Men's Wrestling | 11/19/2010 9:53:17 PM

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 12-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team had some strong individual performances here Saturday night but it wasn't enough to overcome No. 14 Pitt-Johnstown in a battle of NCAA Division II East Region mat powers on Ohio Valley Night at the ASRC.

The Mountain Cats jumped out to a 15-0 lead after the first three matches and held off a late Hilltopper surge to post a 24-15 victory.

Brian Leggett (149), Seth Phalen (157), Mitch Knapp (197) and J.D. Ramsey (285) were victorious for Coach Brian Davis's hosts. All four West Liberty winners are regionally ranked.

Leggett, No. 5 in the East at 149, carried a 5-0 lead into the third period against Nathan Link before settling for a 7-3 decision.

Phalen, No. 2 at 157, dominated his match against Keith Ryan and pinned Ryan at 5:37.

Knapp, a returning All-American ranked No. 3 in the East at 197, had little difficulty with No. 5-ranked Jonathan Moore and coasted to an 8-1 win.

West Liberty saved the best for last as Ramsey, the region's No. 3-ranked 285-pounder handed top-ranked Chris Dempsey a 3-1 loss in overtime. Dempsey came into the match ranked No. 4 nationally at 285.

The Hilltoppers will be idle over the Thanksgiving break before returning to action on Dec. 4 at the Ohio Northern Invitational.

Pitt-Johnstown 24, West Liberty 15

125: Dave Fogle (UPJ) tf. Aaron Majetich, 15-0

133: Ryan Link (UPJ) p. Kolten Stemen, 4:47

141: Dave Cawley (UPJ) d. Matt Cunningham, 9-0

149: Brian Leggett (WLU) d. Nathan Link, 7-3

157: Seth Phalen (WLU) p. Keith Ryan, 5:37

165: Gary Lantz (UPJ) d. Jarrod Shaw, 10-8 (OT)

174: Steve Makin (UPJ) d. Matt Littleton, 7-3

184: Andrew Brentzel (UPJ) d. Derrick Williams, 5-2

197: Mitch Knapp (WLU) d. Jonathan Moore, 8-1

285: J.D. Ramsey (WLU) d. Chris Dempsey, 3-1 (OT)