South Euclid, Ohio – The No. 1 West Liberty University wrestling team won 18 of their 20 matches on Thursday evening in Murphy Gymnasium as the Hilltoppers defeated No. 16 Grand Valley State 49-0 and fellow MEC member Notre Dame 42-8. WLU earned bonus points in ten of their 18 wins, recording seven wins by fall, one tech fall, and a pair of major decisions.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score (Dual 1): No. 1 West Liberty 49, No. 16 Grand Valley State 0
Final Score (Dual 2): No. 1 West Liberty 42, Notre Dame 8
Team Records: No. 1 West Liberty 11-6, No. 16 Grand Valley State 9-4, Notre Dame 1-11
 
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. NO. 16 GRAND VALLEY STATE

• At 125 pounds Alexander Crane set the tone for the night with West Liberty's first win by fall (6:49), securing the pin of Luca Conflitti after building up a 10-0 lead in the third period with a pair of takedowns, a 2-point near fall and a reversal.
• Matt Englehardt notched an 18-5 major decision win over Logan Klinge, racking up five takedowns, a reversal, and earning the riding time point.
• Being battled yet again, Khyvon Grace recorded a 9-6 victory in tie breaker-1 over Jak Keller. Trailing by one in the third period, Grace earned an escape point to force overtime where he notched a 2-point near fall and escape in the ride out period.
• No. 5 Nico Taddy returned the Hilltoppers to earning bonus points as he secured a 16-1 tech fall win (4:44) in the second period over Dylan Lorincz. To go along with a pair of takedowns and a reversal he scored on both a 2-point and 4-point near fall in the second period for the victory.
• Jordan Watters earned the second win of the night by fall (2:22) in the first period of the 157 pound bout against Gustavo DeLima. Prior to ending the match with the pin, he scored a 2-point and 4-point near fall off the original takedown.
• At 165 pounds, No. 10 Alec Cook fought for a 7-1 win by decision for WLU over Trammel Robinson, scoring on a pair of takedowns and an escape.
• Caden Kenworthy earned the second win by major decision for West Liberty against Grand Valley State, defeating Matthew Morris 13-2 in the 174 pound bout. He scored on four takedowns and an escape en route to the victory.
• No. 1 Ty McGeary notched his sixth win by fall of the year with a second period pin of Seth Konynenbelt in 4:35 of the 184 pound match. Leading up to the pin he led 12-1 with a pair of takedowns, a reversal, and a 4-point near fall.
• Anthony Gencarelli continued the momentum for the Hilltoppers with the second first period pin of the dual, winning by fall (2:47) over Nathan Mansor. He ended the match with the pin off his first takedown of the bout.
• No. 1 Francesco Borsellino improved to 7-0 with his sixth pin of the season, marking the third straight win by fall for the Hilltoppers to end the dual. It was his fifth first period pin of the year as he ended the match following his first takedown of Brett Boudreaux.

DUAL SCORING
              

Match Summary		GVSU	WLU
125	Alexander Crane (West Liberty) over Luca Conflitti (Grand Valley State) (Fall 6:49)	0	6
133	Matt Englehardt (West Liberty) over Logan Klinge (Grand Valley State) (MD 18-5)	0	4
141	Khyvon Grace (West Liberty) over Jak Keller (Grand Valley State) (TB-1 9-6)	0	3
149	Nico Taddy (West Liberty) over Dylan Lorincz (Grand Valley State) (TF 16-1 4:44)	0	5
157	Jordan Watters (West Liberty) over Gustavo DeLima (Grand Valley State) (Fall 2:22)	0	6
165	Alec Cook (West Liberty) over Trammel Robinson (Grand Valley State) (Dec 7-1)	0	3
174	Caden Kenworthy (West Liberty) over Matthew Morris (Grand Valley State) (MD 13-2)	0	4
184	Ty McGeary (West Liberty) over Seth Konynenbelt (Grand Valley State) (Fall 4:35)	0	6
197	Anthony Gencarelli (West Liberty) over Nathan Mansor (Grand Valley State) (Fall 2:47)	0	6
285	Francesco Borsellino (West Liberty) over Brett Boudreaux (Grand Valley State) (Fall 1:52)	0	6
Team Score:		0	49

              
HOW IT HAPPENED VS. NOTRE DAME

• Crane ended the evening 2-0 with his second pin of the night, winning by fall (2:46) over Jake Arnold. Leading up to his first period pin he ran up a 13-1 lead with a pair of takedowns, a 3-point and 4-point near fall.
• Englehardt and Grace earned their second wins of the night with wins by forfeit at 133 and 141 pounds to push West Liberty in front 18-0 in the second dual of the night.
• No. 5 Taddy notched his second bonus point win of the evening with a first period win by fall (2:08) against Parker Moore. Prior to the pin he led 15-2 with three takedowns and 2-point and 4-point near falls.
• Watters improved to 2-0 in the tri-dual with a 4-0 win by decision against Matthew Kaufmann. He opened the 157 pound bout with a takedown in the first period and ended the scoring with an escape in the second.
• No. 10 Cook earned his second win of the night with a win by forfeit at 165 pounds.
• Christian Chavez got in on the action with a 10-3 win by decision at 174 pounds over Alec Hall. He started the scoring with a takedown in the first period before following it with a pair of second period takedowns and an escape.
• No. 1 McGeary earned his second win of the evening with the fourth win by forfeit of the dual for WLU against NDC.
• Marvelous Rutledge earned the first win of the dual for Notre Dame with an 18-3 win by tech fall (6:14) over Luke Justice. Justice scored on three escapes but was unable to overcome the six takedowns for Rutledge.
• La'Ron Parks earned the second consecutive win for the Falcons with a 6-5 win by decision over Jamie Kilmer. Kilmer scored all five of his points in the third period with a takedown and a pair of points by stall warnings on Parks, however Parks earned the victory with the riding time point.

DUAL SCORING
              

Match Summary		NDC	WLU
125	Alexander Crane (West Liberty) over Jake Arnold (Notre Dame (Ohio)) (Fall 2:46)	0	6
133	Matt Englehardt (West Liberty) over Unknown (For.)	0	6
141	Khyvon Grace (West Liberty) over Unknown (For.)	0	6
149	Nico Taddy (West Liberty) over Parker Moore (Notre Dame (Ohio)) (Fall 2:08)	0	6
157	Jordan Watters (West Liberty) over Matthew Kaufmann (Notre Dame (Ohio)) (Dec 4-0)	0	3
165	Alec Cook (West Liberty) over Unknown (For.)	0	6
174	Christian Chavez (West Liberty) over Alec Hall (Notre Dame (Ohio)) (Dec 10-3)	0	3
184	Ty McGeary (West Liberty) over Unknown (For.)	0	6
197	Marvelous Rutledge (Notre Dame (Ohio)) over Luke Justice (West Liberty) (TF 18-3 6:14)	5	0
285	La`Ron Parks (Notre Dame (Ohio)) over Jamie Kilmer (West Liberty) (Dec 6-5)	3	0
Team Score:		8	42

 
HEAD COACH DANNY IRWIN INTERVIEW AT NOTRE DAME TRI-DUAL


UP NEXT
No. 1 West Liberty will next be in action on Saturday, January 27 when they host the Mountain East Conference Championships inside the friendly confines of the ASRC. Wrestling will get underway at 10 a.m. as the Hilltoppers challenge for their fourth consecutive conference championship.