Hilltopper Wrestlers 3rd at Ohio Northern Invitational

ADA, Ohio - Coach Brian Davis's No. 14-ranked West Liberty State College wrestling team won two individual championships and placed three other grapplers here Saturday to finish third in the 28th annual Ohio Northern Invitational.

Olivet (Mich.) racked up 128 points to take team honors with host Ohio Northern (111) edging out the Hilltoppers (108) for runnerup laurels.

Winning individual titles for WLSC were two-time NCAA Division II All-American Doug Surra and 2008 national qualifier Mitch Knapp.

The unbeaten Surra pinned Otterbein's No. 2-seeded Vince Tucker at 4:01 of their 141-pound title tilt to cap a dominating performance. The senior captain from Kersey, Pa. improved to 15-0 on the season by pinning four of his five opponents.

Knapp muscled out a 7-4 decision against No. 2 seed Rob Nusekabel of NAIA power Cumberlands (Ky.) in their 197-pound final. Knapp, a sophomore from McConnellsville, Ohio, also went 5-0 on the day.

Brandon Neifeld, a junior from Hollywood, Fla., was runnerup at 174 pounds after taking a forfeit loss to top-seeded Kyle Vanderhyde of Otterbein in the finals. The No. 6 seed, Neifeld had upset his way into the championship match with back-to-back decisions against No. 3 seed Phillip Oudhuis of Campbellsville (Ky.) and No. 2 seed Nick Kraus of Trine (Ind.).

Brooke High freshman Jarrod Shaw finished fourth at 165 pounds when he was pinned by Tyler Gobel of Rose Hulman (Ind.) in the third-place match. Shaw, the No. 6 seed, won his first three matches before dropping a 5-4 nailbiter to No. 2 seed Chris Dahlheimer of Lycoming (Pa.) in the championship semifinals.

Rounding out the West Liberty placers was 285-pounder Mike Carpenter. The former West Virginia Class A-AA state champion from Liberty (Raleigh) finished fourth after dropping an 8-3 decision to Ohio Northern's Joe Fisher in the third-place match.

28th annual Ohio Northern Invitational
(at Ada, Ohio)

Team Scoring
1. Olivet 128;
2. Ohio Northern 111;
3. WEST LIBERTY 108;
4. Limestone 104.5;
5. Trine 97;
6. UOTC 80.5;
7. Heidelberg 76;
8. Mount St. Joseph 75.5;
9. Campbellsville 73;
10. Wilmington 60;
11. Lycoming 59.5;
12. Waynesburg 53.5;
13. Indianapolis 47.5;
14. Heidelberg (B) 44.5;
15. Campbellsville (B) 40;
16. Findlay (B) 37;
17. Wabash 36;
18. Olivet (B) 35.5;
19. Lycoming (B) 31.5;
20. Rose Hulman 28;
21. UOTC (B) 25.5;
22. Muskingum 21.

West Liberty Placers

141 pounds
Championship Final
(1) Doug Surra (WL) p. (2) Vince Tucker (OC), 4:01

165 pounds
Third-Fourth Place
(5) Tyler Gobel (RH) p. (6) Jarrod Shaw (WL), 2:23

174 pounds
Championship Final
(1) Kyle Vanderhyde (OC) by forfeit (6) Brandon Neifeld (WL)

197 pounds
Championship Final
(1) Mitch Knapp (WL) d. (2) Rob Nusekabel (UC), 7-4

285 pounds
Third-Fourth Place
(7) Joe Fisher (ON) d. (4) Mike Carpenter (WL), 8-3


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