Ephs Go 1-2 On Day 1 at Budd Whitehill Duals

WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Williams College wrestling team, ranked eighth in New England, had three matches on the first day of the prestigious two-day Budd Whitehill Duals hosted by Lycoming College. The Ephs faced one team from New York, one from Pennsylvania, and one from Indiana.

Entering to day the Ephs were 1-0 on the year, but by day's end the Ephs' record had slipped to 2-2.

"We really got what we came for today," said Eph head coach Scott Honecker. "Messiah and SUNY Cortland are both top 10 caliber teams. Our guys were put in situations that we just can't replicate in the practice room and this has been a great growing experience for our young team." 

In their first match the Ephs were paired against SUNY Cortland. The Red Dragons jumped out to 11-0 lead by winning two major decisions and a decision to open the match.

Eph sophomore Alex Pankhurst came close to putting the Ephs on the scoreboard at 149, however, he lost in the first sudden victory session, 10-8, to Matt Caputo.

It was not until the eighth bout of the match that the Ephs got on the scoreboard. Senior captain Chris Chorzepa, a three-time NCAA Qualifier, notched a 12-0 major decision over SUNY Cortland's Brenden Nunziata to give Williams four points.

SUNY Cortland prevailed over Williams (1-1) 40-4.

Nationally ranked Messiah College (#11) was the Ephs' second opponent. In their first round match Messiah defeated Trine University 42-4.

Messiah downed the Ephs 40-3 and with the defeat the Eph season record fell to 1-2.

Against Messiah the Ephs were able to win but one bout as well. Again, it was senior Chris Chorzepa who emerged victorious. Chorzepa at 184 defeated Derek Beitz 9-7.

Also mirroring the first match of the day, the next most competitive match by an Eph was at 149. This time it was first year Yo Akiyama who lost a 6-5 decision to Adam Peris.

Messiah vs Williams College

Williams closed out the Friday portion of the Budd Whitehill Duals with a match against Trine University from Angola, Ind.

Trine forfeited the first three weight classes to spot the Ephs an 18-0 lead.

After Alex Pankhurst lost 11-8 at 149, senior Gabe Corrohano recorded an 11-2 major decision over Nick Miller to give Williams a 22-3 lead.

Trine claimed wins at 165 and 174 to close within 13, down 22-9, heading into the 184 bout.

The Ephs, however, responded by notching three conseucitve falls to close out the match.

Chris Chorzepa at 184 opened the Eph lead to 19, 28-9, when he pinned JayCee Jensen in 6:46. 

Senior Martin Strenk at 197 followed Chorzepa with a pin of his own at 1:51, defeating Anthony Neal, and upping the score to 34-9 in the Ephs' favor. 

First year heavyweight Nicholas Beauchamp closed out the match for Willams with a pin of Marcus Nicholson in 1:52 to make the final score 40-9 in the Ephs' favor.

With the win the Ephs moved to 2-2 on the year. "It was good to cap off the day with a win over Trine," added Honecker. "We have a big day tomorrow, opening with Waynesburg. They have a tough lineup and we will need to get in a good warm-up to kick off the day wrestling at our best."

Saturday Williams will compete in the 9-12 bracket, where they will face Waynesburg University (PA) at 9:00 a.m.