WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The No. 10-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team returned to the mats on Saturday with a runner-up finish in the Waynesburg (Pa.) Invitational.
Coach Brian Davis’s Hilltoppers had two individual champions and 8 West Liberty wrestlers placed in their respective weight classes at the event, which attracted many of the top NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA mat squads in the region. Several of the larger programs entered multiple teams.
Nick Wykoff and Mike Carpenter claimed individual titles for the Black and Gold.
Wykoff dominated the 149-pound division, racking up a first-period fall, a forfeit and two major decisions in sweeping past his opponents. Wykoff closed out his stellar performance with an 11-3 rout of Johns Hopkins’ Henry Stauber in the 149-pound final.
Carpenter got off to a flying start with first-period falls in each of his first two matches before wrapping things up with a pair of decisions. The Hilltopper standout defeated Ian Jones of Apprentice School (Va.) in the 285-pound final.
The Hilltoppers’ Cole Nace was third at 133 with Dillon Nolte, wrestling for West Liberty’s “B” squad, battling his way to a fifth-place finish in the same division.
Art Hobley finished fourth at 157 and Matt Littleton also posted a fourth-place finish at 174. Scott Kaiser, wrestling for the “B” team, was fifth at 174 while Danny Doyle notched a fifth-place finish at 197.
Olivet (Mich.), the nation’s No. 7-ranked NAIA team, took the team title with 198.5 points. West Liberty was second at 131 with Johns Hopkins (119), Mount St. Joseph (114) and Waynesburg (103) rounding out the top five.
The Hilltoppers return to dual meet action on Jan. 17 with a 7 p.m. match at Mercyhurst (Pa.).
WRESTLING
Waynesburg Invitational
Team Scoring
1. Olivet 198.5; 2. WEST LIBERTY 131; 3. Johns Hopkins 119; 4. Mount St. Joseph 114; 5. Waynesburg 103; 6. Mercyhurst NE 81; 7. Apprentice 79; 8. Olivet-B 68; 9. Waynesburg-B 58.5; 10. Muskingum 51.5; 11. Washington & Jefferson 50; 12. Elizabethtown 47; 13. WEST LIBERTY-B 34; 14. PSU-Allegheny 28; 15. Olivet-C 25; 16. Apprentice-B 20; 17. Waynesburg-4 19; 18. Johns Hopkins-B 17; 19. Mount St. Joseph-B 14; 20. Elizabethtown-B 12.
