INDIANAPOLIS – Head coach Danny Irwin and his No. 6-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team are on a mission this weekend as they make their way to Tiffin (Ohio) University's Heminger Center to compete in Saturday's NCAA Division II Super Region 3 Championships.
    While the Hilltoppers were a slim choice for No. 1 in the most recent set of Super Region 3 rankings, the Black and Gold definitely have their work cut out for them in one of the nation's deepest and most competitive regional fields.
    Six of the 11 Super Region 3 teams were ranked in the latest NCAA Division II Top 25 released by TheOpenMat.com national wrestling website with three of them in the Top 10 – No. 5 Ashland, No. 6 West Liberty and No. 10 Indianapolis.
    While the Hilltoppers are the only team with regionally ranked wrestlers in all 10 weight classes and the only team with three wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the region, Ashland and Indianapolis each have eight regionally ranked wrestlers with two No. 1s each. What's more, all eight of Ashland's wrestlers are ranked among the top three in the region while UIndy's eight wrestlers are all among the top four.
    Host Tiffin also has eight regionally ranked wrestlers with one at No. 1. Lake Erie has no top-ranked grapplers but will still be sending nine regionally ranked wrestlers onto the mats Saturday.
    After rolling through an unbeaten dual meet schedule and running away to a Mountain East Conference title with six individual champions, Irwin and his talented crew aren't about to change their formula for success.
    "Keep hunting," Irwin said. "That's the message we have been preaching all year and it's the approach we plan to take on Saturday. We believe that if you're always looking to score the next point and win the next position, the scoreboard will take care of itself at the end of the day.
    "The lineup we've put together this year is full of experience but more importantly, these guys are completely invested in one another," Irwin said. "They feed off each other's energy in every match and we're really excited to get the ball rolling."
    The champions and runners-up in each weight class will earn guaranteed spots to compete in next month's NCAA Division II Nationals at St. Louis. In addition, a select number of third-place finishers will qualify based on voting by the regional coaches.
    Tournament seedings and brackets will be announced Friday night following the regional coaches' meeting. Here are capsules and comments from Coach Irwin about each of West Liberty's 10 regional entries:
       Two-time junior All-American COLE LAYA (10-1) is the No. 1-ranked 125-pounder in the region and the reigning MEC champion. He's ranked No. 5 nationally on both TheOpenMat and National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) polls.
     "Seeing the relationship Cole has built with Coach (Cam) Timok in such a short time has been awesome! These last few months of training for Cole have been the best ones I have seen since his freshman year of college."      Senior TYLER WARNER (4-0) is ranked No. 1 in the region at 133 pounds and is also the reigning MEC champion. A three-time NCAA Division II All-American and a former national champion, he's ranked No. 5 nationally by TheOpenMat and the NWCA.
     "I'm really excited to see Tyler out there this weekend. He has been opening up his offense more and more as the year goes on. If he lets it go, it will be a very long day for his opponents."      Junior MARCUS JEAN-BAPTISTE (6-2) is ranked No. 6 regionally in a loaded 141-pound division. He earned All-MEC honors as runner-up in the MEC Tournament at 141, falling to nationally-ranked Kelan McKenna of Notre Dame in the finals.
     "If we can get this guy smiling and he gets his feet moving, he's going to have a good day. This is a really deep weight class and I could see any one of seven guys potentially coming out of here as qualifiers."      Redshirt freshman ALEC COOK (4-2) is ranked No. 5 in the region at 149 pounds but has been in and out of the national rankings all year. The reigning MEC champion at 149, he put on a show with a 15-4 major decision in the championship match.
     "Alec has been pretty hungry the last couple of weeks after dropping a couple of late-season matches. I think that was a wake-up call that arrived at just the right time. Alec knows how he needs to compete on Saturday in order to make it to St. Louis."      Senior CHRISTIAN RIVERA (6-3) is ranked No. 5 in the region at 157 pounds in his final go-round at the collegiate level. Two narrow setbacks forced him to settle for a fourth place finish at the MEC Championships.
     "Christian trains so hard the main challenge for our coaching staff is getting him to back off on his volume at times. The relationship with him runs really deep though. I think he's ready to make it go 'boom' on Saturday!"      Junior CHASE MORGAN (10-2) is ranked No. 5 in the region at 165 and checks in at No. 15 nationally on TheOpenMat. He earned All-MEC honors with a runner-up finish at 165 in the MEC Tournament and is one of the team's most improved wrestlers.
     "Chase just loves the battle and the deeper the tournament goes on Saturday, the better for him. The regional has never seen Chase competing at the level he's on right now."      Redshirt freshman TY McGEARY (9-2) is ranked No. 5 in the region at 174 pounds and also sits at No. 15 nationally on TheOpenMat. Despite a late start to the season, he came on strong to finish third at 174 in the MEC Tournament and has been on the rise.
     "Coming into the season, there was some uncertainty about whether Ty would even be able to compete this year but that never affected the way he approached each day of training. As a result, we believe he's primed for his best weekend of wrestling yet."      Two-time senior All-American CONNOR CRAIG (8-0) is the No. 1-ranked 184-pounder in the region and currently sits at No. 2 nationally on TheOpenMat and NWCA. The 2019 NCAA Division II national champion at 174, Craig was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler at the MEC Tournament after breezing to the 184-pound title.
     "Connor is absolutely ready to go He is excited to get out and compete against more high level competition and can't wait to meet those challenges head on!"      Senior LOGAN KEMP (11-1) is ranked No. 2 in the region at 197 pounds. The two-time national qualifier also ranks No. 5 nationally on TheOpenMat and No. 9 with the NWCA. He beat No. 7-ranked Gino Sita of Alderson Broaddus, 8-4, in the MEC Tournament's 197-pound title bout.
     "Considering the adversity Logan had to work through in the offseason, it's phenomenal to see Logan wrestling the way he is right now. He's completely dialed in on what he wants to do and is ready to keep getting after it."      Sophomore FRANCESCO BORSELLINO (9-0) is the No. 2-ranked 285-pounder in the region this year and has risen to No. 10 nationally on TheOpenMat and No. 11 with the NWCA. Borsellino put an exclamation point on West Liberty's MEC Tournament title run with a thunderous first-period fall against UNC-Pembroke's Ryan Monk in the 285-pound final.
     "Borso has really settled into his spots and is showing more and more consistency every day. If he sticks to that plan on Saturday, I guarantee you he will not be a fun guy to compete against."