WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 16-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team celebrated Senior Day here Sunday by snapping Seton Hill's four-match winning streak, 22-18, in a mutual regular-season finale at the ASRC.
    "It was nice to finish the regular season with a win today against a very good Seton Hill team," Irwin said. "Having it happen on Senior Day makes it even more special in what has been a very good season for us."
    After Irwin honored his four seniors – Darius Bunch, Chris Cook, Isaiah Myers and Chase Logan – in a brief ceremony prior to the match, it was fitting that one of those seniors would bring home the victory at the end.
    Bunch, the nation's No. 3-ranked 141-pounder and a two-time All-American, recently returned to the mat after missing several matches due to injury. Sunday's dual began with the 149-pound weight class so Bunch wound up taking on SHU's Joel Cawoski in the final match of the day with the score deadlocked at 18-18.
    There was very little "mat rust" detectable in the Hilltopper veteran as he dominated from the opening whistle, finishing strong for a 14-4 major decision that provided the margin of victory in WLU's 22-18 win.
    Bunch wasn't the only WLU All-American looking to get back in the swing of things. Sophomore All-American Cole Laya had been sidelined by a nagging injury since December before returning to action this weekend.
    Ranked No. 8 nationally at 125 pounds, Laya delivered a clutch second-period fall against Seton Hill's Frank Bonura to erase a 15-12 Griffin lead in the late stages of the match.
    "You feel pretty confident coming down the stretch knowing you have a couple of All-Americans like Cole and Darius ready to go," Irwin said. "Bunch's situation was a little different than Cole's as Darius was still able to train and maintain his conditioning during his layoff while Cole was a little more limited.
    "Darius looked like he was back to his old self Friday and today while Cole was a lot more ferocious out there today than he was on Friday. It was good to have these last two matches to help knock some of the rust off those two."
    Neither team led by more than three points at any point in the hotly-contested dual until Bunch's final bout.
    Jacob Simpson got the Hilltoppers off to a flying start at 149 with an 11-9 upset of the Griffins' No. 11-ranked Austin Shaw. Simpson trailed heading into the third period but a clutch takedown and major back points in the final minute to earn the win.
    "Jacob got us off to a great start," Irwin said. "That was a really big win for Jacob and I give him a lot of credit for listening to his coaches during the match and making the adjustments he needed to make on the fly."
    Seton Hill eked out a 7-4 decision at 157 pounds but Chase Morgan put the Black and Gold back on top with an exciting 11-9 victory against SHU's Alec Shaw – Austin Shaw's brother – at 165 pounds.
    The Griffins grabbed a 9-6 lead with a fall at 174 but it proved short-lived as West Liberty's No. 9-ranked 184-pounder Zane Lanham was awarded a forfeit win, making it 12-9 Hilltoppers.
    Seton Hill went back in front, 15-12, with decisions at 197 and 285 but that merely set the stage for Laya and Bunch to close out the West Liberty win.
    "I like the way we wrestled today," Irwin said. "We still have some cleaning up to do as we turn our focus completely toward the (Super Region 3) qualifier in two weeks but we have things moving in the right direction. We'll mix in a few days off between now and then to freshen things up so we'll be ready to execute at the highest level in the regional."
    The NCAA Division II Super Region 3 championships are being hosted this year by the University of Indianapolis. The one-day regional is scheduled for Feb. 29 with action beginning at 10 a.m. in Nicoson Hall on the UIndy campus.
    The top three finishers in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Division II Nationals, scheduled for March 13-14 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
  125: #8 Cole Laya (WLU) p. Frank Bonura, 4:05
133: Vincent Distefanis (SHU) d. Steven Slack, 8-3
141: #3 Darius Bunch (WLU) md. Joel Cawoski, 14-4
149: Jacob Simpson (WLU) d. #11 Austin Shaw, 11-9
157: Logan McKoy (SHU) d. Blake Miller, 7-4
165: Chase Morgan (WLU) d. Alec Shaw, 11-9
174: Brandon Matthews (SHU) p. Chance Morgan, 1:04
184: #9 Zane Lanham (WLU) won by forfeit
197: #12 Billy Bowlen (SHU) d. Ronnie D'Amico, 8-3
285: Jake Shaffer (SHU) d. Chase Logan, 6-1