West Liberty Wrestling Falls in Triangular

Wrestling | 12/4/2016 8:37:00 PM

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – An injury-riddled West Liberty University wrestling team came up short in a pair of dual matches here Sunday during a triangular with East Stroudsburg (Pa.) and No. 11-ranked Ashland (Ohio) at the ASRC.
Coach Mitch Smith's Hilltoppers dropped a hard-fought 27-20 decision in their first match of the day against the Pennsylvania squad before Ashland closed out the triangular with a 37-9 win against the Black and Gold. The nationally-ranked Eagles spanked East Stroudsburg, 41-12, in the opener.
Due to a number of injuries, West Liberty had to yield forfeits at 133 and 141 in both of its dual matches and those 12 points proved to be the difference against East Stroudsburg.
Ryan Dailey gave the Hilltoppers a lift with a 4-2 win at 157 pounds and regionally-ranked DeMadre Turner brought the crowd to its feet with a first-period fall against Joey Kratchovil at 165.
With the early forfeits, that pulled WLU to within a point, 16-15, but that was as close as the hosts could get.
The Warriors opened up a 22-15 lead with back-to-back decisions at 174 and 184 and put the match on ice when ESU's Brandon Steele was credited with a fall just one second before the final buzzer in his 197-pound match.
West Liberty finished on a high note with Garrett Vulcano dominating East Stroudsburg's Daniel Makagon throughout a 19-4 technical fall but it wasn't enough to put the hosts in the win column.
Regionally-ranked Zach Brown got the Hilltoppers off to a fast start against Ashland, battling Sebastian Vidika into overtime before pulling out a 5-3 sudden victory decision.
That proved to be the lone bright spot for WLU against the nationally-ranked powerhouse as the hosts' only other points came from a forfeit at 184 pounds.
The West Liberty wrestlers head to Indianapolis on Saturday for the first day of the mammoth Midwest Classic, hosted by the University of Indianapolis.

WRESTLING
East Stroudsburg 27, West Liberty 20
125: Zach Brown (WLU) won by forfeit
133: Connor Maliff (ESU) won by forfeit
141: Francesco Palagruto (ESU) won by forfeit
149: Dylan Nace (ESU) md. Josh Cornell, 10-2
157: Ryan Dailey (WLU) d. Christian Silva, 4-2
165: DeMadre Turner (WLU) p. Joey Kratchovil, 2:25
174: Vickson Krah (ESU) d. Cade Bates, 6-0
184: Tyler Richardson (ESU) d. Milton Kobaly, 6-3
197: Brandon Steele (ESU) p. Nate Dawson, 6:59
285: Garrett Vulcano (WLU) tf. Daniel Makagon, 19-4

No. 11 Ashland 37, West Liberty 9
125: Zach Brown (WLU) d. Sebastian Vidika, 5-3, SV-1
133: Michael Labry (Ash) won by forfeit
141: Chandler Minnard (Ash) won by forfeit
149: Brent Fickel (Ash) p. Josh Cornell, 4:38
157: Garrett Hall (Ash) md. Ryan Dailey, 9-0
165: Bret Romanzak (Ash) d. DeMadre Turner, 4-0
174: Brendan Stanley (Ash) d. Milton Kobaly, 7-5
184: Nate Dawson (WLU) won by forfeit
197: Luke Cramer (Ash) p. Carlos Kusic, 1:22
285: Deaken McCoy (Ash) d. Chris Cook, 3-0

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