GRANTHAM, Pa. – Seniors
Colin Kowalski (Derwood, Md./Georgetown Prep) and
Paul Triandafilou (Derwood, Md./Georgetown) each picked up wins as the Gettysburg College wrestling team closed the opening semester with a 33-6 loss to Messiah College.
Messiah (3-2) won each of the first six bouts on the way to a 24-0 lead. Following a forfeit at 125 by Gettysburg (3-1), the Falcons won the next five matches by decision, including a razor-thin 6-5 result at 141 pounds between Nick Nunez and sophomore
Sean Thompson (Plainsboro, N.J./West-Windsor Plainsboro South). The two wrestlers entered the third period tied, but Nunez broke the deadlock with an escape. Thompson grabbed Nunez's leg in the final seconds, but was unable to complete the move before the buzzer.
Kowalski put the Bullets on the board with a 6-3 decision over Dan Swarr, who finished second at the Petrofes Invitational last weekend, at 174. The Gettysburg senior seized the lead with a takedown in the first period and tacked on an escape and a takedown to pull ahead 4-1 in the third. Swarr managed a reversal, but the riding time point clinched the three-point win and moved Kowalski's record to 15-2.
Triandafilou closed out the match with a 4-1 win over Denny Karas in the heavyweight bout. Ranked seventh in the nation coming into the contest, the Gettysburg grappler took over the second period with an escape and takedown. Karas picked up his lone point on an escape in the third and Triandafilou added his final tally via the riding time advantage. The senior improved to 13-1 this season.
Gettysburg is off from action until Jan. 5 when members of the team will compete at the Washington & Lee University Invitational and the Waynesburg University Invitational.
| Messiah 33, Gettysburg 6 |
GC-MC |
| 125: Jordan Howard (MC) won by forfeit |
0-6 |
| 133: Dalton Daugherty (MC) dec. Jordan Pinette (GC), 10-3 |
0-9 |
| 141: Nick Nunez (MC) dec. Sean Thompson (GC), 6-5 |
0-12 |
| 149: Stephen Maloney (MC) dec. Colin Devlin (GC), 7-4 |
0-15 |
| 157: Lee Cassel (MC) dec. Ray Martin (GC), 7-2 |
0-18 |
| 165: David Stevens (MC) pinned Tristan Chen (GC), 6:27 |
0-24 |
| 174: Colin Kowalski (GC) dec. Dan Swarr (MC), 6-3 |
3-24 |
| 184: Victor DeFrance (MC) dec. Dan Ebert (GC), 8-4 |
3-27 |
| 197: Joe Embleton (MC) pinned Mike Iodice (GC), 4:24 |
3-33 |
| 285: #7 Paul Triandafilou (GC) dec. Denny Karas (MC), 4-1 |
6-33 |
