Berea, Ohio – A total of 19 wrestlers were in action for the No. 3 West Liberty University wrestling team on Saturday as they totaled 60.5 team points for seventh place at the 37^th Annual John Summa Invitational. Highlighting the Hilltoppers day on the mats were seven place winners, which included Francesco Borsellino who won the 285 pound weight class.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Team Standings: 7^th (60.5 points)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• At 133 pounds Matt Englehardt posted a 5-2 record on the day en route to a fourth place finish. After losing by fall (3:26) to Michael Richardson of Wilkes, he rallied off five consecutive wins with four earning bonus points. Of the four bonus point victories he notched wins by fall over Eric Saddler of Otterbein (3:45) and Mason Welch of St. John Fisher (3:59). It was set to be a rematch of his opening round bout for third place, however Richardson received the win by no contest.
• Nico Taddy, the No. 6 wrestler in the country, recorded a second place finish with a 4-1 mark on the day. He notched four bonus point victories en route to the title bout, which included a first period win by fall (0:51) over Michael Shelhart of St. John Fisher. In the first place match he fell in a 5-1 decision to NCAA Division III's No. 1 wrestler, Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace.
• Christian Chavez put together a 4-1 record on Saturday and secured a second place finish in the 174 pound bracket. He opened the day with an 18-4 win by major decision over John Radey of Ohio Northern before winning three straight by decision. In the title bout he fell in a 6-4 decision to Carter Lloyd of Baldwin Wallace.
• After winning his first two matches of the day, a quarterfinal loss forced Mason Christian to battle through the consolation rounds to a third place finish with a 6-1 record on the day. In rounds one and two he won 20-5 by tech fall over Evan Daniels of Baldwin Wallace and then notched a first period win by fall (1:21) over Nathan Rourke of St. John Fisher. A 4-3 loss by decision in the quarterfinals to Cole Williams of Ohio Northern forced him to win three straight in the consolation rounds. On the backside of the bracket, he won two by major decision and one by tech fall, outscoring his opponents 38-3. He advanced to the third place bout with a 14-2 major decision win over DIII's No. 13 Braydon Vandenberg of St. John Fisher and then won an 11-4 decision over Ajay Locke of Ohio Northern in the placement match.
• Anthony Gencarelli made it two place winners in the 197 pound bracket for WLU, as he wrestled to a 3-2 record on the day. He opened the day with a 13-3 win by major decision over Stephen Andryc of Case Western Reserve before falling in a 17-2 tech fall to DIII's No. 10 ranked wrestler Cameron Butka of Wilkes. He recorded a win by fall (4:23) over Ayden Bishoff of Waynesburg before falling to his own teammate, Mason Christian, in a 15-0 tech fall that sent him to the seventh place match. In the placement match he received a win by medical forfeit over Blake Ilges of Alfred State.
• Francesco Borsellino claimed the 285 pound title with a 4-0 record on Saturday. Following a 6-0 win by decision over Jake Powell of Wheeling, he secured three wins by fall. He notched first period pins over Zak Dillingham of Thiel (1:13) and Nick Barrett of Alfred State (1:34) to reach the title match where he pinned Caleb Burkhart of Wilkes in 5:20.
• Just like at 197 pounds, Jamie Kilmer gave WLU their second place winner in the 285 pound bracket as he recorded a 3-2 record on the day. He opened the day with a win by fall (6:52) of Seth Phillips of Thiel before being pinned by Caleb Burkhart of Wilkes in the quarterfinal round. In the consolation bracket he notched his second win by fall of the day in a victory over Jacob Traupman of Thiel (2:21) before a loss by fall (1:16) against Nick Franco of Brockport sent him to the seventh place match. In the placement match he secured a 19-4 win by tech fall over Zak Dillingham of Thiel.
• Five other wrestlers recorded multiple wins on the day for the Hilltoppers, including Landon Hoffman (2-2) at 133 pounds, Chris Barthelemy (2-2) at 141 pounds, Brock Wygle (2-2) at 149 pounds, Caden Kenworthy (2-2) at 174 pounds, and Breagan Pearson (2-2) at 174 pounds.

POST MEET INTERVIEW (HEAD COACH DANNY IRWIN)


UP NEXT
No. 3 West Liberty will return to dual action on Thursday, February 8, when they travel to No. 8 Lake Erie. The Hilltoppers and Storm are set for a 6:30 p.m. start time inside the Jerome T. Osborne Center in Painesville, Ohio.