GRANTHAM, PA – Graduate student Joe Paul won the 174-pount title, senior Brent Lorin placed second at 133 and the Johns Hopkins wrestling team placed seventh at the 2022-23 season-opening Messiah Invitational on Saturday, The Blue Jays earned 63.5 points and placed second among the four Centennial Conference teams that competed.
 
Paul Notches 75^th Win En Route to TItle
Paul went 4-0 on the day to earn his title at 174.  He opened his final season with a pin of Washington & Lee's Thomas Lamb (3:09) and then won by decision against Liberty's Zachary Kaminski (6-3) and Elizabethtown's Ganon Smith (8-5) to advance to the final.  There, he met McDaniel's Michael Bromley, who he defeated, 3-1, in last season's Centennial title match.  In another evenly fought bout, it was Paul coming out with a narrow 2-1 win.  This is the second time Paul has won his weight class at the Messiah Invitational as he also won as a sophomore during the 2019-20 season.  His win over Bromley in the title match was also the 75^th of his career.
 
Lorin Places Second at 133
Senior Brent Lorin went 3-1 on the day and advanced to the title bout at 133 before falling by decision to place second.  He scored a pair of bonus-point wins with a first-period pin of W&L's Jack Bosco (1:21) and added a major decision of W&L's Isaiah Wilson (12-4) in the quarterfinals.  Lorin slipped past Etown's Braden Schuyler, 9-8, in the semifinals before falling to W&L's Evan Linder, 8-2.
 
Other Top Performers
Graduate student Jared Osborne and freshman Jake Hoffmann both advanced to the semifinals at 157 with three wins before battling back to the third-place match in the consolation bracket.  Hoffmann finished 5-1 on the day and placed third, while Osborne posted a 4-1 record and placed fourth after having to medical forfeit the third-place match to Hoffmann.
 
Senior Colin Vallis and junior Elliott Lee both went 2-2 at 184.  Vallis scored both of his wins by first period fall while Lee added a first period pin of his own.
 
What's Next
The Blue Jays will on Saturday, November 12, when they travel to Ursinus to participate in the Racich Rumble.