SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The No. 3-ranked Notre Dame (Ohio) wrestling team won the final four matches here Friday night to rally past No. 12-ranked West Liberty, 27-15, in a Top 25 showdown of Mountain East Conference powers at Murphy Gym.
    Coach Danny Irwin's Hilltoppers were once again forced to put their "next man up" philosophy on full display as a combination of injuries, illness and surgeries sent them into Friday's match minus six starters - including a trio of nationally-ranked grapplers.
    Irwin, however, is not a man for excuses.
    "We have grown a ton as a program to put ourselves in the position we are now," Irwin said, "but we had chances to shut the door on some matches tonight and didn't get it done. I believe there's a direct correlation between that and what's going on in our (practice) room right now.
    "Our next step needs to be developing an unforgiving attitude toward our teammates, accepting nothing but their best effort every second of practice. Once we commit to doing that on a consistent basis, we will be able to go into that type of atmosphere and come away with dual wins against programs like Notre Dame!"
    Despite the disappointing conclusion, West Liberty held the lead for most of the evening thanks to some impressive performances at the lower and middle weights.
    The Hilltoppers started on top with a forfeit win at 125 but a first-period fall by the Falcons' Hunter Bray – ranked No. 1 nationally at 133 pounds – squared the match at 6-6.
    True freshman 141-pounder Jacob Simpson restored the Black and Gold's upper hand, dominating Notre Dame's Kyle French throughout in coasting to a 7-2 decision.
    Another true freshman, Jamie Ward, picked up where Simpson had left off at 149 pounds when he racked up a 6-2 decision against the hosts' Jake Frazier to make it 12-6 Hilltoppers.
    The Falcons stopped the bleeding with a technical fall at 157 from senior All-American Taylor Misuna, a Virginia Tech transfer but WLU still carried a 12-11 lead into intermission.
    The Hilltoppers' Chase Morgan stunned the crowd when action resumed by pulling out a thrilling 8-7 win against Alonzo Turner – the nation's No. 8-ranked 165-pounder – in a high-energy bout.
    Morgan's twin brother Chance just missed following suit as Notre Dame's Emilio Fowler got a flash takedown just before the buzzer in the first sudden-victory overtime period to steal a 6-4 win.
    Senior Tony Vezzetti, a 2-time All-American and the No. 1-ranked 197-pounder in the nation, gave the Falcons their first lead of the night, 18-14, with a hard-fought 13-5 decision against true freshman Garrett Cook.
    Notre Dame clinched the dual meet with a fall at 197 and Jared Campbell, ranked No. 6 at 285, eked out a narrow 4-0 decision against WLU's Chris Cook to close out the match.
    "Although we let an opportunity slip away tonight, we have a chance to bounce right back on Sunday," Irwin said. "I can assure you our coaching staff is looking forward to see how this group of guys will respond."
    As Irwin noted, the Hilltoppers return home on Sunday for a Mountain East Conference triangular featuring Urbana and Fairmont State. Action gets under way at 1 p.m.
  125: Corey Secrist (WLU) won by forfeit
133: #1 Hunter Bray (NDC) p. Tommy Curtin, 2:50
141: Jacob Simpson (WLU) d. Kyle French, 7-2
149: Jamie Ward (WLU) d. Jake Frazier, 6-2
157: Taylor Misuna (NDC) tf. Blake Miller, 21-4
165: Chase Morgan (WLU) d. #8 Alonzo Turner, 8-7
174: Emilio Fowler (NDC) d. Chance Morgan (WLU), 6-4 (SV-1)
184: #1 Tony Vezzetti (NDC) md. Garrett Cook (WLU), 13-5
197: Mike Viramontes (NDC) p. Ronnie D'Amico, 4:39
285: #6 Jared Campbell (NDC) d. Chris Cook, 4-0