GRANTHAM, Pa. – Terry Adams won an individual title in his collegiate debut and four of his teammates picked up top-three finishes as the Ursinus College wrestling team placed second in a thoroughly impressive debut for new head coach Joe Jamison at the Messiah Invitational.
Adams took home the crown at 125 pounds for the Bears, who racked up 81 team points to finish behind the host Falcons. Shawn Marchesano (149) and Gary Nagle (174) grabbed runner-up finishes, with Kyle Seibert (133) and Kyle Schaffer (184) taking third.
Adams etched his name into the record books with a remarkable run that made him the first Ursinus grappler to collect top billing at the Messiah opener since Derek Arnold – also making his collegiate debut – did it six years ago to the day. The rookie opened his morning with a 17-2 technical fall against Ethan Greenburg of Gettysburg before advancing to the semifinals via a 19-11 defeat of Wheaton's Brendan Johnston. Adams pinned Elizabethtown's Austin Jones to gain the title bout, where he edged out a 5-4 decision against Messiah's Sean Redington, a 2018 NCAA qualifier.
Adams' fellow freshman Romeo Rodriguez also impressed in his 125-pound debut, going 3-2 with three pins and reaching the consolation semifinals.
Marchesano nearly made it a pair of first-year champions with a big run at 149. He cruised into the semifinals with a major decision and a technical fall, then downed Messiah's Nick Nunez, 7-1, to push his way into the final. Marchesano took Messiah's Nick Barnhart to the wire before coming up just short in a 12-10 battle.
Nagle defeated McDaniel's Micharl Bromley, 11-6, and pinned Grant Walnoha of Johns Hopkins to set up a championship bout at 174, bowing to Hopkins' Joe Paul in a 6-2 decision.
Seibert lost his opening bout at 133 but rolled off four consecutive victories in the wrestlebacks to claim third place. He scored a major decision against Gettysburg's Cooper Leszczuk and posted back-to-back pins against McDaniel's Steve Pabon and Nicholas Malinowski before scraping past Elizabethtown's Zach Rupp, 5-4, in the consolation final.
Schaffer, meanwhile, started with an 11-1 defeat of McDaniel's Nick Parsons and a 7-4 victory over Liberty's Ethan Martin. He was pinned by eventual champion Isaac Odell of Wheaton in the semifinals, but recovered to drop Messiah's Spencer Clements and Elizabethtown's Dayne Ross in consecutive bouts to finish third.
Jake Folk made the semifinals at 157, using an 8-4 decision against McDaniel's Raymond Kable to reach the final four, where he was forced to default with an injury.
Jason Zollers notched a pair of pins at 165, while Jason Carter won two consolation matches at 197.
The Bears host their annual Fall Brawl tournament next Saturday.