The Falcons entered Sunday with eight wrestlers still active, including five in the Championship brackets. By the end of the day six Falcons were still standing, giving them the second-most qualifications in program history behind the seven from last year.
The Mideast Championship came in somewhat dominating fashion as they were the only team to score more than 100 points, qualify four for championship final bouts, or win three individual championships.
Six Falcons -- Lucas Malmberg (125), Hunter Harris (133), Larry Cannon (165), Ben Swarr (174), Derek Beitz (184), and Kyle Koser (197) -- will now train in preparation of the National Championship that are scheduled for Mar. 10-11 in La Crosse, Wis.
Four for Four
Lucas Malmberg has been one of the best wrestlers in the nation for four years running, and he proved as much once again with a terrific showing on Sunday to qualify for his fourth-straight NCAA Championships. The senior earned a fall (3:59) over Nick Mancini of Mount Union in the Regional Semifinal, guaranteeing himself the qualification. He forfeited the title bout to Jonathan Haas of Brockport so as to not risk injury.
Malmberg, who is the defending National Champion at 125 and also a two-time National Runner-Up in the same weight class, is now 40-3 overall this season.
We'll Give You One Guess
Hunter Harris was one of three Falcons in the Consolation bracket on Sunday, and he needed to win three times to finish in third place for 133. He started off his day with a 6-4 decision over Pankil Chander of Wilkes, and he followed that up with a 10-3 win over Bryan Pflanz of Elizabethtown to advance into the third place match.
With a National Championship qualification on the line against Charlie Nash of Baldwin Wallace, Harris earned an early takedown near the edge of mat for a 2-0 lead. Moments later Harris did what he had done 31 times prior: pinned his opponent.
The sudden roll behind of Nash led to a quick and exciting pin from the official, and Harris leaped in celebration of his first-ever trip to the Nationals. He now has 32 falls on the year, a number that continues lead all of NCAA Division I, II, or III wrestlers.
Locked and Loaded for La Crosse
After plowing his way through Day One (fall, major, major) Larry Cannon earned a terrific 7-6 decision over Tyler Hardtke of John Carroll. The senior Falcon was trailing late in the bout 6-5 but scored an exciting takedown with 20 seconds left in the third period to win by a single point.
Cannon rode that momentum into the 165 Final where he took a 6-0 lead over No. 5 Nolan Barger of Lycoming. Cannon's nearfall gave him that 6-0 advantage, but it also forced Barger to bow out of the remaining time with an upper-body injury.
Cannon's Regional win qualified him for his second-straight National Championships. He finished as an All-American in fourth place last season.
Unblemished Title Run
The most dominant weekend undoubtedly belonged to Messiah's Ben Swarr at 174. The defending National Champion received a bye through yesterday's First Round and then scored three-straight tech falls to qualify for the Regional Championship bout. In that final against No. 7 Tory Cain of RIT Swarr won by forfeit, and he finished the two-day event with an incredible 48-0 combined score against his opponents.
Beitz-Sized Effort
Derek Beitz needed three wins on Sunday to survive the 184 Consolation bracket, and two decisions put him in the Consolation Final against Nicholas Greenquist of RIT. In a must-watch third place match Beitz scored an early takedown to go up 2-0, and in the second period he appeared to score an escape to increase his lead. But the officials rule the two wrestlers out of bounds before the escape, and Beitz was forced down again in the restart. He was locked up after the whistle, but a quick reversal gave him two more points for a 4-0 advantage.
In the final period Beitz was leading 6-2 and a late takedown of Greenquist sealed the bout, which eventually finished 8-4.
The win for Beitz qualified him for his first-ever trip to the National Championships.
Last But Not Least
Kyle Koser was Messiah's sixth-and-final qualifier for the National Championships. He won his Semifinal match 5-2, and then scored three takedowns in the 197 Final to win 7-1 over Triston Engle of Brockport. The win gave Koser an NCAA qualification for the second-straight season.
The Harsh Side of Competition
Both Jeff Hojnacki (157) and Nick Havener (285) entered Sunday's competition, but they each were eliminated from their bracket. Hojnacki, an All-American last season that has worked back from injury in the recent month, lost in the Semifinal to Nicholas Racanelli of Wilkes by a 13-2 decision. Racanelli was an NCAA qualifier last season and entered this weekend with a 31-7 record, so the bout wasn't exactly an upset.
The loss to Racanelli sent Hojancki into the Consolation bracket where he was upset by Dempsey King of RIT. A sophomore with a team-leading 23 wins, King finished sixth at the Regional last season and he dealt Hojnacki a crushing 2-0 decision. The points came early by way of a takedown, and Hojnacki couldn't recover late to even the score.
King went on to win third place for the NCAA qualification.
Like Hojnacki, Havener was also eliminated, but his final appearance came in the critical third place match. He faced off with Gabriel Mahaney of Baldwin Wallace, and an escape by Mahaney in the second period put Havener in a 1-0 hole.
The score remained 1-0 deep into the third period as Havener struggled to score his own escape from Mahaney's hold. In the final period Mahaney was warned for stalling, and Havener finally scored an escape point with just over 10 seconds remaining to even it up, 1-1. But his desperate attempts to score were turned away, and the riding time point was the difference for the first-time NCAA qualifier from Baldwin Wallace.
Hojnacki finished the season with a 31-8 record, while Havener finished 20-11 overall.
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