West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 3 West Liberty University wrestling team looks to retain their spot atop the league at Saturday's MEC Championships as the Hilltoppers vie for their fourth consecutive league title. WLU will send out a lineup that has combined for seven individual first place finishes at the conference championships since 2021 and will have three wrestlers in search of their third titles of their careers. Brackets for each weight class will be released later this evening and the wrestling will get underway at 10 a.m. inside the ASRC.
DUAL DETAILS
Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
Start Time: 10 A.M.
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#3Â WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES
- West Liberty enters Saturday with an 11-6 record in dual meet competition following a 49-0 win over No. 16 Grand Valley State and a 42-8 win over Notre Dame at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals on Thursday, January 18. In the duals against the Lakers and Falcons the Hilltoppers won 18 of their 20 bouts and posted ten bonus points wins (7 wins by fall, 2 wins by major decision, and 1 win by tech fall).
- WLU has competed in four open tournaments this season, winning four individual titles and totaling 24 place winners. Mason Christian won the 197 pound title at the Mount Union Invite, Vincent Scollo won the 133 pound title at the Findlay Open, Ty McGeary won the 184 pound title at the Findlay Open, and Parker Bentley won the 285 pound title at the Little State Invitational.
- The Black & Gold fell to the No. 3 ranking in the latest release of NWCA Coaches' Poll on Monday, January 22. West Liberty has been ranked inside the top-3 the entirety of the 2023-24 season, including spending a month tied for the No. 1 ranking with Central Oklahoma, marking the highest ranking in program history.
- Four Hilltoppers in Saturday's projected lineup have won an MEC Championship during their time with WLU. Alec Cook, Ty McGeary, and Francesco Borsellino all look to become 3-time conference champions while Khyvan Grace is in search of his second league title.
- Alexander Crane enters the MEC Championships with a record of 8-12 on the season at 125 pounds after a pair of pins at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals. He started the night with a win by fall (6:49) over Luca Conflitti of Grand Valley State and later won by fall (2:46) over Jake Arnold of Notre Dame. The pins brought his season bonus point total to three, all coming by way of fall.
- Landon Hoffman will wrestle for the Hilltoppers at 133 pounds in Saturday's MEC Championships, entering the tournament with an 8-5 record during the season. He was last in action at the Purple Raider Open hosted by Mount Union where he went 2-1 en route to a second place finish. He recorded back-to-back first period wins by fall over Hunter Newell of Mount Union (1:42) and Dustin Norris of Purdue (1:55) before he lost in an 11-5 decision to Charlie Bunting who wrestled unattached for George Mason in the title bout. He owns a total of six bonus point victories during 2023-24, winning three times by fall and three times by tech fall.
- Khyvan Grace enters the MEC Championships in search of his second conference title after winning at 141 pounds in 2023. He improved his record to 17-5 on the season after a pair of wins at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals. He started the day with his fourth overtime bout of the season, improving to 3-1 in those matches after a 9-6 win in tiebreaker-1 over Jak Keller of Grand Valley State. Later in the evening he received a win by forfeit against NDC. He owns five bonus point wins on the year, all by way of tech fall. He has also recorded one ranked win and a win over a DI opponent this season as he defeated No. 3 Jake Niffennegger of Mercyhurst at the Findlay Open and Tre Varndell of Clarion at the Drexel Duals.
- Nico Taddy enters Saturday as the No. 6 ranked wrestler at 149 pounds and has posted a record of 9-2 on the year following a pair of bonus point wins at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals. He started the night with a 16-1 win by tech fall (4:44) against Dylan Lorincz of Grand Valley State and followed it with a win by fall (2:08) over Parker Moore of Notre Dame. He is 2-1 against ranked opponents this season and owns seven bonus point wins on the year. He is one of three Hilltoppers to be named MEC Wrestler of the Week during the 2023-24 season, earning the recognition on November 6, 2023, after a win over No. 3 Jacob Ealy of Pitt-Johnstown in his collegiate debut.
- At 157 pounds it will be Jordan Watters or Armon Nettey competing at the MEC Championships on Saturday for West Liberty. Watters is 8-5 during the 2023-24 season following a pair of wins at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals where he won by fall (2:22) over Gustavo DeLima of Grand Valley State and later won in a 4-0 decision over Matthew Kaufmann of Notre Dame. He owns two bonus point victories this season, which both occurred by fall. Nettey is 11-11 during the year and last competed at the Purple Raider Open hosted by Mount Union where he went 2-2 on the day, recording a 17-0 win by tech fall over Thanyal Miller of Garrett CC and a 13-6 win by decision over Kyle Bizjak of John Carroll. He owns four bonus point wins during the 2023-24 season.
- At 165 pounds, Alec Cook enters the MEC Championships in search of his third conference title, winning the 149 pound weight class in 2021 and the 165 pound weight class in 2023. He brought his record to 14-8 on the year at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals as he won his first bout in a 7-1 decision over Trammel Robinson of Grand Valley State, followed by a win by forfeit in the dual against the Falcons. During the 2023-24 season he has tallied eight bonus point victories and is one of several wrestlers on the team to record a victory over a DI opponent as he defeated Trevor Elfvin of Clarion in an 8-3 decision at the beginning of December.
- At 174 pounds Christian Chavez owns a 13-11 record during his freshman campaign, competing in both the 174 and 184 pound weight classes. In his most recent outing, he won a 10-3 decision over Alec Hall of Notre Dame at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals. He owns seven bonus point victories in 2023-24.
- Ty McGeary remains the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 184 pounds with a 22-0 record on the year and is in search of his third MEC title. The 2022 (174 pounds) and 2023 (184 pounds) conference champion enters the tournament with 15 bonus point wins in 2023-24, following a win by fall (4:35) over Seth Konynenbelt of Grand Valley State at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals. In the bout against the Falcons, he earned a win by forfeit. He is a 4-time MEC Wrestler of the Week honoree while going 2-0 against ranked opponents this year.
- Another freshman in the lineup is Mason Christian, who has battled to a 14-6 record at 197 pounds in 2023-24. In his last outing he fell in a 7-2 decision to Peyton Lemon of Ashland in dual competition against the Eagles. He has totaled seven bonus point victories on the year. In open tournaments this season he won the Mount Union Open and was fourth at the Findlay Open.
- Francesco Borselino, the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, enters Saturday with a record of 7-0 this season and in search of his third MEC title. The 2021 and 2022 MEC 285 pound champion has totaled six wins by fall during 2023-24, and with his pin of Brett Boudreaux of Grand Valley State (1:52) during the team's last outing at the Notre Dame Tri-Duals he secured his fifth first period win by fall. Of his five first period pins, three have occurred within the first 50 seconds of action. He is one of three different Hilltoppers to have been named MEC Wrestler of the Week this year (12-11-2023).
- Danny Irwin is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty, leading the Hilltoppers to a 55-21 dual meet record and three consecutive top-6 finishes at the NCAA Division II National Championships. Overall, Irwin enters his seventh season as a head coach after spending his first two seasons at Wheeling and has compiled a 75-30 career dual meet record and four total top-6 national championship finishes.
MEC CHAMPIONSHIP PARTICIPANTS
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