Alliance, Ohio – Coming off a top-15 dual win to open the season, the No. 2 West Liberty University wrestling team traveled to the Mount Union Invite for their first open invitational of the season on Saturday. The 16 Hilltoppers in competition totaled 99.0 team points en route to a fifth place finish, highlighted by eight place winners and one champion. True freshman Mason Christian went a perfect 4-0 on the day to secure the title at 197 pounds, a weight class which saw three WLU wrestlers' place.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• At 133 pounds, freshman Landon Hoffman made his collegiate debut with a 3-2 record and fourth place finish at the Mount Union Invitational. All three of his wins secured bonus points, as he won by major decision (14-0) over Walker Bell of Ferrum, won by fall (5:59) over teammate Bryson Neidigh, and won by tech fall (17-0 – 6:43) over Troy Kennedy of Campbellsville. Hoffman was pinned in the third place match by Dylan Le of Ohio Northern in 4:53.
• At 141 pounds, Chris Barthelemy, an Alderson Broaddus transfer, made his Hilltopper debut with a 4-2 record and fifth place finish on Saturday. He began the day with an 18-2 tech fall (4:27) over Will Brodbeck of Hiram, followed by a pair of wins by decision to reach the semifinal match. In the semifinal he was pinned in 6:23 by Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern. After a loss by decision in the consolation semifinal he defeated Desmond Diggs of Mount St. Joseph 4-1 in sudden victory-1.
• At 149 pounds Brock Wygle opened the season by going 2-2 with all four matches ending by fall. After losing the first match of the day he pinned Bryant Beane of Campbellsville (4:57) and Cody Agnell of Ferrum (2:06) in back-to-back matches. He ended the day with a loss in the consolation round to Elvis Vasques of SUNY Brockport, being pinned in 1:50.
• At 165 pounds Brett Goff opened his senior season with a 3-2 on the day and a fourth place finish. Goff was the second Hilltopper to have all of his matches end in a fall and started the day with back-to-back pins against Trenton Zollinger of Mount Union (1:19) and Caleb Butterfield of Gannon (0:57). After a loss in the semifinals, he bounced back and pinned Max Ebanks of SUNY Brockport in 1:39. Goff was pinned in the third place match by Jake Hurst of Campbellsville in 0:47.
• At 174 pounds Breagan Pearson notched another fourth place finish for West Liberty, posting a 3-2 record to open the 2023-24 season. He fell in his first match of the day in the quarterfinals, losing by major decision (15-3) to Shadrick Stone of Campbellsville, but responded by winning three consecutive matches en route to the third place match. In the consolation bracket he first defeated Michael Syposs of SUNY Brockport by tech fall (17-2 – 2:09), the won by fall over Kiam Coleman of SUNY Brockport (2:01), and then won in sudden victory-1 (11-8) over Gabe Martinez of Campbellsville. Pearson was pinned in the third place match by Cole Casilio of Gannon (2:36).
• At 184 pounds, freshman Christian Chavez turned a 7^th place finish and 3-2 record in his collegiate debut. He began the day with a tech fall for his first career win, defeating Landon Gingo of Mount Union 17-1 (4:41). He lost in the quarterfinal round but added a second tech fall in the second round of the consolation bracket as he defeated Ethan Fragoso of Ferrum 20-5 (7:00). A loss by decision in the next round sent him to the seventh place match where he recorded his first pin of the season, defeating Spencer Clements of SUNY Brockport in 2:07.
• After falling to a top-10 opponent in Thursday's dual against No. 14 Pitt-Johnstown, Mason Christian clinched the title at 197 pounds with a perfect 4-0 record on the day. The freshman earned his first career win with a 14-3 major decision over Troy Peterson of Gannon to open the day. He then advanced via a medical forfeit in the quarterfinals and battled to a 2-1 win by decision of Marvelous Rutledge of Notre Dame in the semifinals. Christian won the championship with another hard fought and close match when he won by a 4-3 decision over Anthony Glessner of Gannon.
• Keaton Grider added a seventh place finish at 197 pounds with a 3-2 record at the Mount Union Invite. He opened the day by defeating Zane Hitchcock of Campbellsville, 6-1 in sudden victory-1. Grider then lost via a tech fall in the quarterfinal round but kept his day going with a pin of Sam Brunner of Ohio Northern (5:12) in the second round of the consolation bracket. After being pinned in his fourth match of the day he picked up the win in the seventh place match by injury default over teammate Luke Justice.
• Justice was the final place winner for West Liberty on Saturday afternoon, earning a 2-3 record in his collegiate debut for an eighth place finish. The freshman opened the day with a pin of Kaleb Gelter of Mount St. Joseph in 6:53 for his first career win. He lost by major decision in his quarterfinal bout but responded with a 7-2 win by decision against teammate Anthony Gencarelli in the consolation bracket. In his next match he lost by a 7-2 decision to Troy Peterson of Gannon before losing by injury default to teammate Keaton Grider.

POST MATCH QUOTES
"I'm really excited about these guys picking right up where we left off Thursday night," said head coach Danny Irwin. "Having a guy like Mason Christian winning it today, he made some big steps forward which was really positive. He was really excited to win the first tournament of his young career and I'm sure you can see more finals appearances from him."
 
"Outside of Mason, awesome performances today by freshman Landon Hoffman," stated Irwin. "Watching him compete start to finish you wouldn't have thought that he was a true freshman showing his poise and resilience. Followed by Chris Barthelemy at 141 pounds, seeing the steadfastness of positions, it gave us a lot to build on. Between those few guys and everyone else, I'm really happy and ready to get back to our next session on Monday as a team!"
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will return to dual meet action next week as they travel to Mercyhurst on Thursday evening. The Hilltoppers and Lakers are set to square off at 7 p.m. in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.