From Hilltoppersports.com
No. 10 Ashland Rallies Past WLU Wrestlers
December 8, 2017
ASHLAND, Ohio – The West Liberty University wrestling team led No. 10 Ashland midway through Friday night's match only to see the host Eagles come from behind for a 24-13 victory.
Coach Mitch Smith's youthful Hilltoppers got off to a strong start under the Kates Gym spotlight as freshman Corey Secrist outlasted Ashland's Sebastian Vidika, 11-10, in a crowd-pleasing 125-pound bout.
Darius Bunch, WLU's impressive sophomore 133-pounder, followed that up with a dominant 10-1 major decision against the Eagles' Jerry Fenner and the Hilltoppers had a 7-0 edge on the scoreboard.
In a key sequence, Ashland pulled out a pair of narrow wins at 141 and 149 to pull within a point at 7-6 before West Liberty's Josh Cornell rolled to a 10-4 win against Garrett Hall at 157 for a 10-6 Hilltopper lead at the break.
Momentum switched sides during intermission as the Eagles' two nationally-ranked wrestlers - 165-pounder Bret Romanzak and 174-pounder Christian Price - notched back-to-back falls to give AU an 18-10 lead heading into the final three matches of the evening.
Chris Cook kept the Black and Gold hopes alive with a 3-1 win against Treyvon Terry at 184 but Ashland earned decisions at 197 and 285 to close out the match.
The West Liberty wrestlers close out the pre-holiday portion of their schedule on Dec. 16 when they travel to Indianapolis for the annual Midwest Classic.
No. 10 Ashland 24, West Liberty 13
125: Corey Secrist (WL) d. Sebastian Vidika, 11-10
133: Darius Bunch (WL) md. Jerry Fenner, 10-1
141: Carson Speelman (AU) d. Josh Ridgeway, 3-1
149: Dustin Marteney (AU) d. Tanner Sutton, 2-1
157: Josh Cornell (WL) d. Garrett Hall, 10-4
165: Bret Romanzak (AU) p. Jacob Ramsey, 3:56
174: Christian Price (AU) p. Chase Morgan, 1:55
184: Chris Cook (WL) d. Trevyon Terry, 3-1
197: Luke Cramer (AU) d. Logan Kemp, 4-2
285: Tristen Weirich (AU) d. Ronnie D'Amico, 10-4
Return to the WV-Mat front page