jersey followed, while Messiah dropped a heartbreaking 15-22 decision to 18th-ranked U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to close the day — a match that may have been decided by a single misstep.

“It was a day of tough competition, no question,” said Bryan Brunk, Messiah head coach. “I was pleased with the guys’ efforts all day, really. I thought we wrestled physically and disciplined. We did some things that we really preach, and got some great wins as a result.”

Messiah (5-4) claimed five of those individual wins to open the match against Oneonta State, as a major decision from sophomore Danny Lethbridge helped spark a 21-0 Falcons’ lead through the 157-pound bout. Freshman Ryan Snead pinned the Red Dragons’ Richard Benigno in the 133-pound match, while senior Alex DeHart and sophomore Matt Cross each earned major decisions at 141 and 157, respectively.

Senior Domineak Commodore claimed an 8-4 win over Oneonta State’s Joey Hauser at 149 match, and Messiah cruised to the eventual 24-12 win.

“The highlight of that match was Snead’s pin,” Brunk said afterward. “He’s been struggling as of late, and that was a big win for him. To do it by a pin … that was really a big boost for the team.”

Brunk’s squad was unable to sustain much momentum against fourth-ranked Ithaca, though junior David Jones (174) and sophomore Tim Stewart (184) each claimed decisions in the team loss. Jones defeated the Bombers’ Josue Mendez by a 7-2 score, while Stewart topped Keith Dickie — an NCAA Division I transfer — by a 7-1 count.

“It was a close match until the middle of the second period, when Tim reversed him,” Brunk said. “Tim wrestled really well to get a big win.”

Messiah dropped a 15-25 decision to sixth-ranked TCNJ in the day’s third match, though Brunk said he was pleased with the club’s performance overall. A pin from Jones at 174 and a 6-2 decision from senior Trent Zempel at 165 paced the effort, while a default win from Commodore gave Messiah an additional six points at 149 — if not a sinking feeling for the opposition. Branham planted awkwardly following a second-period lift from Commodore, forfeiting the match by injury default.

A national qualifier from a year ago, Brunk said Branham’s knee injury looked “gruesome.”

“Probably one of the cooler things I’ve seen happened after the match, when we prayed with TCNJ,” Brunk said. “Branham came out and prayed with us. It was just a neat sight to see a young man have that kind of perspective in what was obviously a tough situation for him.”

Ironically, it was Commodore at the center of Messiah’s final match of the day, as the Harrisburg, Pa. native had a second-period lead over the Mariners’ Kevin Hartnet in the 149 bout. With just seconds remaining in the stanza, Commodore got turned and pinned, a crucial — and perhaps surprising — turn of events.

“It was a heartbreaker for Dom,” Brunk said. “He was in control and just got turned. When you consider that we lost 15-22, his match was really the difference. That was a nine-point swing. Still, we battled back at the end and gave ourselves a chance, which I was proud to see.”

Cross and Zempel led that effort, each knocking off nationally-ranked opponents in the 157- and 165-pound matches, respectively. Cross handed 10th-ranked Dan Twito a 6-1 defeat at 157, while Zempel rang up a 5-2 decision over eighth-rated Vincent Renault in the 165-pound match-up.

Cross was able to get on top of Twito early for the dominating win, while Zempel utilized a second-period reverse and a near fall to turn a 0-0 score at the end of the first period into the 5-2 win.

Following another win from Stewart at 184, Messiah trailed by just a 12-18 count going into the 197 bout, but Hopkins could not outgun Merchant Marine’s Eric Vincent, falling by a 12-0 decision.

“It was a pretty exciting dual with a lot of close matches,” Brunk said. “We had some big wins. Even when we didn’t come away on the winning side, I thought we put up a good showing. Danny Lethbridge finished 1-2 on the day, but he wrestled really tough all day. He battled back against in both of his final matches, getting down 4-1 to (Merchant Marine’s) Jordan Alfaro, who was a national qualififer last year, only to lose 6-3. In all, I was pleased with how we performed today. It was a chance to go against great competition, and that’s always a good thing.”

Messiah will return to the competitive mat next Friday, when the team will take part in the two-day Bud Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College. Wrestling is slated to begin at 9 a.m.