Wrestling

No. 4 Delaware Valley College 39, No. 23 Messiah College 9

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - In a battle of nationally-ranked teams, it was all Delaware Valley College as the fourth-ranked and host Aggies cruised to a 39-9 victory over No. 23 Messiah College.

Delaware Valley improved to 8-4 in dual meets with its only losses coming against the three teams ranked ahead of them in the national poll. The setback dropped the Falcons to 8-9 on the year.

The Aggies jumped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to back-to-back pins by Brandon Clemmer and Dan Hall. Clemmer (15-6) need just 1:43 to drop Josh Cragg (16-9) at 133 pounds while Hall, ranked second in Division III at 141, held a 10-6 lead before finishing Alex Dehart (9-9) for his 17th win (17-4) of the season.

Jesse Harrington, the sixth-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds, extended the Aggie advantage to 15-0 with a 5-4 victory over Craig Gin (22-7). The match was tied at 3-3 before Harrington (19-4) registered a takedown midway through the final period third period to break a 3-3 tie.

Messiah pulled to within 15-9 with wins at the next two weight classes. At 157, Delaware Valley's Ryan Herwig (14-8) held a 10-0 lead over Mike Bressler heading into the third period, but he was called for four consecutive stalls. The last, with just one second left on the clock, gave the match by disqualification to Bressler (18-9). Trent Zempel (22-3), ranked 10th in Division III at 157, followed with a 6-0 blanking of Greg Miele (11-8).

However, the Aggies won the final five matches to put the contest away. Brian Boudro (5-2) began the run with a late takedown and riding time for a 4-1 victory over David Jones (19-11) at 174 pounds.

A quartet of nationally-ranked wrestlers then hit the mat for Delaware Valley and the results were a pin, two technical falls and a major decision. Mike Wilcox, ranked second at 184, dominated Matt McHugh (10-13), en route to a 20-4 technical fall victory to up his record to 16-2. Joe West, ranked ninth at 197, improved to 18-6 with a 12-4 major decision over Dando Speers (6-12) that gave officially clinched the win for the Aggies at 27-9.

Kyle Bilquist didn't need much time to win his 18th match in 19 tries as the second-ranked wrestler at heavyweight pinned Eli Arbaiza (0-15) in just 30 seconds. Chris Sheetz, ranked 10th at 125 pounds, won his team-best 23rd match (23-5) as he led 11-2 before pinning Bryce Stever (9-12) in 4:38.

Delaware Valley will host another nationally-ranked squad on Friday, January 25 (7:00 p.m.) as No. 27 Wilkes University travels to Doylestown.

DELAWARE VALLEY COLLEGE 39, MESSIAH COLLEGE 9
133: Brandon Clemmer (DVC) by fall over Josh Cragg, 1:43 (6-0 DVC)
141: Dan Hall (DVC) by fall over Alex Dehart, 6:16 (12-0 DVC)
149: Jesse Harrington (DVC) by decision over Craig Gin, 5-4 (15-0 DVC)
157: Mike Bressler (M) by disqualification over Ryan Herwig, 6:59 (15-6 DVC)
165: Trent Zempel (M) by decision over Greg Miele, 6-0 (15-9 DVC)
174: Brian Boudro (DVC) by decision over David Jones, 4-1 (18-9 DVC)
184: Mike Wilcox (DVC) by technical fall over Matt McHugh, 20-4; 5:12 (23-9 DVC)
197: Joe West (DVC) by major decision over Dando Speers, 12-4 (27-9 DVC)
Hwt: Kyle Bilquist (DVC) by fall over Eli Arbaiza, 0:30 (33-9 DVC)
125: Chris Sheetz (DVC) by fall over Bryce Stever, 4:38 (39-9 DVC)
Exhibition 157: Jake Phillips (DVC) by decision over Michael Hojnacki, 5-2
* Match began at 133 pounds