Men's Wrestling | 11/9/2019 9:40:00 PM

    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.
     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, 9-2 125: 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)