Falcons Win Empire Conference Championships
January 19, 2013

 

Cortland, NY - The No. 15 Messiah College wrestlers have won the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships this year hosted by SUNY-Cortland. It is the first time ever that the Falcons have been victorious in any conference they have participated in.

The final team score for Messiah was 133 points, overtaking No. 11 Ithaca College who had 130.5 points.

This year the tournament format allowed for each school to have two wrestlers compete in each weight class with the highest performing wrestler getting points for the team.

Some of the Falcon wrestlers did not compete in the tournament due to minor injury or the flu. At 125 lbs. there were no wrestlers competing for Messiah for those reasons.

Junior Kyle Coblentz took over in the 133 lbs. weight class, becoming a conference champion. He started out strong with a tech. fall over David Occhipinti of SUNY-Cortland, 17-2. From there it was three decisions that got him the win.

"He has had a back-and-forth career," said head coach Bryan Brunk about Coblentz." But lately he has showed total mental toughness and his wrestling is impressive."

The 141 lbs. weight class saw the absence of nationally ranked wrestler Kaleb Loht. Freshman Alex Gosch is the other 141 lbs. wrestler for Messiah; he went 0-2 in the tournament.

Junior Chris Williamson was the lone wrestler for the Falcons at 149 lbs. Last weekend he went undefeated at the Budd Whitehill Duals. His first bout resulted in a pin in his favor at 2:05. He won the next match but then lost to send him to the consolation bracket. From there he won out to achieve a 3rd place finish in the tournament.

Senior Josh Bressler and sophomore Jake English competed at 157 lbs. Bressler went 1-2 in the tournament while English started out with a pin and wrestled for the top spot. Unfortunately he lost that match but holds the title of 2nd in the conference.

At 165 lbs. sophomores Kalann Washington and Kyle Dayhoff both had off days, going 0-2 in the tournament.

Freshman Jeremy Bailes and junior Stephen Cannon competed at 174 lbs. Bailes went 2-2 in the tournament, one of his wins coming by way of pin at 6:38. Cannon first had a bye, pinned his next opponent at 1:20, and won his semifinal bout with a 9-2 decision. He acquired the title of 2nd in the conference when he lost the final match against Doliscar from Ithaca.

The 184 lbs. weight class was dominated by freshman Josh Thomson who still only has one loss on the season. He took down all three of his opponents leading up to the championship match by pinning them. Then in the final bout, he faced the only opponent he has lost to this season, Will Parks of SUNY-Cortland. It was a tight, back-and-forth fight but he avenged the previous loss and took the championship title in a 3-2 decision.

Yet another strong weight class for Messiah was at 197 lbs. Freshman Jason Wright went 3-2 to achieve 5th place in the conference while senior Travis Ebersole acquired another 2nd place finish, going 2-1 on the day with a pin in his first win.

The fourth 2nd place finish for a Falcon in the tournament came from junior Charles Jones at 285 lbs. His three matches leading up to the final included two pins and a major decision. The ultimate loss was in a 3-0 decision. Sohpomore Evan Canady also competed in the heavyweight class but unfortunately it was a winless tournament for him.

The first ever conference title for the Falcons looks like this: two conference champions, four conference runner-ups, one third place finsher, and one fifth place finisher. Eight wrestlers in total getting conference honors in seven different weight classes.

"The team is really firing on all cylinders right now," said head coach Bryan Brunk. "We have really put it all together these last couple of weeks."

It is a great victory for the Falcons who are having an outstanding year so far. The win is somewhat bittersweet though; this year, a performance in the ECWC Championships does not qualify a wrestler for the NCAA Tournament. Although with the way this team has been doing, that shouldn't be an issue moving forward.

The next match for the team is this Friday, Jan. 25, for a home dual against Waynesburg College. They also have a home tournament the next day, Jan. 26.





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