Feb. 6, 2009

BALTIMORE, MD - The 28th-ranked Messiah wrestling team won six of 10 bouts and got one pin and two major decisions to fuel a 23-17 victory over host Johns Hopkins at Goldfarb Gymnasium Friday night. The Falcons won four straight bouts in the middle of the match and then held off the Blue Jays late for the non-conference victory. Messiah improves to 9-10 overall, while Johns Hopkins falls to 4-7.

The Blue Jays led 7-3 after three matches, but the Falcons took control with consecutive victories at 149, 157, 165 and 174. Logan Putnam started the run with a 13-2 major decision victory over Mike Vecchiolo at 149 and Craig Gin followed by pinning William Selba late in the first period (2:27) to give the Falcons the lead for good at 13-7. An 8-2 win for David Jones over Eric Levenseller at 165 and a 13-3 major decision for Tim Stewart over Mickey Keane at 174 made it 20-7.

Johns Hopkins stopped the run at 184 as freshman Hector Cintron picked up his team-leading ninth major decision of the year with a 15-4 verdict over Nathan Deisem. Any hopes for a late rally by the Blue Jays were dashed at 197 as sophomore Tim Hopkins got a late four-point move to hold off senior Tyler Schmidt, 8-1. Johns Hopkins senior Matt Rugani closed the match with his seventh pin of the year at 285 as he needed just 2:14 to deck Zane Bachert.

The Blue Jays won two of the first three matches as freshman Michael Testa improved to 22-14 on the year with an 11-2 victory over Andrew Clark at 133 and sophomore Rocky Barilla followed with a 2-1 win over Alex DeHart at 141. The win is the 11th straight for Barilla, who improves to 24-10 on the year. Barilla's win would be the last for the Blue Jays until Cintron's major at 184.

#28 Messiah-23, Johns Hopkins-17 (Running Score)
125 - Danny Lethbridge (M) def. Adam Stevens (J), 9-2 (3-0)
133 - Michael Testa (J) def. Andrew Clark (M), major decision, 11-2 (3-4)
141 - Rocky Barilla (J) def. Alex DeHart (M), 2-1 (3-7)
149 - Logan Putnam (M) def. Mike Vecchiolo (J), major decision, 13-2 (7-7)
157 - Craig Gin (M) def. William Selba (J), fall (2:27) (7-13)
165 - David Jones (M) def. Eric Levenseller (J), 8-2 (7-16)
174 - Tim Stewart (M) def. Mickey Keane (J), major decision, 13-3 (7-20)
184 - Hector Cintron (J) def. Nathan Deisem (M), major decision, 15-4 (11-20)
197 - Tim Hopkins (M) def. Tyler Schmidt (J), 8-1 (11-23)
285 - Matt Rugani (J) def. Zane Bachert (M) fall (2:14) (17-23)

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