Wheeler’s second-place showing highlights Flames wrestling matches at Messiah

Saturday, February 8

Grantham, PA

TBD

Liberty University Club Sports

Messiah Open

Men's wrestling group photo Messiah recap

Junior heavyweight Wade Wheeler (second from right) and 133-pound wrestler Chase Arnestad (second from left) were among the Flames' top place-winners at the Messiah Open..

Wheeler’s second-place showing highlights Flames wrestling matches at Messiah

2/9/2025 12:09:00 AM | Men's Wrestling

Liberty also had a sixth-, seventh-, and eight-place finisher in the regular-season-ending tournament in Pennsylvania.

Several members of Liberty University's men's wrestling team concluded regular-season action at the same location where they started it in November, at the Messiah Open in Grantham, Pa. More than 25 teams were represented in the tournament, the sequel to the Messiah Invitational on Nov. 2, when the Flames featured two fourth-place finishers.

Junior heavyweight Wade Wheeler racked up 18 team points with his runner-up showing the highest finish of any of the Flames. He won his first four matches before being forced to withdraw with a medical forfeit in his final against Alvernia (Pa.) University's Mauro Pellot-Vazquez.

In his opening match, Wheeler scored a 2-1 decision over Franklin & Marshall's Jake Rickett before scoring a 4-1 sudden victory over Alvernia's Owen Reber to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he pinned Messiah's Nathaniel Manarin in 5:21 before winning another 4-1 decision over Wilkes (Pa.) University's Trevor Gitski.

Flames 197-pound senior Gabe Hayes suffered a medical forfeit in his fifth-place final against Marymount (Va.) University's Mohammed Fofana after advancing to the consolation semifinals with back-to-back major decisions against Luke Theis (8-0) and Alejandro Camarena (11-2), both of The College of New Jersey.

Flames freshman Zachary Cummings placed eighth in that same weight class after needing just 39 seconds to pin Fofana and suffering a 21-5 technical fall loss to USMAPS' Brenton Russell. Cummings then pinned Wilkes' Logan Cerchiaro in 3:35 before Fofana avenged his loss with a 17-2 technical fall in their rematch.

At 133 pounds, Flames junior Chase Arnestad finished seventh with an impressive run through the consolation bracket after opening competition with a 17-2 technical fall defeat at the hands of Franklin & Marshall's James Garcia.

Arnestad needed just 13 seconds to pin his opponent, Alvernia's Anthony Astorino, in his next match before winning by fall in 4:20 and being pinned in 2:34 to advance to the seventh-place final. There, he scored a 15-0 tech fall over Marymount's Joseph Custodio.

Flames 133-pound freshman Rcey Ortega earned 4 team points by winning his first two matches, by fall in 4:37 over Joshua Mendez and 7-3 decision over Wilkes' Pravith Siriwardhana.

Liberty 184-pound junior Zach Kaminsky earned 4.5 team points with his 57-second pin of Flames freshman teammate Paul Moore and 15-0 technical fall over Wilkes' Patrick Gordon. Similarly, 174-pound freshman Ronnie Black scored 4.5 points with a 14-3 major decision over Colorado State's Tyler Woodworth and 21-5 tech fall over Wilkes' Jared Bilinski.

The Flames have three weeks to prepare for the March 2 Mid-Atlantic Conference tournament at the LaHaye Multipurpose Center, a qualifier for the March 13-15 NCWA Grand Nationals in Bossier, La.