Men's Wrestling | 11/17/2018 11:54:00 PM

    FINDLAY, Ohio – Two West Liberty University wrestlers placed and two more fell just shy of the podium in Saturday's Findlay Open at the University of Findlay's Koehler Fitness and Recreation Complex.
    Returning national qualifier Logan Kemp finished fourth at 197 pounds for Coach Mitch Smith's Hilltoppers while Ronnie D'Amico notched a fifth-place finish at 285 in the prestigious event.
    Kemp came out smoking in the 197-pound bracket, easing to an 11-6 decision over Indiana Tech's Oscar Martinez in the first round before notching a second-period fall against Michael Dua of Edinboro in the second round.
    That set up a quarterfinal bout with Notre Dame's Michael Viramontes and Kemp needed only 61 seconds to pick up his second consecutive fall and advance to the championship semifinal.
    That's where Kemp's run came to an end as he suffered an injury early in the second period of the semifinal match with Tiffin's Nick Mason and lost by injury default. He forfeited the third place match to Cleveland State's John Kelbly to settle for fourth place.
    D'Amico posted impressive wins in his first two matches, rolling to a 12-3 decision over Notre Dame's Paul McNight in the opener before getting a first-period fall against Devin Uzelac of Wheeling Jesuit.
    The Hilltopper heavyweight dropped his quarterfinal bout to Lake Erie's Brandon Houle but battled back through the consolation rounds to get to the fifth place match, where he defeated Bellarmine's Brian Stears by rule.
    West Liberty 125-pounder Corey Secrist and 184-pounder Chris Cook also advanced to the championship quarterfinals in their respective weight classes but came up one win shy of placing in the tournament.
    The WLU wrestling team will be idle over the Thanksgiving holiday but returns to dual meet action on Dec. 2 when the Hilltoppers make the short trek down Route 88 to take on Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit.