Men's Wrestling | 1/22/2011 9:02:21 AM

PEMBROKE, N.C. – The West Liberty University wrestling team dropped a pair of matches here Friday as the Super Region I Duals got under way at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

Coach Brian Davis's Hilltoppers opened with a 32-11 loss to No. 4-ranked Newberry (S.C.) – the region's top-ranked team – before coming out on the short end of a 21-13 count in their second match against King (Tenn.).

In the opener, Newberry came out of the gate with a pair of first-period falls at 125 and 133 and never looked back.

Brian Leggett and Jarrod Shaw picked up decisions for West Liberty at 149 and 165, respectively, while Matt Littleton won by fall at 174 to conclude the Hilltopper scoring.

Preston Foster (125) and Matt Cunningham (141) scored decisions before Seth Phalen (157) and Shaw (165) tacked on major decisions to stake West Liberty to a 14-9 lead in the match against King (Tenn.) but the Hilltoppers couldn't hang on for the victory.

The Tennessee squad closed out the match with four straight narrow decisions to escape with the 8-point nod.

West Liberty closes out the Super Region I Duals with a trio of matches on Saturday. The Hilltoppers take on St. Andrews (N.C.) in a 9 a.m. match before closing out with back-to-back afternoon tilts against Belmont Abbey (N.C.) and Anderson (S.C.).

No. 4 Newberry 32, West Liberty 11

125 John McDonald (New) p. Preston Foster (WLU) 1:38

133 William Young (New) p. Pete McAtee (WLU) 0:59

141 Deral Brown (New) d. Matt Cunningham (WLU) 14-4

149 Brian Leggett (WLU) d. Dale DeBacco (New) 11-5

157 Sean Byrnes (New) d. Seth Phalen (WLU) 9-6

165 Jarrod Shaw (WLU) d. Braden Carter (New) 5-1

174 Matt Littleton (WLU) p. Blake Ridenour (New) 5:55

184 Bryant Blanton (New) d. Derrick Williams (WLU) 14-0

197 John Reed (New) d. Mitch Knapp (WLU) 2-1 (TB)

285 Corey Anderson (New) p. Drake Kowcheck (WLU) 6:21

King 21, West Liberty 13

125 Preston Foster (WLU) d. Richard Williams (King) 11-5

133 Caleb Myers (King) p. Pete McAtee (WLU) 2:52

141 Matt Cunningham (WLU) d. Francisco Bisono (King) 8-3

149 Nicolas Stella (King) d. Brian Leggett (WLU) 11-8

157 Seth Phalen (WLU) d. John Brasher (King) 10-2

165 Jarrod Shaw (WLU) d. Patrick Spano (King) 13-5

174 Jonathan Forbes (King) d. Matt Littleton (WLU) 7-5

184 Brandon Tressler (King) d. Derrick Williams (WLU) 8-5

197 Charles Morgan (King) d. Mitch Knapp (WLU) 3-2

285 Dondricus Anderson (King) d. JD Ramsey (WLU) 3-1 (TB2)