Men's Wrestling | 12/16/2020 4:24:00 PM

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University wrestling team strengthened its hold on the No. 4 spot in the first set of regular season national rankings released Wednesday afternoon by TheOpenMat.com website.
    Coach Danny Irwin's Hilltoppers had been ranked No. 4 in the preseason and with some of the Black and Gold's six nationally-ranked wrestlers moving up a few spots, WLU was able to add a few more points to its team total this time around.
    Remaining head and shoulders above the pack was two-time defending national champion St. Cloud State (Minn.) with 105 ranking points. Lindenwood (Mo.) was second at 69.5 with Nebraska-Kearney (57) edging out West Liberty (50.5) for the No. 3 spot. Central Oklahoma (44.5) rounded out the top five.
    Perennial NCAA Division II power Notre Dame (Ohio) moved up a spot to No. 13 with MEC affiliate member UNC-Pembroke checking in at No. 18. Pembroke opened its season at home on Tuesday with a 26-16 win against Belmont Abbey (N.C.).
    Four of WLU's six nationally-ranked wrestlers hold down top five slots at their respective weights.
    Junior All-American Cole Laya is No. 5 at 125 pounds with senior All-American Ty Warner moving up two spots from No. 5 to No. 3 at 133. Redshirt freshman Alec Cook is 15^th at 149 with senior All-American Connor Craig ranked No. 2 at 184. Senior Logan Kemp, a two-time national qualifier, is No. 3 at 197 while sophomore Francesco Borsellino moved up a spot to No. 12 at 285 pounds.
    The Mountain East Conference is expected to announce its wrestling schedule within the next couple of weeks. West Liberty has been selected to host the second annual MEC Tournament on Feb. 6 inside the ASRC.
  Team                                                               Pts        Pvs
  1     St. Cloud State                                 105             1
  2     Lindenwood                                    69.5             3
  3     Nebraska-Kearney                            57             2
  4     WEST LIBERTY                               50.5             4
  5     Central Oklahoma                        44.5             5
  6     McKendree                                         40             6
  7     Gannon                                             36.5             7
  8     Ashland                                                 36         NR
  9     Newberry                                         34.5             8
10     Fort Hays State                                  32             9
11     Tiffin                                                       31          10
12     Findlay                                              29.5          13
13     NOTRE DAME (OHIO)                     27          14
14     Colorado Mesa                                  26          12
15     Mary                                                  23.5          15
16     Mercyhurst                                     22.5          21
17     Adams State                                       21          20
18     Colorado School of Mines             18          18
(tie) UNC-Pembroke                                 18          18
20     Limestone                                        14.5         NR
21     Minnesota State                           13.5          22
(tie) Newman                                           13.5         NR
(tie) Wisconsin-Parkside                      13.5          25
24     American International              12.5          25
(tie) Drury                                                 12.5          23