WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 10-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team powered its way to a pair of impressive wins here Friday in a triangular with Davis & Elkins and King (Tenn.).
    Coach Danny Irwin's nationally-ranked Hilltoppers handed King a 43-12 loss and closed out the day with a 37-9 victory over the Senators. Davis & Elkins cruised to a 40-9 win over the Tennessee-based Tornado in the first match of the day.
    In the opener against King, sophomore All-American Cole Laya – ranked No. 4 nationally at 125 pounds – got the Black and Gold off to a flying start with a 10-2 major decision against Rylee Billings. Junior Corey Secrist, wrestling up a weight at 133, followed with a 9-3 decision over Elijah Hicks and the Hilltoppers were on their way.
    Back-to-back forfeit wins at 141 and 149 put WLU on top, 19-0, before the Tornado hit the scoreboard with a fall at 157. The Morgan twins – Chase and Chance – scored consecutive falls at 165 and 174 to restore order with a 31-6 Hilltopper lead and freshman Zane Lanham joined the pin parade at 184.
    West Liberty added a forfeit win at 197 and King prevailed via injury default at 285 to conclude the scoring.
    The Hilltoppers' match against Davis & Elkins played out to a similar script.
    Laya once more got the ball rolling with a major decision, handing the Senators' Shawn Moore a 13-3 loss at 125. Jett Pattison followed with an 11-4 decision at 133 and senior Darius Bunch – ranked No. 3 nationally at 141 – flashed his All-American form with a second-period fall against D&E's Tyler Cutright.
    Jamie Ward followed with a 10-3 decision against C.J. Thompson at 149 to give West Liberty a 16-0 lead before the Senators found some traction.
    Davis & Elkins took the zero off its side of the scoreboard with a second-period fall at 157. Following a hard-fought 4-3 decision for Chase Morgan at 165, the Senators got an overtime decision at 174 to pull back within striking distance at 19-9 with three matches remaining.
    Lanham and Myers quickly put the decision on ice for the Black and Gold. Lanham stopped Joseph Wilson at 6:30 of their 184-pound match for his second pinfall victory of the day and Myers followed suit with a fall against Charles Morrison at the 6-minute mark of their 197-pound match.
    The Hilltoppers picked up a win by disqualification in the 285-pound match to finish off the runaway victory.
    Coach Irwin and his WLU wrestlers won't return to the mats until Jan. 4 when they head to Manchester (Ind.) University to compete in the Spartan Mat Classic.
    125: #4 Cole Laya (WLU) md. Rylee Billings, 10-2
133: Corey Secrist (WLU) d. Elijah Hicks, 9-3
141: #3 Darius Bunch (WLU) won by forfeit
149: Jamie Ward (WLU) won by forfeit
157: Cory Collins (KU) p. Blake Miller, n/a
165: Chase Morgan (WLU) p. Elijah Davis, n/a
174: Chance Morgan (WLU) p. Matt Danner, n/a
184: Zane Lanham (WLU) p. Isaiah Perez, n/a
197: Isaiah Myers (WLU) won by forfeit
285: Cade Ridley (KU) won by inj. default vs. Francesco Borsellino
  125: #4 Cole Laya (WLU) md. Shawn Moore, 13-3
133: Jett Pattison (WLU) d. Craig Cook, 11-4
141: #3 Darius Bunch (WLU) p. Tyler Cutright, 4:07
149: Jamie Ward (WLU) d. C.J. Thompson, 10-3
157: John Finnerty (DE) p. Blake Miller, 4:15
165: Chase Morgan (WLU) d. Noah Tarr, 4-3
174: Kyle Wojtaszek (DE) d. Chance Morgan, 7-5 (SV-1)
184: Zane Lanham (WLU) p. Joseph Wilson, 6:30
197: Isaiah Myers (WLU) p. Charles Morrison, 6:00
285: Chris Cook (WLU) won by DQ vs. Daimere Wilson-Turner
  125: Rylee Billings (KU) d. Vincent Scollo, 7-3
133: Chris Cook (DE) d. Elijah Hicks, 5-4
141: Tyler Cutright (DE) won by forfeit
149: C.J. Thompson (DE) won by forfeit
157: John Finnerty (DE) d. Cory Collins, 10-4
165: Noah Tarr (DE) p. Elijah Davis, 2:23
174: Kyle Wojtasek (DE) md. Matt Danner, 13-3
184: Joseph Wilson (DE) p. Isaiah Perez, 4:24
197: Charles Morrison (DE) won by forfeit
285: Cade Ridley (KU) p. Daimere Wilson-Turner, 1:51