West Liberty Mat Squad Nearly Upsets No. 19 Ashland
February 12, 2013
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Although several regulars were still sidelined by injuries, the West Liberty wrestling team fielded a full lineup for the first time in several weeks Tuesday night and nearly came away with an upset of No. 19-ranked Ashland before falling by a 21-19 count on Senior Night at the ASRC.
The nationally-ranked Eagles (11-6) grabbed a quick 12-0 lead with a fall and two decisions in the opening three bouts but Hilltopper senior Nick Wykoff stopped the bleeding in impressive fashion by pinning Anthony Pavlich at 1:18 of their 149-pound match.
The hosts' Daniel Carpenter cut the Eagles' lead to 12-10 by following up with an 18-8 major decision against Patrick Kovacs at 157.
West Liberty (4-11), which had been ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation before being hamstrung by the injury plague, came within an eyelash of taking the lead when the 165-pound match went to overtime but Ashland regained the momentum when Randall Perkins notched a 4-2 "sudden victory" decision against WLU's David Schlieper.
The Eagles opened up an 18-10 lead with a win at 174 and the hard-luck Hilltoppers had their backs to a 21-10 wall after Ashland's Kurt Schaefer edged senior Derrick Williams, 2-1, at 184 – the visitors' third one-point or overtime decision of the match – when an apparent takedown by Williams was waved off in the final 10 seconds.
West Liberty won the last two bouts with Danny Doyle prevailing at 197 and Mike Carpenter pinning Tyler Houska at 6:26 of their 285-pound finale but still came up a couple points shy on the scoreboard.
Hilltopper head coach Brian Davis honored the WLU seniors in a brief ceremony prior to the match.
West Liberty closes out its dual meet slate on Friday with a 7 p.m. match against Gannon in Erie, Pa.
No. 19 Ashland 21, West Liberty 19
125: Johnny Maurice (Ash) p. Joe Wagstaff, 1:51
133: Scott Spreng (Ash) d. Cole Nace, 8-7
141: Robert Mason (Ash) d. Johnny McComas, 8-4
149: Nick Wykoff (WLU) p. Anthony Pavlich, 1:18
157: Daniel Carpenter (WLU) md. Patrick Kovacs, 18-8
165: Randall Perkins (Ash) d. David Schlieper, 4-2, SV-1
174: Jon Beam (Ash) d. Ben Giles, 9-3
184: Kurt Schaefer (Ash) d. Derrick Williams, 2-1
197: Danny Doyle (WLU) d. Jacob Howarth, 3-2
285: Mike Carpenter (WLU) p. Tyler Houska, 6:26
Return to the WV-Mat front page