Men's Wrestling | 2/23/2019 10:08:00 PM

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Junior standout Logan Kemp earned his second straight trip to nationals and four West Liberty wrestlers placed here Saturday as WLU hosted the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 championship meet before a large crowd at the ASRC.
    Ranked No. 5 nationally at 197 pounds, Kemp advanced all the way to the championship match on Saturday before settling for runner-up honors. With the top three finishers in each weight class qualifying for nationals, he will be competing for All-America honors in Cleveland next month.
    This year's NCAA Division II National Championships will be held March 8-9 at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University.
    Kemp made an impressive run to the 197-pound title match, opening with back-to-back first-period falls in his first round and championship quarterfinal round matches.
    The Hilltopper veteran kept the momentum going in the semifinals, rolling to an 8-0 major decision shutout of Notre Dame's Logan Hall.
    That set up a rematch with nationally-ranked Nick Mason of Tiffin in the battle for regional supremacy. Kemp, who had been forced to take an injury default in their first meeting earlier this season, picked up a pair of takedowns in the first period and took a 4-2 lead into the second period.
    Mason stole the momentum midway by picking up two takedowns with back points in the second period to carry a 12-5 lead into the final two minutes. Kemp couldn't get anything going in the third period and Mason prevailed with a fall midway through the period.
    "It's a little disappointing because I really wanted to see Logan come away with a regional championship," head coach Mitch Smith said. "Even so, making it to the finals in what I believe is the toughest regional in the country says something for him. We'll get back in the room and make some adjustments over the next couple of weeks. He'll be ready to go for Cleveland.
    Also placing for the Hilltoppers on Saturday were sophomore Corey Secrist, fourth at 125; sophomore Steven Slack, sixth at 133; and freshman Francesco Borsellino, sixth at 285.
    After losing his first round match to eventual 125-pound champion Cole Laya of Wheeling Jesuit, Secrist battled back through the consolation rounds only to come up one win shy of a ticket to Cleveland when he dropped a narrow 4-1 decision to Notre Dame's Robert Campos in the Third Place Match.
    Slack and Borsellino also made their presence felt for Coach Smith's young guns.
    "It would have been great to take two guys to Cleveland next month but Corey made a good run," Smith said. "You always want to do better but we had four of our 10 guys place in one of the toughest regionals in the country so there are some definite positives to take away from this.
    "The best thing about it is that all those guys are coming back next year. We only lose one senior and we have several outstanding redshirts – including last year's All-American – to join our returning guys along with a really good recruiting class. We've got a lot to look forward to with this program."
       1. Notre Dame 125; 2. Indianapolis 122.5; 3. Wheeling Jesuit 121.5; 4. Ashland 84.5; 5. Tiffin 77; 6. Bellarmine 55.5; 7. Findlay 54; 8. Lake Erie 53.5; 9. WEST LIBERTY 43.5; 10. Urbana 9.
x x x
West Liberty Placers
125 pounds
Third Place
Robert Campos (NDC) d. Corey Secrist, 4-1
Cons. Semifinal
Corey Secrist (WLU) d. D.J. Smith (Indianapolis), 8-4
Cons. Round 3
Corey Secrist (WLU) d. Giuseppe Penzone (Tiff), 6-2
Championship Quarterfinal
Cole Laya (WJU) tf. Corey Secrist, 16-0
133 pounds
Fifth Place
Luke Wymer (Ashland) md. Steven Slack, 8-0
Cons. Semi
Forrest Glogouski (Lake Erie) p. Steven Slack, 2:40
Cons. Round 3
Steven Slack (WLU) p. Mike Stewart (Findlay), 4:08
Quarterfinal
Hunter Bray (NDC) p. Steven Slack, 4:07
First Round
Steven Slack (WLU) p. Alec Fulwider (Urbana), 3:00
197 pounds
Championship
Nick Mason (Tiffin) p. Logan Kemp, 5:53
Semifinal
Logan Kemp (WLU) md. Logan Hall (NDC), 8-0
Quarterfinal
Logan Kemp (WLU) p. Trevor Hankins (Urbana), 2:18
First Round
Logan Kemp (WLU) p. Chris Droege (Lake Erie), :35
285 pounds
Fifth Place
Dylan Faulkenberg (Indianapolis) wbf. Francesco Borsellino, forfeit
Cons. Semi
Evan Loughman (Lake Erie) p. Francesco Borsellino, 3:18
Cons. Round 3
Francesco Borsellino (WLU) p. Brian Stears, 2:43
Quarterfinal
Terrance Fanning (WJU) d. Francesco Borsellino, 2:55