GRANTHAM, Pa. – Seniors Alexander Kramer and Matan Peleg advanced to the semifinals of their respective brackets at Messiah's annual Petrofes Invitational on Friday.
Peleg was particularly dominant in the 285-pound tournament, pinning all three of his opponents as he rampaged his way to a matchup with Springfield's Joe Fusco on Saturday. Peleg started by taking down West Virginia Tech's Noah Julian in 2:49, then handled Bridgewater State's Noah Disley in just 1:22 before pinning down Bergen CC's Ariel Salazar – who had won by fall in his first two bouts – in a span of 2:41.
Kramer continued his impressive start to the season with a trio of conquests at 149. The senior, who like Peleg fell just outside the top 10 in the latest d3wrestle.com rankings, won three straight bouts without conceding a single point to run his record to 13-2. Kramer posted back-to-back shutouts against Wilkes' Kevin Awo (18-0) and Messiah's Trent Johnson (15-0) to reach the quarterfinals, where he pinned Alderson Broaddus' Matt Harris in 4:29. Kramer will square off with Messiah's Stephen Maloney in Saturday's semifinals.
Senior Corey Markovitch (174) and junior Deon Edmund (184) each made it to the quarterfinals. Markovitch needed just 58 seconds to pin Travis Wickard of Messiah in the second round before bowing out to Mount Union's Nick Miller, who is listed in the 'honorable mention' section of the national rankings, via a 4-2 decision. The Bears' senior knocked off Mount Union's Rob Valenti, 7-2, in his first consolation match.
After receiving a bye to the second round, Edmund edged Mount Union's Michael Delsanter by a 9-6 count and lost by disqualification to Messiah's Derek Beitz in the quarterfinals.
Sophomore Edward Howlette won a match at 157, scoring a major decision (15-7) over Springfield's Nick Almonte before falling to nationally ranked Nicholas Racanelli of Wilkes.
Freshman Alfred Coradetti battled Wilkes' Matthew Grossman, the nation's 4th-ranked wrestler, in the first round of the 141-pound bracket, lasting 5:34 before Grossman registered a fall on his way to the semifinals. The Ursinus freshman made some noise in the consolation, pinning Springfield's Derek Bohle and rookie teammate Thomas Boldosser before surrendering a 12-2 major decision to Wilkes' Kyle Medrow.
Freshman Brandon Miller also picked up two consolation wins at 125. After ending up on the short end of an 8-7 decision in the main draw, Miller defeated Messiah's Austin Rice, 11-1, and felled Springfield's Brian Harvey.
Kramer and Peleg will shoot for titles tomorrow morning, with Kramer hunting his second tournament championship of the season.