West Liberty, W.Va. – The No. 3 West Liberty University wrestling team is slated to close out their dual portion of the 2023-24 season this week as they host Fairmont State in a 7 p.m. match on Thursday, February 15, as they recognize eight seniors inside the ASRC. Their final dual of the year will then take place on Friday, February 16, as the Hilltoppers travel to Davis & Elkins for a 6 p.m. start time inside the McDonnell Center.
DUAL DETAILS
Location & Start Time (Thursday): West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC") – 7 P.M.
Senior Night (Thursday): The West Liberty University wrestling program will honor eight athletes during Thursday's dual against Fairmont State, recognizing
Marshall Whipkey,
Vincent Scollo,
Jalen King,
Francesco Borsellino,
Jamar Williams,
Brett Goff,
Keaton Grider, and
Jamie Kilmer.
Location & Start Time (Friday): Elkins, W.Va. (McDonnell Center) – 6 P.M.
#3 WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES
- West Liberty enters Thursday with a 12-6 record in dual meet competition following a 26-13 win over No. 8 Lake Erie last Thursday, February 8, in a top-10 showdown.
- The Hilltoppers have competed in six open tournaments this season, winning 12 individual titles and totaling 43 place winners. Vincent Scollo won the 133 pound title at the Findlay Open, Landon Hoffman won the 133 pound title at the John Carroll Open, Khyvon Grace won the 141 pound title at the MEC Championships, Nico Taddy won the 149 pound title at the MEC Championships, Oliver Byerly won the 174 pound title at the John Carroll Open, Ty McGeary won the 184 pound titles at the Findlay Open and MEC Championships, Mason Christian won the 197 pound titles at the Mount Union Invite and MEC Championships, Parker Bentley won the 285 pound title at the Little State Invitational and Francesco Borsellino won the 285 pound titles at the MEC Championships and the John Summa 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.
- Alexander Crane enters this week's duals with a record of 8-14 on the season at 125 pounds after falling in a 7-3 decision to Anthony Sagaris of Lake Erie last week Thursday. He owns three bonus points wins with all by way of fall.
- At 133 pounds, Vincent Scollo makes his return to the mat on Thursday with a record of 10-3 on the season with his last appearance being a 2-1 performance at the Hilltopper Duals. He owns three bonus point wins this season, two by tech fall and one by major decision. In Friday's dual it will either be Matt Englehardt or Landon Hoffman. Englehardt has posted a 12-12 record on the year and was last in action in the dual against Lake Erie when he won by a 13-2 major decision over Brenden Hamilton. Hoffman is 12-9 this season and won the 133 pound title at the John Carroll Open, going 3-0 on the day with a pair of bonus point wins.
- Khyvon Grace enters Thursday with a record of 19-6 on the season after falling 4-1 in sudden victory-1 to Corey Gamet of Lake Erie. He owns six bonus point wins on the year, all by way of tech fall. Chris Barthelemy is slated to wrestle on Friday for the Hilltoppers, entering with a 15-14 record in 2023-24 after an 0-2 day at the John Carroll Open last weekend. He owns six bonus point wins on the year.
- Nico Taddy enters Thursday as the No. 6 ranked wrestler at 149 pounds and has posted a record of 16-4 on the year after posting an 11-0 major decision win over Carsen Richards of Lake Erie last week. He is 2-2 against ranked opponents this season and owns 13 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. Set to wrestle on Friday will be Brock Wygle who is 8-13 this season following a 2-2 record at the John Summa Invitational in his last outing.
- In the 157 pound weight class, Armon Nettey enters with a record of 12-14 during the 2023-24 season following an 0-2 day at the John Carroll Open last weekend. He owns four bonus point wins on the year with two by way of tech fall.
- In the 165 pound weight class, Alec Cook will wrestle for the first time since the MEC Championships on Thursday night, entering with a 16-9 record. At last month's conference championships, he recorded a second place finish and went 2-1 on the day. Breagan Pearson will wrestle in Friday's dual with a 12-12 record on the year after falling by a 13-4 major decision to Jack Hasin of Lake Erie last week. He owns five bonus point victories in 2023-24.
- At 174 pounds Christian Chavez owns a 19-13 record during his freshman campaign, competing in both the 174 and 184 pound weight classes. During his last outing he notched a 4-1 win over Thomas Potter in sudden victory-1. He owns eight bonus point victories in 2023-24. Set to wrestle on Friday will be Jalen King who enters with a 5-12 record following an 0-2 day at the John Carroll Open.
