Wrestling Places 8th at Messiah Petrofes Invitational

GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Bridgewater State University wrestling team placed eighth (58.5 points) out of 12 teams at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational this weekend.  Cortland State captured the team title with 165.5 points followed by Wilkes University with 159.5.

After posting a pair of wins on Friday, sophomore TJ Vallee (Augusta, Maine) edged second-seeded Carl Korpi of Cortland, 3-2, to advance to the 197-pound title match.  The third-seeded Vallee lost in the championship bout by fall to number one seed Jared Myhrberg of Cortland to finish in second place in the bracket.

Sophomore Ricky Caruso (Waltham, Mass.) had the next best showing for the Bears as he placed fifth overall at heavyweight with a 4-2 record.  Caruso won two bouts on Saturday with a medical forfeit victory in the fifth place match.

Sophomore Jonathan Murray (Bay Shore, N.Y.) finished in seventh place out of the 125-pound weight class as he posted a record of 5-2 over the weekend.  Murray defeated Victor Ekpenyong of Simpson College in the seventh place match on Saturday.

Senior 184-pounder Michael Fenner (Bergenfield, N.J.) also placed seventh for the Bears.  Fenner went 4-2 at the tournament with a 10-4 triumph over Michael Williams of Ursinus College in Saturday's seventh-place bout.