GRANTHAM, Pa. – Jake Pooton (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) finished third at 197 to lead McDaniel to a seventh-place finish at the Messiah Invitational in season-opening wrestling action on Saturday.
The Green Terror finished with 40.5 points. The Falcons won their own invitational with 136 points, outdistancing second-place Elizabethtown by 50 points.
Freshman Jake Rendelman (Owings Mills, Md./Owings Mills) joined Pooton as a placewinner,l finishing fourth at 133 in his collegiate debut.
Pooton opened his day with a bye before edging Washington & Jefferson's Ezekiel Stroupe 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Kyle Koser recorded an 8-3 win over Pooton in the semifinals. Pooton won by major decision 10-2 over Timothy Bickle (Wheaton) to reach the third-place match, where he topped Nick Havener (Messiah), 8-4.
Rendelman debuted with four wins – all by fall. His collegiate career opened with a 2-minute, 30-second fall before he was pinned in the second period of the quarterfinal match by Liberty's Brian DiCesare. In the consolation bracket, Rendelman recorded three first-period pins, including two in the first minute of the match to reach the third-place match. DiCesare once again topped Rendelman, 8-5.
Erik Meyer (Fallston, Md./Archbishop Curley) and Marcos Mercado (Northampton, Mass./Hyde School Woodstock) each won three times at their respective weight classes.
Meyer opened his day at 165 with a 9-4 win before falling to the consolation bracket by the same score. He added victories of 7-4 and 3-2 before bowing out 8-3 a match shy of the third-place bout.
Mercado opened his day at 149 with a bye before notching a 32-second pin. He was edged 3-2 by Messiah's Adam Peris in the quarterfinals to fall to the consolation bracket, where he recorded a 2-minute, 9-second fall and an 8-5 win before falling by technical fall, 19-3.
Trey Mitchell (Lewes, Del./Caesar Rodney) also recorded a pair of wins at 149. After falling to the consolation bracket in his first match, he recorded pins of 4:03 and 1:01 before being ousted by Mercado.
Nathaniel Frantz (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven), Micklos Zahora (Ashburn, Va./Briar Woods), Wade Bishop (Greensboro, Md./North Caroline) and Nick Cross (Centreville, Md./Queen Annes County) all recorded 2-2 days in the season opener.
Both of Frantz's wins came in the consolation bracket at 125, winning 10-6 and 11-0.
Zahora, whose collegiate debut began with a bye at 141, notched a pair of wins to advance to the semifinals. He won 8-5 and 2-0.
Bishop started his day at 157 with a 7-2 win before also recording a 6-minute, 28-second fall in the consolation bracket.
Cross won by major decision 10-1 in his first bout at 184 before falling to the consolation bracket, where he was awarded a medical forfeit in his next bout.
Ricky Tisinger (Edinburg, Va./Stonewall Jackson) and Ronnie Wuest (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) each recorded one win at 174. Tisinger took an 8-5 decision while Wuest won, 3-0.
The Green Terror returns to action at home against Lycoming on Thursday. Match time is 7 p.m.
Team Scores: 1. Messiah (Me) 136, 2. Elizabethtown (E) 86, 3. Wheaton (W) 70.5, 4. Ursinus (U) 61, 6. Liberty (L) 58, 7. Washington & Jefferson (WJ) 46, 7. McDaniel (McD) 40.5, 8. Johns Hopkins (J) 27.5, 9. UMBC (UMBC) 21.5.
McDaniel Results: 125: Jacob Spearman (WJ) tech. fell Nathaniel Frantz 20-1, Frantz dec. Dominic Percell (WJ) 10-6, Frantz maj. dec. Daniel Smith (E) 11-0, Phil Torresani (E) dec. Frantz 4-0, Torresani pinned Tyler Zimmerman 2:38, Brandon Tran (J) maj. dec. Zimmerman 11-2; 133: Jake Rendelman pinned Marcus Stine (UMBC) 2:30, Brian DiCesare (L) pinned Rendelman 4:27, Rendelman pinned Turner Wilson (UMBC) 0:49, Rendelman pinned Josh Whitelaw (Me) 2:13, Rendelman pinned Hunter Harris (Me) 0:55, DiCesare dec. Rendelman 8-5; 141: Micklos Zahora dec. Matt Darok (Me) 8-5, Zahora dec. Eric Wales (W) 2-0, Adam Smith (E) tech. fell Zahora 18-0, Christian Hoogheem (U) dec. Zahora 14-8; 149: Marcos Mercado pinned Eddie Howlette (U) 0:32, Adam Peris (Me) dec. Mercado 3-2, Patrick Rowe (U) maj. dec. Trey Mitchell 18-7, Mitchell pinned Cory Obendorfer (Me) 4:03, Mitchell pinned Claudio Malicdem (J) 1:01, Mercado pinned Mitchell 2:09, Mercado dec. Logan Strope (WJ) 8-5, Stephen Beam (UMBC) tech. fell Mercado 19-3, Alex Kramer (U) tech. fell Clint Wright 16-0, Issac Podell (L) tech. fell Wright 16-1; 157: Wade Bishop dec. Mason Kemble (Me) 7-2, Trevor Meyers (WJ) dec. Bishop 12-5, Bishop pinned Noah Dean (WJ) 6:28, Logan Via (Me) maj. dec. Bishop 14-5, Samuel Florentino (WJ) pinned Miranda 6:35, William Korzeniewski (Me) pinned Miranda 3:32; 165: Erik Meyer dec. Sidique Furet (UMBC) 9-4, Ben Wise (Me) dec. Meyer 9-4, Meyer dec. Jared Forman (J) 7-4, Meyer dec. Dane Morgan (J) 3-2, Frank Aiello (W) dec. Meyer 8-3, Cody Richmond (L) maj. dec. Ronald Mattox 15-2, Zachary Goranson (U) maj. dec. Mattox 11-3; 174: AJ Cutrufello (U) pinned Marvin McKinney 4:17, Brandon Buckingham (UMBC) pinned McKinney 2:01, Tyler Hershey (Me) dec. Ronnie Wuest 3-1, Wuest dec. William Gilliam (J) 3-0, Cutrufello pinned Wuest 2:29, Karrington Washington (Me) pinned Ricky Tisinger 1:22, Tisinger dec. Rafi Sayada (E) 8-5, Quinn Ruble (E) pinned Tisinger 1:24; 184: Nick Cross maj. dec. Joshua Stencler (E) 10-1, Victor DeFrance (Me) pinned Cross 1:20, Cross med. for. David Smith (L), William Oberschelp (WJ) pinned Cross 0:53; 197: Jake Pooton dec. Ezekiel Stroupe (WJ) 3-2, Kyle Koser (Me) dec. Pooton 8-3, Pooton maj. dec. Timothy Blickle (W) 10-2, Pooton dec. Nick Havener (Me) 8-4, Blickle pinned Dominic States 0:57, Jason Bennett (U) pinned States 1:24; HWT: Evan Canaday (L) pinned Matthew Meagher 0:58, David Giovannacci (Me) pinned Meagher 1:22.
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