FINDLAY, Ohio - Ty McGeary dominated his way to a first-place finish with a 4-0 record at 184 to lead the Hilltopper wrestling team at the Findlay Open today. "This tournament might be the biggest one day grind our guys go through during the course of the season and we met that head on," said Head Coach Danny Irwin.

McGeary was up for the challenge and took down notable opponents for his bracket win. He got the day started with a pair of pins to get into the semifinals. In the semis it was a battle of the best, McGeary, ranked fourth in the nation, took on Reece Worachek from Wisconsin-Parkside, ranked third.

The Hilltoppers' McGeary did not allow a single point to his nationally-ranked opponent advancing to the finals with an 11-0 major decision.

In the championship bout the opponent did not get any easier, as McGeary faced off against two-time NAIA national champion, Eric Vermillion from Indiana Tech. No fear in McGeary, he stepped up and continued his roll with a 19-5 major decision to finish off the dominating day.

"Scoring points is fun and my main goal when I go out there is to score points and have fun, the rest will take care of itself," said McGeary after today's win. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but it's not always in your control. What is in your control is your mentality."

Eight Hilltoppers earned semifinal appearances, including McGeary. "There were just a ton of takeaways from the competition today that will really accelerate what we can do in the month of December," said Coach Irwin. "I have had 5 teams compete at the Findlay Open over the years & have never felt as good as I did today about our performances!"

At 125, Cole Laya and Alexander Crane battled their way into semifinal matches before dropping to the consolation bracket. Laya ended the day in sixth and Crane fifth in the weight class. Dominic Ortlip bounced back from an opening loss and won five straight bouts to get into the third place bout at 125 before dropping the match to finish in fourth.

Vincent Scollo joined McGeary as one of two Hilltoppers to make the finals. In the 133 pound bracket, Scollo had a pair of decisions along with a tech fall before suffering an 8-2 decision in the finals to place second.

Two hard-fought decisions to start the day put Jacob Simpson in the 149 semifinal, where he was edged out 3-2 and finished in sixth place.

12th ranked Jamar Williams was in action for the first time for the Hilltoppers and went 3-0, including a major, to earn a semifinal bid at 157 before having to medical forfeit the rest of the way.

Alec Cook won his first two matches by decision to get into the semifinals of the 174 pound bracket. After a 6-2 loss in the semifinals, Cook majored his opponent 10-2 getting into the third place match, where he had to medical forfeit putting him fourth.

Also at 174, Chance Morgan started the day 3-0, featuring a major and a fall, to appear in the semifinals before dropping back-to-back matches. He fought back and won his fifth-place match 10-5 over an Indiana Tech combatant.

29 Hilltoppers competed in total.

West Liberty will be back in action in two weeks at the Carolina Clash Duals and Little State Invite on December 3.

Follow Hilltopper wrestling all season online at HilltopperSports.com as well as on Twitter (@wluwrestling | @wlathletics), Instagram (@wluwrestling | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.