Painesville, Ohio – After falling behind 13-8 midway through the dual the No. 3 West Liberty University wrestling team rallied off four consecutive wins to secure the 26-13 win over No. 8 Lake Erie on Thursday night. In the top-10 match-up of regional powers the Hilltoppers scored bonus points in four of their six wins while the Storm only earned one bonus point victory on the night.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: No. 3 West Liberty 26, No. 8 Lake Erie 13
Team Records: No. 3 West Liberty 12-6, No. 8 Lake Erie 6-6
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Alexander Crane fell in the opening bout of the night in a 7-3 decision to Anthony Sagaris. Sagaris recorded one takedown with a pair of 2-point near falls while Crane recorded a reversal and added one point on a penalty.
• West Liberty's first win of the night came at 133 pounds as Matt Englehardt earned a 13-2 major decision win over Brenden Hamilton. Entering the third period with just a 5-2 lead, he earned the escape and closed the match with a takedown and a 4-point near fall to earn the bonus points.
• Khyvon Grace took No. 10 Corey Gamet to overtime at 141 pounds, however he fell in extra time for just the second time in 2023-24 as Gamet secured the takedown.
• No. 6 Nico Taddy notched the second win by major decision of the dual for the Hilltoppers, defeating Carsen Richards 11-0. He recorded a pair of takedowns in the match and added a 4-point takedown in the second period.
• Austin Fietz put Lake Erie back in front with a 10-4 win by decision over Armon Nettey at 157 pounds. Fietz held a 9-3 lead following the first period with the only scoring to follow being an escape by each wrestler at the start of the ensuing periods.
• Jack Haskin, the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 157 pounds, bumped up a weight class to 165 pounds and extended the Storm's lead to 13-8 with a 13-4 major decision over Breagan Pearson. Haskin notched four takedowns in the match while Pearson's only points came on four escapes.
• The first of four consecutive wins for WLU to close the dual came at 174 pounds as Christian Chavez earned a 4-1 win in sudden victory-1 over Thomas Potter. Securing the victory in his first overtime bout of the season, Chavez brought the Hilltoppers with two points at 13-11.
• No. 1 Ty McGeary earned the first of two pins for the Black & Gold in the, defeating Paul Scaramuzzino in 2:43 for his eighth pin of the season.
• Mason Christian and Brylan Clouse entered overtime in a 1-1 tie and remained even after sudden victory-1 as they went to the tiebreaker rounds. After each wrestler recorded an escape Christian sealed the win with riding time.
• No. 2 Francesco Borsellino ended the dual with a win by fall (6:55) over Dylan Norris at 285 pounds. He secured the win by fall with the turn in the closing seconds after building up a 7-0 advantage.

DUAL SCORING		LEC	WLU
125	Anthony Sagaris (Lake Erie) over Alexander Crane (West Liberty) (Dec 7-3)	3	0
133	Matt Englehardt (West Liberty) over Brenden Hamilton (Lake Erie) (MD 13-2)	0	4
141	Corey Gamet (Lake Erie) over Khyvon Grace (West Liberty) (SV-1 4-1)	3	0
149	Nico Taddy (West Liberty) over Carsen Richards (Lake Erie) (MD 11-0)	0	4
157	Austin Fietz (Lake Erie) over Armon Nettey (West Liberty) (Dec 10-4)	3	0
165	Jack Haskin (Lake Erie) over Breagan Pearson (West Liberty) (MD 13-4)	4	0
174	Christian Chavez (West Liberty) over Thomas Potter (Lake Erie) (SV-1 4-1)	0	3
184	Ty McGeary (West Liberty) over Paul Scaramuzzino (Lake Erie) (Fall 2:43)	0	6
197	Mason Christian (West Liberty) over Brylan Clouse (Lake Erie) (TB-1 2-1)	0	3
285	Francesco Borsellino (West Liberty) over Dylan Norris (Lake Erie) (Fall 6:55)	0	6
Team Score:		13	26

 
UP NEXT
No. 3 West Liberty will next be in action on Sunday, February 11, as they travel to University Heights, Ohio, to compete at the John Carroll Open. Wrestling will get underway at 9 a.m. for the Hilltoppers.