Men's Wrestling | 1/23/2021 9:27:00 PM

    ELKINS, W.Va. – With three nationally-ranked teams – including No. 7 West Liberty – and host Davis & Elkins also receiving votes in the latest NCAA Division II Top 25 wrestling rankings, Saturday's four-team round robin on the Senators' mats was seen as a showdown between the cream of the Mountain East Conference wrestling crop.
    Coach Danny Irwin's No. 7-ranked Hilltoppers turned that showdown into a showcase for the Black and Gold's most dominant performance of the season, winning 36 of the 41 matches wrestled in the hybrid format and staking their claim as the team to beat in the MEC this year.
    The West Liberty wrestlers went 8-1 on the day against No. 13-ranked Notre Dame (Ohio), posted a 15-4 record against wrestlers from No. 25-ranked UNC Pembroke's defending MEC champions and swept all 13 matches from the host Senators.
    "This was the hardest a team has wrestled for me from start to finish in recent memory," Irwin said, "and by far in my tenure at West Liberty. We finished with a 36-5 record today but ultimately what it came down to was we just had fun scrapping and feeding off each other's energy."
    The highlight of the day came in a bout between two of the nation's top 125 pounders with West Liberty's No. 7-ranked Cole Laya rolling to an 11-4 victory against No. 3-ranked Nick Daggett of UNC Pembroke, avenging an overtime loss to the UNCP wrestler a year ago.
    There were plenty of other bright spots for the Black and Gold. Irwin pointed to No. 16-ranked 165-pounder Chase Morgan's 8-1 win against Davis & Elkins' Noah Tarr, a returning national qualifier, and 149-pounder Jacob Simpson's thrilling sudden victory win against the Senators' Craig Cook, another returning national qualifier, as being especially rewarding. He also made note of an impressive season debut for newcomer Ty McGeary.
    "I was really impressed by what Laya did today," Irwin said. "That was a match everyone was excited to see and Cole really had it rolling. Chase and Jacob each had quality wins against returning national qualifiers and Ty really lit up the scoreboard in his West Liberty debut."
    A redshirt freshman at 174 pounds, McGeary went 3-0 on the day. He stopped UNC Pembroke's Rashaan Vereen at 3:48 of their match and added a 12-4 major decision against UNCP's Garrett Hill before coasting to a 5-1 decision against Notre Dame's Logan Hall.
    "Overall, I was happy with how I wrestled and feel like I got better as the day went on," McGeary said. "I was feeling good when I was moving my feet but I need to start doing that earlier in the match. The team is looking a lot better than we did just a couple of weeks ago. I think we dominated the day."
    With Tuesday's scheduled road dual at Fairmont State already postponed due to MEC safety protocols, the Hilltoppers will close out their regular season schedule at home on Saturday with a 3 p.m. dual against Ohio County rival Wheeling before turning their full attention to the MEC Tournament.
    West Liberty has once again been selected as the host school for the MEC Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 6 inside the ASRC.
    Irwin thinks this weekend's impressive performance in Elkins has the Black and Gold well positioned for postseason success.
    "This sets the table for the conference tournament two weeks from now," Irwin said. "That's where we will really know where we're at!"
  125: #7 Cole Laya (WLU) over #3 Nick Daggett (UNCP) (Dec 11-4)
133: Corey Secrist (WLU) over Joe Sipper (UNCP) (TF 20-4 5:00)
141: Jordan Watters (WLU) over Chaise Mayer (UNCP) (MD 15-6)
141: Matt Simpson (WLU) over Nathan Buchanan (UNCP) (MD 13-5)
141: Marcus Jean-Baptiste (WLU) over Ethan Hnasko (UNCP) (Dec 9-5)
141: Marcus Jean-Baptiste (WLU) over Chaise Mayer (UNCP) (Dec 6-5)
141: Jamie Ward (WLU) over Nathan Buchanan (UNCP) (Fall 0:30)
141: Jordan Watters (WLU) over Raymond Nesbit (UNCP) (Dec 7-0)
149: Jacob Simpson (WLU) over Thomas Schock (UNCP) (Dec 4-2)
149: Luke McDonough (UNCP) over Carter Winegardner (WLU) (Dec 9-2)
149: Joshua Feliz (UNCP) over Parker Mazik (WLU) (Dec 11-4)
165: #16 Chase Morgan (WLU) over Caleb Grau (UNCP) (Dec 7-6)
165: Braxton May-Nicholson (UNCP) over Miles Mazik (WLU) (SV-1 3-1)
165: Caleb Grau (UNCP) over Miles Mazik (WLU) (Dec 9-5)
174: Ty McGeary (WLU) over Rashaan Vereen (UNCP) (Fall 3:48)
174: Ty McGeary (WLU) over Garrett Hill (UNCP) (MD 12-4)
174: Chance Morgan (WLU) over Matthew Engel (UNCP) (MD 14-4)
184: #2 Connor Craig (WLU) over Jovaun Johnson (UNCP) (TF 15-0 5:23)
197: #7 Logan Kemp (WLU) over Marcus Bell (UNCP) (Dec 9-5) 125: #7 Cole Laya (WLU) over Jake Arnold (NDC) (TF 16-0 3:00)
125: Kade Zadylak (WLU) over Donovan Marriot (NDC) (Fall 2:11)
125: Kade Zadylak (WLU) over Jake Arnold (NDC) (Dec 13-6)
133: Corey Secrist (WLU) over Mathew Kaufman (NDC) (Dec 8-7)
141: #4 Kelan McKenna (NDC) over Marcus Jean-Baptiste (WLU) (MD 10-0)
174: Ty McGeary (WLU) over Logan Hall (NDC) (Dec 5-1)
184: #2 Connor Craig (WLU) over Anthony Marra (NDC) (Dec 7-0)
285: Jamie Kilmer (WLU) over Wennds Mytril (NDC) (Fall 1:29)
285: Omari Green (WLU) over Wennds Mytril (NDC) (Fall 0:53) 133: Corey Secrist (WLU) over Vincent Scollo (D&E) (Dec 6-4)
141: Matt Simpson (WLU) over Eian Harper (D&E) (MD 9-1)
141: Jamie Ward (WLU) over Eian Harper (D&E) (MD 16-2)
149: Jacob Simpson (WLU) over Craig Cook (D&E) (SV-1 6-5)
149: Parker Mazik (WLU) over Corbin Saul (D&E) (Dec 6-4)
157: Carter Winegardner (WLU) over Peter Haverick (D&E) (Dec 8-3)
165: #16 Chase Morgan (WLU) over Noah Tarr (D&E) (Dec 8-1)
174: Chance Morgan (WLU) over Chad Tracy (D&E) (MD 11-2)
197: #7 Logan Kemp (WLU) over Bradden Galassi (D&E) (MD 12-0)
285: Ronnie D`Amico (WLU) over Daimere Wilson-Turner (D&E) (Fall 2:34)
285: Omari Green (WLU) over Charles Morrison (D&E) (Fall 4:32)
285: Jamie Kilmer (WLU) over Daimere Wilson-Turner (D&E) (Inj. 4:35)
285: Ronnie D`Amico (WLU) over Charles Morrison (D&E) (Fall 3:57)