GRANTHAM, Pa. -- The Bridgewater State University wrestling team competed during the opening day of the prestigious Messiah Petrofes Invitational on Friday in Grantham, Pennsylvania.

Five BSU grapplers advanced to Saturday led by sophomore 184-pounder Edwin Morales. Morales won both of his bouts by fall, including a quarterfinal round pin of David Galasso of Penn College, and will take on Jimmy Fratantoni of Muhlenberg in the championship semifinals.

Junior 165-pounder Fox Maxwell (Winchester, Mass.) won his first two bouts by tech. fall (19-0) and pin (2:05) before falling to Michael McIntire of Mount Union in the quarterfinals. McIntire is listed as a contender in the latest d3wrestle.com rankings. Maxwell bounced back with a 2-1 overtime sudden victory over Chris Anderson of Mount Union in the consolation round. He will take on Kade Kravits of King's College in the consolation quarterfinals.

Sophomore heavyweight Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.) posted a win by fall in just 11 seconds in his first bout and followed that up with a 4-0 triumph. Higgins then dropped a tough 8-2 decision to Carter Urich of Messiah in the quarterfinals before bouncing back with a 3-1 win over Ryan Weitz of Alderson Broaddus in the consolation round. He will take on Alex Brunner of Southern Virginia in the consolation quarterfinals. 

Sophomore Wilson Gomes (Fogo, Cape Verde) and freshman Ian Forgitano (Georgetown, Mass.) each went 2-1 out of the 125-pound weight class and will compete in the consolation quarterfinals from opposite sides of the bracket. Gomes, who's lone setback was to #9 ranked Sean Reddington of host Messiah, will take on Noah Hodges of Alderson Broaddus, while Forgitano will face Jordan Howard of Messiah.

Senior 184-pounder Henry Oberlander (Mansfield, Mass.) picked up a win by fall (2:21) followed by a 9-6 decision victory before falling to #8 ranked Anthony Wuest of McDaniel in the quarterfinal round. In the consolation quarterfinals, Oberlander was edged by Jared Mooney of Penn College by a high-scoring margin of 19-14.

The Bears are currently in ninth place (50 pts.) out of 19 teams after the first day of competition.