- Ty McGeary remains the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 184 pounds with a 25-0 record on the year after claiming a win by fall (2:43) over Paul Scaramuzzino of Lake Erie in last week's dual against the Storm. In the second release of the NCAA Division II Most Dominant Wrestler standings he remains second, having posted 18 bonus point wins on the year with nine by fall, six by tech fall, and three by major decision. He is a 4-time MEC Wrestler of the Week honoree while going 2-0 against ranked opponents this year.
- Mason Christian enters the 197 pound bout on Thursday with a record of 24-7 on the year after claiming a 2-1 win in tiebreaker-1 over Brylan Clouse of Lake Erie a week ago. Christian has a total of 13 bonus point wins on the year. Anthony Gencarelli is the probable Friday night starter with a 17-13 mark on the season after earning a second place finish at the John Carroll Open with a 3-1 record on the day. He has totaled ten bonus point wins on the year with six by way of fall.
- Francesco Borselino, the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, enters Thursday with a record of 14-0 this season after notching a win by fall (6:55) in the closing seconds against Dylan Norris of Lake Erie a week ago. He has now totaled 11 wins by fall during 2023-24 and of his 11 wins by fall this year, seven have occurred in the first period and furthermore, three have come 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, claiming the honor twice. Jamie Kilmer, who is set to wrestle in Friday's dual, has recorded a 9-14 record on the season following an 0-2 day at the John Carroll Open last weekend.
- Danny Irwin is in his fifth season as the head coach at West Liberty, leading the Hilltoppers to a 56-21 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 76-30 career dual meet record and four total top-6 national championship finishes.
FAIRMONT STATE STORYLINES
- Fairmont State enters Thursday with an 11-13 record in dual meet competition following a 24-23 win at Davis & Elkins last Wednesday, February 7.
- The Falcons recorded a third place finish at the MEC Championships last month as they tallied four Honorable Mention All-MEC Honors.
- Brandan Myers captured third place in the 125 pound weight class at the conference championships, however he fell in his last outing to Nicholas Ammirati of Davis Elkins by a 12-1 major decision last week.
- In the 133 pound weight class Nathan Pelesky notched third place in the conference tournament, earning an 8-7 decision in the placement match over Landon Hoffman following a loss to Thierno Diallo of Frostburg State in the semifinals.
- At 141 pounds, Ryan Martin notched a third place finish at the MEC Championships, and since then recorded a win by fall (1:49) in his last outing against Richard Davis of Davis & Elkins a week ago.
- Dwayne Johnson rounded out the group of all-conference winners for FSU as he secured third place in the 197 pound weight class. Since the championships he earned a pair of bonus point wins in his last two outings, earning a win by fall (0:36) over Dakota McDermott of Saint Vincent College before bumping up to 285 pounds and winning by tech fall (20-3) against Marshall Mounts of Davis & Elkins.
- Gennaro Bonaventura is in his second season as the head coach at Fairmont State, compiling a 24-26 career record in dual meet competition during his time with the Falcons.
SERIES HISTORY
- West Liberty holds a 4-0 record against Fairmont State in the series since 2019-20 which includes a 47-6 win inside the ASRC last season on January 19, 2023, when the Hilltoppers recorded seven bonus point wins.
PROBABLE STARTERS IN THURSDAY'S DUAL VS. FAIRMONT STATE
DAVIS & ELKINS STORYLINES
- Davis & Elkins enters Friday's dual with a record of 0-2 in dual meet competition this season following losses to Fairmont State (24-23) and Frostburg State (33-17) this past week.
- D&E recorded a sixth place finish at last month's MEC Championships, including one Honorable Mention All-MEC performer as Garrett Eddy notched a third place finish in the 184 pound weight class.
- In their most recent outing against Frostburg State, Jett Pattison and Gabriel Pujadas both lost by fall in the first period of action at 133 and 157 pounds.
- Richard Davis and Bradden Galassi both earned fourth place finishes at the conference championships. Galassi was one of D&E's three wins against the Bobcats in their last dual, earning an 18-2 win by tech fall over TJ Oshoniyi.
- Gavin Rodriguez-Cayro and Josh Sanders each rounded out the three wins for Davis & Elkins in their dual against Frostburg State, as Rodriguez-Cayro earned a first period win by fall (0:31) over Charlie Turney and Sanders earned a 4-2 win by decision over William Applegarth.
- Andrew Colborn is in his second season as the head coach at Davis & Elkins, compiling a 2-11 career record in dual meet competition during his time with the Senators.
SERIES HISTORY
- West Liberty holds a 4-0 record against Davis & Elkins in the series since 2019-20, including shutout wins in their last two meetings, 56-0 in 2023 and 52-0 in 2022.
PROBABLE STARTERS IN FRIDAY'S DUAL AT DAVIS & ELKINS
