Findlay, Ohio – Following an upset at 133 pounds and three bonus point wins for Findlay, the No. 2 West Liberty University wrestling team found themselves trailing 16-3 after the first five matches of the day. The Hilltoppers continued to battle though, as the upper weights rallied off four wins in the final five bouts, including three straight to end the dual to secure a 22-19 victory over the Oilers.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 2 West Liberty 22, (RV) Findlay 19
Team Records: No. 2 West Liberty 3-2, (RV) Findlay 1-1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Findlay took control of the dual early with a 15-6 win by major decision as No. 9 Graham Shore of the Oilers defeated Alexander Crane. Shore opened the match with a takedown that momentarily put Crane on his back and added two near fall points. Starting the second period down 5-0, Crane escaped the initial restart for his first point of the 125 pound bout. Shore added a pair of takedowns in the second to go up 11-2 entering the third period. After Shore cut Crane loose following a takedown on the edge of the mat 30 seconds into the final period as he began to look for the tech fall, however Crane came out on top in a scramble with 15 seconds remaining for his first takedown of the match. Shore secured the riding time point in the win.
• No. 4 Vincent Scollo suffered the upset at 133 pounds as Gavin Ritter of Findlay won in a narrow 2-1 decision. The was scoreless through the first period and majority of the second period as Scollo remained on top and in control until ten seconds remained and Ritter scored two points on a reversal. Ritter restarted the third on top and remained in control long enough to push Scollo's riding time advantage under one minute before he was able to escape and cut the deficit to 2-1.
• West Liberty scored their first win of the dual at 141 pounds as No. 12 Khyvon Grace earned a 3-2 overtime win in tiebreaker-1 over Ashton Anderson. The pair remained scoreless after the opening period of action before Grace was able to immediately escape off the second period restart and took a 1-0 lead. With no takedowns the remainder of the second period, Anderson tied the bout at one apiece as he also escaped immediately off the restart in the third period. Tied at one in sudden victory-1 overtime, Grace fought off a pair of shot attempts by Anderson towards the edge of the mat that came close to ending things, however they would enter tiebreaker-1. Grace opened the tiebreaker with nine seconds of riding time and was able to escape in eight seconds to maintain a one second advantage and the win. He also fought off a scramble and takedown attempt by Anderson in the closing seconds of the tiebreaker.
• Chris Barthelemy saw his first dual meet action of the year at 149 pounds as he fell in a 10-2 major decision to Mason Klienberg. Klienberg scored the first takedown of the match midway through the first period and held Barthelemy in a tilt for a 4-point near fall, holding him in that position for nearly the entire final minute of the opening period. Barthelemy opened the second period on top and cut into the Klienberg's riding time during the first 30 seconds before he escaped. After starting the second period on bottom, Barthelemy collected a reversal with 30 seconds remaining in the bout before Klienberg escaped in the final seconds. Klienberg also secured the riding time point in the match.
• Brock Wygle fell to Logan Sanom by 19-3 tech fall (2:18) in the 157 pound match. Sanom totaled four takedowns in the match and added points with a 3-point near fall and a 4-point near fall. Wygle scored on three escapes.
• No. 9 Alec Cook began the comeback for West Liberty as he earned a 19-4 tech fall (6:42) to defeat Cade Cass at 165 pounds. Cook tallied a pair of takedowns and a 2-point near fall to go up 8-1 after the first period. After starting the second period on the bottom, Cook scored on a reversal and added another takedown with 33 seconds remaining. He notched his second takedown of the third period to end the match with 18 seconds remaining, securing the first bonus point win of the day for the Hilltoppers.
• Kenny Snyder defeated Christian Chavez by a 11-4 decision at 174 pounds, marking the final win of the afternoon for the Oilers. Snyder scored his first of three opening period takedowns just 15 seconds into the match and led 9-3 with 1:08 after riding time after three minutes of action. Snyder notched an escape immediately to start the second period and Chavez escaped 20 seconds into the third to make it 11-4. Synder collected the riding time point in the win.
• No. 1 Ty McGeary earned the first of three consecutive wins for the Hilltoppers to close the match, defeating Andrew Knick with a 17-2 tech fall (6:51) at 184 pounds. McGeary collected his first takedown of the match midway through the first period and used a tilt to score on a 4-point near fall off the takedown. He added one takedown in the second period after beginning neutral and gave up one escape to Knick with ten seconds remaining. The pair once again started the third period neutral, but McGeary made it a 13-1 score with his third takedown of the afternoon only 20 seconds in the final period. He cut Knick loose after receiving one point via a pair of stall warnings on the Oiler, and secured the tech fall with one last takedown in the final ten seconds of the bout.
• Entering in a must win situation, freshman Mason Christian delivered in a big moment, defeating Jake Kowalski 5-3 in sudden victory-1. The match entered the third period scoreless and did not see the first points until Christian scored on an escape nine seconds into the final period. Kowalski notched the only takedown of regulation with 28 seconds remaining before Christian fought to escape with 13 seconds left on the clock. Trailing by one with less than ten seconds remaining Christian's pressure forced a stall warning on Kowalski that evened the match at three apiece with just one second remaining in the third period. In overtime, Christian secured the left leg of Kowalski, pulling him back into the circle just enough to complete the takedown 39 seconds into the extra period as they began to fall off the mat.
• For the second time this season No. 4 Francesco Borsellino entered his match with the dual on the line and just like he did against Mercyhurst, the graduate student solidified the win for the Hilltoppers. Giulian Bodiu attempted to throw Borsellino, but Borsellino came out on top in a scramble and won by fall in 34 seconds.

MATCH RESULTS             

Weight	Summary	UF	WLU
125	#9 Graham Shore (UF) def. Alexander Crane (WL) (MD 15-6)	4	0
133	Gavin Ritter (UF) def. #4 Vincent Scollo (WL) (Dec. 2-1)	3	0
141	#12 Kyvon Grace (WL) def. Ashton Anderson (UF) (Dec. 3-2, TB-1)	0	3
149	Mason Kleinberg (UF) def. Chris Barthelemy (WL) (Dec. 10-2)	4	0
157	Logan Sanom (UF) def. Brock Wygle (WL) (TF 19-3)	5	0
165	#9 Alec Cook (WL) def. Cade Cass (UF) (TF 19-4)	0	5
174	Kenny Snyder (UF) def. Christian Chavez (WL) (Dec. 11-4)	3	0
184	#1 Ty McGeary (WL) def. Andrew Knick (UF) (TF 17-2)	0	5
197	Mason Christian (WL) def. Jacob Kowalski (UF) (Dec. 6-3, SV-1)	0	3
285	#4 Francesco Borsellino (WL) def. Giulian Bodiu (UF) (Fall, 0:34)	0	6
Team Score:		19	22

 
POST DUAL INTERVIEWS (HEAD COACH DANNY IRWIN AND FRANCESCO BORSELLINO):




UP NEXT
West Liberty will next be in action on Sunday, December 17 when they are back at home hosting the Hilltopper Duals. The Hilltoppers will compete in duals against Mount Union, Millersville, Frostburg State, and Ohio Northern. The action is set to start at 9:30 a.m. on all six mats inside the ASRC.