Men's Wrestling | 2/29/2020 9:38:00 PM

    INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 21-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team had two wrestlers qualify for nationals and six total placers here Saturday as a highly-competitive NCAA Division II Super Region 3 Championships wrapped up at Nicoson Hall on the University of Indianapolis campus.
    Sophomore 125-pounder Cole Laya and senior 285-pounder Chase Logan earned the right to carry the Black and Gold to Sioux Falls, S.D. on March 13-14 for this year's NCAA Division II National Championships. Laya settled for runner-up honors at 125 while Logan won his third-place match at 285. The top three placers in each of the 10 weight classes qualify for nationals.
    Also placing for Coach Danny Irwin's Hilltoppers but falling just shy of qualifying for nationals were Zane Lanham, fourth at 184; Blake Miller, sixth at 157; Chase Morgan, sixth at 165 and Ronnie D'Amico, sixth at 197.
    "I thought coming in today we would have at least six placers and we did that," Irwin said. "However, I expected more national qualifiers and that ultimately falls on me. These guys have covered an awful lot of ground this year and our coaching staff is so proud of them for that. There were things here today that will fuel the fire for me from now until we get our next opportunity at this."
    Senior All-American Darius Bunch, seeded No. 1 at 141 pounds, tried to wrestle through an injury only to come up short. Bunch bounced back with a win in his first consolation match after a tough loss in the quarterfinals but couldn't get out of the second consolation round.
    "My heart breaks for Darius," Irwin said. "He did everything possible to put himself in position to win a national title this year only to have another injury prevent him from getting to where he wanted to be. What sticks out to me the most about Darius, however, is that after he was eliminated, he was the loudest teammate in the building supporting his guys. That is what Darius will be remembered for."
    As disappointed as he was with some aspects of the day's performance, Irwin is looking forward to taking multiple wrestlers out west in a couple of weeks.
    "I'm really excited for Cole and Chase," Irwin said. "It's awesome to see Cole get back to nationals after some of the setbacks he's had this season. He still hasn't reached his goal but he has another week and a half to fine tune a couple of details that will make a big difference.
    "Chase has been with me for the last three years and has had my back all the way even when I knew he didn't like a decision I had made. Seeing him qualify today was one of the best feelings I've had in 14 years of coaching but Chase has earned it from day one just by being a consistent hard-nosed worker."
    Laya, who won the region and finished third at nationals a year ago as a true freshman, received a bye into the championship semifinals where he breezed to a major decision against Ashland's Christian Wellman. Laya then battled top-seeded Ana Abduljelil of Indianapolis to the final buzzer in the finals only to come out on the short end of a 3-2 score.
    "This weekend may not have gone the way I wanted it to but sometimes the best gains come after a loss," Laya said. "I will keep pushing forward and look to finish the year off right at nationals."
    Logan's only loss of the day came to eventual regional champion Jared Campbell of Notre Dame in the championship semifinals. The Hilltopper senior rebounded with a 3-1 win against Davenport's River Fox in the Consolation Semifinals before stunning Tiffin's David Henson, a first-team All-G-MAC standout, with a 2-1 victory in the Third-Place Match.
    "This was the best experience I've had so far in my college career," Logan said. "Now it's time to get back to work and try to top that."
    Lanham just missed qualifying for nationals as a true freshman. After the Hilltopper 184-pounder lost to eventual regional champion Aidan Pasiuk of Ashland in the championship semifinals, he beat Lake Erie's Brylan Clouse by major decision in the consolations but finished one win shy of nationals with a loss to Indianapolis's Brody Conner in the Third Place Match.
    Notre Dame won the regional title with 127.5 points, barely holding off Tiffin (122) and Ashland (121.5). Indianapolis was fourth with 115.5 points followed by Lake Erie (87.5), West Liberty (52), Findlay (47.5), Urbana (17.5), Davenport (14) and Ohio Valley, which failed to score.
