LANSDALE, Pa. – The No, 12 West Liberty University wrestling team dropped a pair of decisions to NCAA Division I programs here Saturday in the Dragon Duals hosted by Drexel University at North Penn High School.
Along with the dual meet action, other members of Coach Danny Irwin's deep and talented Hilltopper roster got some tournament format experience with a strong showing at the Mount Union Invitational in Alliance, Ohio.
At the Dragon Duals, West Liberty battled Southern Illinois-Edwardsville to the final match in the opener before falling by a 17-15 count. The Black and Gold closed out the event with a 32-9 loss to the host Dragons.
"Most people wouldn't be excited to go 0-2 in a tri and neither am I," Irwin said. "I am excited about a number of things we did today that proves the effectiveness of our training and development to this point and puts us in position to make our next progression."
Cole Laya and Nate Keaton got the Hilltoppers off to a fast start against SIU-Edwardsville with back-to-back decisions at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively.
"I was a little nervous walking into the matches today," said Laya, who had to settle for a forfeit win in Wednesday's season-opening rout of WVU Tech at the ASRC, "but I was focused on letting my light shine and staying positive. I thought I wrestled pretty well today considering it's still early in the season but there are a couple of things I want to work on before our next test at the Findlay Open."
Following a loss at 141, Jack Barber delivered an 8-5 decision at 149 for a 9-3 West Liberty lead. The Cougars got a technical fall at 157 to close the gap to 9-8 but Chase Morgan rolled to an 8-2 win at 165, extending the WLU lead to 12-8.
Back-to-back decisions at 174 and 184 gave the Illinois squad its first lead, 14-12. Senior Logan Kemp put West Liberty back on top, 15-14, with a 6-2 decision at 197 but SIU-Edwardsville earned a decision at 285 to squeeze out the win.
Laya opened with a 6-0 shutout decision at 125 in the Drexel match but the host Dragons were in control the rest of the way. Drexel reeled off seven straight wins to take an insurmountable 29-3 lead before Kemp finished off his impressive day's work with a fall at 197. The Dragons pulled out an overtime win at 285 to complete the scoring.
"I was very proud of us as a team today," Kemp said. "Wrestling two NCAA Division I teams was a first for most of our young guys but I saw positives in every match. I thought this was a great opportunity for our team to learn some valuable lessons as we move forward in the season."
A total of six West Liberty wrestlers placed in their respective weight classes at the Mount Union Invitational, held at Peterson Field House on the MUU campus.
Tommy Curtin made it all the way to the championship bout in the 134-pound division and claimed runner-up honors while Jacob Simpson rebounded from a loss in the championship semis at 141 to win his third-place match.
Stephen Carder and Drake Kendrex notched fourth-place finishes at 157 and 175, respectively, with Corey Secrist taking fifth at 125 and Garrett Cook matching that fifth-place finish in the 185-pound division.
The WLU mat squad returns to tournament action next weekend when they head to northwestern Ohio for the Findlay Open. The one-day event gets under way Saturday at 9 a.m.
WRESTLING
SIU-Edwardsville 17, West Liberty 15
125: Cole Laya (WL) d. Gage Datlovsky, 6-0 (SV-2)
133: Nate Keaton (WL) d. Honor Nguyen, 6-2
141: Saul Ervin (SIUE) d. Darius Bunch, 10-3
149: Jack Barber (WL) d. Max Kristoff, 8-5
157: Justin Ruffin (SIUE) tf. Blake Miller, 18-0
165: Chase Morgan (WL) d. Nick Bleise, 8-2
174: Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) d. Chance Morgan, 9-4
184: Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) d. Isiah Myers, 6-0
197: Logan Kemp (WL) d. Aric Bohn, 6-2
285: Colton McKiernan (SIUE) d. Chase Logan, 9-2
Drexel 32, West Liberty 9
125: Cole Laya (WLU) d. Dante Mininno, 6-0
133: Chandler Olson (DU) md. Nate Keaton, 8-0
141: Tyler Williams (DU) d. Darius Bunch, 8-5
149: Vincent Foggia (DU) d. Jack Barber, 7-3
157: Felix Belga (DU) p. Blake Miller, 5:22
165: #10 Ebed Jarrell (DU) tf. Chase Morgan, 16-0
174: Michael O'Malley (DU) tf. Chance Morgan, 18-0
184: Owen Brooks (DU) d. Isaiah Myers, 7-6
197: Logan Kemp (WLU) p. Bryan McLaughlin, n/a
285: Sean O'Malley (DU) d. Chase Logan, 3-1 (SV-1)
Mount Union Invitational in Alliance, Ohio.
