VIRGINIA BEACH - The Apprentice School hosted its first Builder Invitational since January 2020 Sunday, winning the team title with a total of 206 points. Seven Builders claimed gold, winning their respective weight classes. Surging NCWA rivals Toledo was second with 106 points, followed by the inaugural squad from NCAA Division III Marymount University with 85.
The 125 pound bracket was nearly swept by Builders. Bruno Alves continued his dominance of the division, winning the title without surrendering a single point. After a first round bye, Bruno reeled off a quick 18-0 tech fall over Patrick Henry CC just after the two minute mark to advance to the finals. In the championship bout, he pinned Noah Hodges of Alderson Broaddus in 1:18. Fellow Apprentice Caleb Olgers nearly made it an all Apprentice final after mounting a late comeback vs Hodges in his semifinal, falling 10-7. Olgers would bounce back for third place, finishing the day 3-1 with two pins and a major decision.
Junior Dillon Messick won what was easily the most exciting championship bout of the day, claiming the title at 133 pounds. In a rematch of a 19-2 tech fall loss to top-ranked Kaden Blair of Toledo, Messick forced a 1-1 match through seven minutes of regulation and two minutes of overtime. He earned a late reversal during an ultimate tiebreaker to claim his second Builder Invitational crown. On his way to the finals, Messick recorded a pair of technical falls, including his second win over eighth ranked Kyle Hansberger of James Madison.
Jordan Robins was able to get redemption of his own, avenging a December loss to Mateo Hernandez of Marymount in the 141 finals with a narrow 3-2 decision. Jordan advanced to the finals with a dominant 15-0 tech fall over RPI, and a 9-3 decision over the South Carolina wrestler in his first bout. This was Robins first tournament gold in collegiate competition.
Sophomore Zach Ortega overcame his mid-season slump, also winning his first tournament title at 149 pounds. Zach was unchallenged in his bracket, dominating both contested bouts via technical fall over Marymount and RPI.
Freshman David Norris was second at 157 pounds, falling to fourth ranked Zach Snyder of Toledo in the finals. Norris put the first points on the board with an escape and a takedown to go up 3-0 in the second period. He was unable to hold on the lead after four consecutive takedowns from Snyder to lose, 9-5. He advanced to the finals with a quick pin over Liberty and a 5-0 decision over Marymount in the semifinal.
It was an all Apprentice final at 165 pounds with both Landon Kissell and Ethan Baker sweeping the field. Kissell would win his first tournament title of his career, as Baker conceded via forfeit in the finals. Kissell dominated his way to the finals with three consecutive pins over Toledo, Liberty and JMU. After a first round bye, Baker found a 6-2 decision over Liberty in the quarterfinal. In his semifinal, Ethan rallied back from an early injury to find a pin at 2:04 over Alderson Broaddus.
Apprentice won its final two titles with Caleb Hartung and Peter Cortapasso winning at 235 and Heavyweight. Hartung advanced to the finals with a quick pin over Patrick Henry before securing a 6-2 decision in the finals over Alderson Broaddus in the finals for his first collegiate gold. Cortapasso won one of the smaller, yet most talent stacked, brackets of the day with three top 10 NCWA wrestlers in the field. After a quick 30 second pin over JMU, Cortapasso won by injury default in his semi-final over Liberty. A big second period throw gave him the 9-4 advantage in the finals over Alderson Broaddus for his second Builder Invite crown since 2019.
With those three wins, Cortapasso's career total now sits at 97 tying him for 10th all-time in Apprentice School history. His 63 career pins are already third all-time.
Raya Sessoms saw plenty of action as well, winning all four bouts in women's extra matches. She improved to 5-3 on the season in her first folkstyle action of her career. Raya is now 4-0 against NCWA competition.
Other notable performances included: Drew Porter was 2-2 at 133 pounds to place fifth. AJ Deutel was sixth at 157 pounds, recording a pin and only falling to the eventual champion from Toledo, 9-8. Owen Schuller was 2-2 at 174 pounds with a pin and 14-7 decision. Rhys Carlson finished fifth at 174 with a pin and three decisions, including a 14-12 come from behind win in sudden victory. Matthew Henson was third at 184 pounds with three pins. Jordan Watson was fourth at 235 pounds with a pin. DJ Uribes was fourth at heavyweight with a pin and a forfeit.
The Builders will travel to Marymount University for a tri-meet with Marymount and Johns Hopkins on January 28. Apprentice has seen both teams previously this season and should feature several exciting rematches.