    Following are full match results for all West Liberty wrestlers at today's Super Region 3 championships:
 
WRESTLING
NCAA Division II
Super Region 3 Championships
(at Indianapolis, Ind.)
Team Scoring
     1. Notre Dame 127.5; 2. Tiffin 122; 3. Ashland 121.5; 4. Indianapolis 115.5; 5. Lake Erie 87.5; 6. WEST LIBERTY 52; 7. Findlay 47.5; 8. Urbana 17.5; 9. Davenport 14; 10. Ohio Valley 0
West Liberty Individuals
125
Championship Final
Ana Abduljelil (Ind) d. Cole Laya (WLU), 3-2
Championship Semifinal
Cole Laya (WLU) md. Christian Wellman (Ash), 8-0
133
Consolation Round One
Chase Wilkerson (Ind) p. Corey Secrist (WLU), 1:34
Championship Round One
Blake Glogouski (LEC) p. Corey Secrist (WLU), 2:48
141
Consolation Round Three
Andrew Lieb (LEC) d. Darius Bunch (WLU), 8-6
Consolation Round Two
Darius Bunch (WLU) d. Jacob Edwards (Urb), 3-1
Championship Quarterfinal
Dylan Mansour (Tiff) d. Darius Bunch (WLU), 2-0
149
Consolation Round Two
Sandro Ramirez (NDC) d. Jacob Simpson (WLU), 7-3
Championship Round One
Brandon Tenney (LEC) d. Jacob Simpson (WLU), 6-5
157
5th-Place Match
Jacob Potok (LEC) p. Blake Miller (WLU), :43
Consolation Semifinal
Dawson Combest (Ind) tf. Blake Miller (WLU), 15-0
Consolation Round Three
Blake Miller (WLU) d. Quintin Lopez (Dav), 3-1
Consolation Round Two
Blake Miller (WLU) d. Alexander Isbrandt (Find), 11-4
Championship Round One
Dawson Combest (Ind) md. Blake Miller (WLU), 10-2
165
Championship Quarterfinal
Christian Price (Ash) d. Chase Morgan (WLU), 9-6
Consolation Round Three
Chase Morgan (WLU) d. Caleb Norris (Dav), 8-6
Consolation Semifinal
Jordon Tague (NDC) md. Chase Morgan (WLU), 10-2
5th-Place Match
James Penfold (LEC) d. Chase Morgan (WLU), 8-1
174
Consolation Round Three
Sam Greco (Dav) d. Chance Morgan (WLU), 3-1 SV-1
Championship Quarterfinal
Alonzo Turner (NDC) d. Chance Morgan (WLU), 3-1
184
3rd-Place Match
Brody Conner (Ind) p. Zane Lanham (WLU), 1:36
Consolation Semifinal
Zane Lanham (WLU) md. Brylan Clouse (LEC), 9-0
Championship Semifinal
Aidan Pasiuk (Ash) p. Zane Lanham (WLU), 5:56
Championship Quarterfinal
Zane Lanham (WLU) d. Richard Screptock (Tiff), 6-4
197
5th-Place Match
Mike Viramontes (NDC) d. Ronnie D'Amico (WLU), 6-3
Consolation Semifinal
Peter Abraham (Ash) d. Ronnie D'Amico (WLU), 7-1
Consolation Round Three
Ronnie D'Amico (WLU) md. Aaron Martin (Dav), 15-6
Consolation Round Two
Ronnie D'Amico (WLU) p. Major Stratton (Urb), 1:10
Championship Quarterfinal
Chris Droege (LEC) d. Ronnie D'Amico (WLU), 4-2
285
3rd-Place Match
Chase Logan (WLU) d. David Henson (Tiff), 2-1
Consolation Semifinal
Chase Logan (WLU) d. River Fox (Dav), 3-1
Championship Semifinal
Jared Campbell (NDC) p. Chase Logan (WLU), :35
Championship Quarterfinal
Chase Logan (WLU) d. Caleb Carpenter (Find), 3-2