ALLIANCE, Ohio - The West Liberty University wrestling team had 21 wrestlers compete at the Mount Union Invitational today.

"It was great to get the rest of our team out there today and they didn't disappoint," said Head Coach Danny Irwin. "It looked like what fans have been accustomed to seeing with our guys competing with a ton of attitude & effort!"

Four Hilltoppers earned bids to the third place match in their respective brackets. Senior Jacob Simpson (149) and Freshman Toby Abbott (157) led the way winning their third-place bouts, while Chance Morgan (174) and Drake Kendrex (197) finished in fourth place.

Simpson got the day started with a 8-2 decision in the second round after obtaining a bye in the bracket. He moved into the semifinals with a 14-2 major decision. In the consolation bracket after dropping the semifinal, Simpson bounced right back with an 18-3 tech fall. A rematch with his first opponent of the day came in the third-place match and the Hilltopper senior took care of business again with a 7-2 to earn bronze in the 149 class. "Jacob shined today," said Coach Irwin. "He was just fun to watch and competed with lots of freedom."

Abbott led a freshman group that continues to impress Coach Irwin. "Those guys continue to impress every step of the way," said Irwin. "Abbott battled back to third after giving a nationally ranked opponent all that he could handle." The freshman class made up 10 of the 21 Hilltoppers competing today.

Abbott, the Muncie, Ind. native, had to come back from a quarterfinal loss and did so winning four straight consolation matches to earn third. After three closely contested battles to climb out of the consolation bracket, Abbott ended the day with a 17-5 major decision.

Veterans Drake Kendrex and Chance Morgan finished in fourth place in their brackets. Kendrex got a bye in the opener and pinned his combatant from Ohio Northern to quickly jump into the semifinals of the 197 pound bracket. He suffered a major decision in the semifinals and answered with one of his own the following match before coming up short in the third-place match.

Morgan came back from a quarterfinal loss and won three straight to get into the third-place match, where he was just edged out 7-6.

Four Hilltoppers in addition to Simpson and Kendrex earned spots in the semifinals of their brackets. At 125, freshmen Israel Gonzalez and Alexander Crane started strong making the semifinals before falling to the consolation bracket. They each won their consolation semi to put them fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the 157 division, Blake Miller found himself in the semifinals after a pair of tech falls to begin the day. Miller ended up in the fifth place match and took down his Ferrum College opposition with a 7-4 decision.

Junior Zac Samson picked up a pair of pins in the first two matches and fought to a fifth place finish at 165.

As a team, the Hilltoppers placed sixth of nine teams with 80 points. Gannon took the gold at 158 team points.

West Liberty hosts nationally-ranked Lake Erie College for its home-opening dual on Thursday at 6 pm inside the ASRC.

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