MoTW: Messiah Petrofes Invitational

The Petrofes Tournament at Messiah has quietly become a top Division III tournament over the past few years. After many years at Lebanon Valley College, the tournament shifted to Messiah College for the 2000-2001 season when Lebanon Valley dropped wrestling. Named for long time Lebanon Valley coach Jerry Petrofes, the 2007 edition features four ranked teams in #4 Heidelberg, #14 Cortland, #15 Brockport, and #27 Oneonta.

The 165 weight class should be the toughest, with a lot of top talent and great depth throughout the weight. #2 Shaheim Bradshaw (Brockport), #4 Zach Bogardus (Cortland), #7 Ian Rammel (Heidelberg), #8 Jake Tyler (Springfield), and #9 Trent Zempel (Messiah) should all be wrestling tomorrow, and there are a number of talented wrestlers in the next tier down like Aaron Jon Henry (Heidelberg) and Anthony Boniello (W&L) looking to play the spoiler role and make names for themselves going into the holiday break.

At 125, Cortland’s Peppy Cabrera is coming off a win over #6 Mike McInally of RIT two weeks ago an a championship at Oneonta where he defeated Oneonta’s Erik Johanson in the finals. Hainey of Brockport should also contend.

133 has the top ranked wrestler and defending national champ Dave Morgan from King’s. Morgan was upset at Petrofes last year by Eddie Petroskey of Mount Union, coming back to beat him for third. Stephen Kingsland of Ursinus is coming off a 2nd place finish at the Fall Brawl. Fechko of Heidelberg pinned Petroskey earlier this week, and Colagiovanni of Cortland won at Oneonta.

#6 Nick Sanchez of Heidelberg highlights 141, with the 9-1 Joey Widrick of Cortland and 2007 National Qualifier Billy Hall of Muhlenberg right behind.

2006 All-American Paul LeBlanc heads the field at 149, with national qualifiers Matt Shank (Gettysburg) and Rob Kein (Muhlenberg) also to earn high seeds. Gin (Messiah) was 2nd to Kein at King’s and 2nd to Cole (Johns Hopkins) at Messiah’s opening invitational.

2007 National qualifier Andrew Goldstein (Gettysburg) and 2006 qualifier Donald Williams (Brockport) top 157. Perry (Springfield) was a finalist at Springfield, while Bressler (Messiah) won at Messiah and sits at 8-2 on the year.

174 has #5 Eric Van Patten of Brockport and #9 Josh Wake of Oneonta along with Corey Barber of Cortland who defeated Wake at Oneonta. Jones (Messiah), Fitch (Muhlenberg), and Barrese (Kings) should also be here.

At 184, All-American #4 Treavor LeBlanc of Cortland is off to a pretty good start along with fellow national qualifiers #10 Eric Fishel (Johns Hopkins) and Elliot Smith (Springfield). Horn (Muhlenberg) has yet to lose, and there are several other wrestlers at the next level down.

197 has #7 Ryan Fogliano (Heidelberg), along with Schmidt (Johns Hopkins), and Christopher (W&L).

All-American #2 Trevor Hiffa is the class of 285, but national qualifier Joe Tartar of Muhlenberg will be here as well Christopher (Gettysburg), who has wins over Murphy (Cortland) and Williams (Ursinus) who will also be here. Bowers and Brubeck of Heidelberg could also place high.

Messiah Petrofes Invitational
November 30th & December 1st
Hitchcock Arena at Messiah College

Teams: SUNY Cortland, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Oneonta, Heidelberg, Mt.Union, Springfield, Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins, Ursinus, Muhlenberg, Washington & Lee, King’s College, Messiah

Update 10:37PM: Dave Morgan (King’s), Nick Sanchez (Heidelberg), Andrew Goldstein (Gettysburg), and Treavor LeBlanc (Cortland) are all late scratches. Each was set to be the #1 seed at his weight but will not compete this weekend.