(Editor's note: Some of their bracket spaces are incomplete and results are incomplete)
Frank Bonura Seton Hill dec Corey Secrist West Lib 10-9
125 Corey Secrist West Lib dec Anthony Vitale Lake Erie 1 9-6
Corey Secrist West Lib dec J. Johnson Lake Erie 5-2
Corey Secrist West Lib Apparantly defeated (?) N. Scarcano Brockport
Corey Secrist West Lib Apparantly lost next match to M. Caccamise Brockport 1
Corey Secrist West Lib dec A. Ischo Gannon 2 5-2 5th
134 Tommy Curtain West Lib 1 dec Raymier Hickerson Defiance 1 7-4
Tommy Curtain West Lib 1 dec T.Smith-13 Adrian1 9-8
Tommy Curtain West Lib 1 dec R.Vollmer-13 Gannon2 6-4
Tommy Curtain West Lib 1 lost to R.Vollmer-13 Gannon2, 2nd place
141 Jacob Simpson-13 West Liberty dec 3-1 Joel Cawoski-14 Seton Hill 1
Jacob Simpson-13 West Liberty decc 9-7 C.Donahue-13 Lake Erie
Jacob Simpson-13 West Liberty dec 9-3 A.Jeff-16 Ohio Nort
J.James-15 Mount UnionTF 16 Jacob Simpson-13 West Liberty
Jacob Simpson-13 West Liberty won next 2 bouts in consis, placed 3rd
149 Jamie Ward-13 West Liberty lost to Jake Visintine-13 Mount Union1 8-5
Jamie Ward-13 West Liberty dec 7-2 J.Rayner-14 Mount Union22
Jamie Ward-13 West Liberty lost to T.Kenney-16 Seton Hill1 8-3
157 Stephen Carder-13 West Liberty pin 0:39 E.Rankine-16 Adrian3
Stephen Carder-13 West Liberty dec 6-4 G.Ciotti-16 Gannon2
Stephen Carder-13 West Liberty lost to via pin 2:17 S.O'Hearon-15 Lake Erie
Stephen Carder-13 West Liberty lost to mdec 15-5 C.Schuyler-15 Ohio Northern 4th
166 Jalen King-13 West Liberty5 lost to 4-1 Brendan Laird-13 Mount Union3
Jalen King-13 West Liberty5 lost to via pin 2:41 D.Knotts-14 Urbana1
174 Bryce Coleman-16 West Liberty lost to 7-0 Bryant Moore-15 Adrian
Bryce Coleman-16 West Liberty lost to 7-0 Brylan Clouse-13 Lake Eri
175 Drake Kendrex-13 West Liberty1 lost to 9-0 Dylan Wellbaum-13 Adrian1
Drake Kendrex-13 West Liberty1 dec 7-2 Corey Snyder-13 Brockport1
Drake Kendrex-13 West Liberty1 pin 4:35 D.Gilbert-14 Urbana5
Drake Kendrex-13 West Liberty1 lost via pin to J.Craig-14 Bellarmine1 4th
185 Garrett Cook-13 West Liberty5 pin 2:06 Hunter McNutt-14 Defiance2
Garrett Cook-13 West Liberty5 lost via TF to K.Emery-13 Adrian1
Garrett Cook-13 West Liberty5 win via forfeit
Garrett Cook-13 West Liberty5 apparantly lost,
Garrett Cook-13 West Liberty5 md 8-0 H.McNutt-14 Defiance2 5th
