Fort Wayne, Ind. – Parker Bentley led the group of West Liberty University wrestlers that traveled west this weekend as he won the 285 pound title at the Little State Invitational on Saturday evening. The No. 2 Hilltoppers saw four other athletes place in their respective weight classes on the day as Chris Barthelemy finished fifth, Carter Winegardner (unattached) and Christian Chavez finished seventh, and Oliver Byerly finished eighth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Chris Barthelemy finished fifth at 141 pounds with a record of 6-2 on the day. He opened the tournament with a win by fall (4:22) over Wendel Hollister of Marian before dropping his championship round two match to Blake McGee of Wabash in an 11-4 decision. He won four consecutive matches en route to the consolation semifinals, winning by a 13-2 major decision over Michael Tharpe of Indiana Tech, winning by a 16-0 tech fall over Amir Crockett of Trine, winning by medical forfeit over Jared Brown of Marian, and winning by an 11-4 decision over Dylan Coleman of Rochester. In the consolation semifinals he fell by a 13-0 major decision to Dru Wilson of Lourdes. He concluded the day with a win by forfeit over Gage Hudson of Cumberlands in the fifth place match.
• Carter Winegardner finished seventh at 157 pounds, wrestling unattached in the tournament.  He opened the day with a 7-2 win by decision over Reese Hamblen of Ancilla and then punched his ticket into the quarterfinals with a win by fall (2:08) over Ben Tarrago of Cumberlands. He fell in the quarterfinals by a 4-2 decision to Tim Smith of Wabash but responded with another 7-2 win by decision, this time over Rico Brown of Rochester. He dropped his final consolation round match in a 4-0 decision to Philip Burney of Trine to fall to the seven place match where he won a high scoring 11-8 decision over Luke Robards of Indianapolis to finish the day with a 4-2 record.
• Christian Chavez placed seventh in the 174 pound weight class, posting a record of 3-2 on the day. He advanced to the quarterfinals with a 16-1 win by tech fall over Elorm Nevis of Wabash. He then dropped his quarterfinal bout in an 8-3 decision to Landon Buchanan of Indiana Tech before regrouping with an 8-5 win by decision over his teammate, Caden Kenworthy, in the consolation bracket. A 16-2 loss by major decision to Charlie Friedenreich of Cumblands sent him to the seventh place match where he won by forfeit over teammate Oliver Byerly.
• Oliver Byerly was WLU's second place winner in the 174 pound weight class as he finished eighth with a record of 5-2 on the day. He fell in his opening round bout in a 6-5 decision to Sherman Dixon of Cumberlands. He then rattled off four consecutive wins in the consolation bracket as won by fall (0:27) over Josh Kling of Ancilla, won by fall (6:15) over Julius Polk of Rochester, won by a 19-3 tech fall over Elorm Nevis of Wabash, and won by a 10-5 decision over TJ Huber of Cumberlands. He was sent to the seventh place match following a 9-2 loss by decision in a rematch against Dixon of Cumberlands. He forfeited the seventh place match to teammate Christian Chavez.
• Parker Bentley was the lone Hilltopper to go undefeated on the day as he won the 285 pound weight class with a perfect 5-0 record in the tournament. He opened the day with a pair of wins by fall to advance to the quarterfinals, defeating Marques Lewis of Marian in 2:08, and defeating Ian Clifford of Indiana Tech in 1:45. He notched an 11-3 win by major decision in the quarterfinal bout against Excell Brooks of Marian and followed that with a 6-0 win by decision over Jay Thompson of Indianapolis in the semifinals. He scored a 16-2 win by major decision over Jackson Schenk of Rochester in the first place match.

UP NEXT
The group of starters for West Liberty will be in action tomorrow as they face a pair of NCAA Division I opponents in the Dragon Duals in Philadelphia. They open the day against Clarion at 11 a.m. and will conclude the stay with a 12:30 dual against the hosts of Drexel at 12:30 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The match against Clarion will not have a live stream and up to the minute live results, however the dual against Drexel can be seen on FloWrestling (link on schedule page and in preview / pay-per-view stream) and will have live results.