Jesuit Tops West Lib

December 1, 2016

WHEELING, W.Va. – The Ohio Valley collegiate wrestling rivalry was renewed, but in a one-sided Cardinals advantage. Wheeling Jesuit proved to be too strong for West Liberty as the home team swept the final nine bouts for a 38-3 Thursday night victory.

After a Dominick Nania 149-pound tech fall, WJU freshman Greg Brusco rolled a first-period takedown into a 1:45 fall for the two bonus point results. Cardinals' T.J. Smith (165), Nate Starkey (184) and Maxwell Lacey (285) overtook their Hilltopper foes in the final moments of each match for decision victories.

"I am most proud of how we came out tonight. We had two good guys in Dustin Warner (125) and Nic Skonieczny (165) not able to go and it would have been easy to lose focus and be down, but our guys wrestled hard with a great team outing," said WJU head coach Sean Doyle.

"T.J. (Smith) has been great over his four-year career to be able to do so well when he is called upon. Greg (Brusco) continues to shine and is a real gamer, while Max (Lacey) had a great win at the end," continued the Cardinals coach.

West Liberty opened the night with its lone victory. The 2016 National Qualifier Zach Brown earned a 3-0 close decision over freshman Jacob Donahue for a what would be the Hilltoppers only lead of the night, 3-0.

"Jake made weight tonight and gave a good us a good effort. He helped save us from having to give a forfeit at 125," noted Doyle.

WJU received a pair of forfeits for Nolan Whitely (133) and Daniel Romero (141) to go ahead 12-3.

The Super Region I top-ranked 149-pounder, Nania wasted no time in building an early 4-0 lead over Josh Cornell. Nania added a second-period takedown, reverseal and four-point near fall to make it 13-1. The senior ended the match with the final two-point near fall sequences for the 17-1 tech fall in 5:52.

Brusco rushed West Liberty's Ryan Dailey right away for a takedown and eventually turned a rolling takedown into a fall 1:45 into the bout for the lone pin of the evening.

In the most exciting match of the evening, Smith pulled the 165-pound win out in the final seconds. After scoring an escape with exactly one minute left in the bout, Smith turned a DeMadre Turner shot into a match-winning takedown with 17 seconds left for the 8-6 decision win.

Leading 6-5 after two periods, Reyse Wallbrown scored the separation points on a go around Hilltopper Milton Kobaly to make it 8-5 with 1:04 on the clock. Wallbrown rode out the final minute for a 9-5 victory at 174.

Trailing 6-2 after two periods at 184, WJU's Nate Starkey scored an escape before he added a reverse with 51 seconds left to make it 6-5. Starkey kept the advantage and recorded a four-point bout-winning near fall and 9-6 final over West Liberty's Nate Dawson.

At 197, the Cardinals' Terrance Fanning rushed for a takedown in the opening eight seconds against Logan Kemp. Fanning went out to a 6-0 lead and he increased the margin to 8-2 with a third-period takedown, before the 8-3 final tally.

Ending the night, the 285-pound Lacey trailed 4-3 heading into the third period against WLU's Garrett Vulcano. After a restart with 1:01 in the final period, Lacey turned Vulcano into a reversal for the exciting 5-4 comeback decision and 38-3 final team score.

The WJU team has Friday off before it travels to Painesville, Ohio for Saturday's Lake Erie Storm Open.

Wheeling Jesuit 38 West Liberty 3
125 Zach brown (West Liberty University) over Jacob Donahue (Wheeling Jesuit University) (Dec 3-0)
133 Nolan Whitely (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Unknown (For.)
141 Daniel Romero (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Unknown (For.)
149 Dominick Nania (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Josh Cornell (West Liberty University) (TF 18-1 0:00)
157 Greg Brusco (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Ryan Dailey (West Liberty University) (Fall 1:45)
165 Anthony Smith (Wheeling Jesuit University) over DeMadre Turner (West Liberty University) (Dec 9-6)
174 Reyse Wallbrown (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Milton Kobaly (West Liberty University) (Dec 9-5)
184 Nathaniel Starkey (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Nathan Dawson (West Liberty University) (Dec 9-6)
197 Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Logan Kemp (West Liberty University) (Dec 9-2)
285 Maxwell Lacey (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Garrett Vulcano (West Liberty University) (Dec 5-4)

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