Wheeling, W. Va. – After battling through a tournament laden schedule, it has all led up to Saturday for the Wheeling University Wrestling team. The Cardinals make the short drive up the hill as they get set to compete in the 2023 MEC Wrestling Championships, hosted by West Liberty University. Wheeling will be sending six different wrestlers, competing across six different weight classes as they look to build off their success from their first tournament of the 2023 portion of their schedule.
That tournament came at the Purple Raider Open back on January 15th as three of the six Cardinals competing this weekend took to the mat. Wheeling had one placer at the event, but the other two wrestlers got strong experience on the mat. They competed against several Division I and top Division II wrestlers and had a combined team record of 3-7 across their 11 matches on the day, but all had close matches throughout the night. Head Coach Shane Brown was happy with his team’s performance saying “The guys were great. It was awesome to see them go back out there and not go through the motions. There wasn’t a lot of rust to kick off from break and they did fantastic.” They will look to continue that success and move up the leaderboards in terms of conference play this weekend.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was sophomore Mason Kuneff, who made his season debut after dealing with injuries early in the year. He came out strong in his opening match, getting his first pin of the year in his first match at the 2:38 mark. He would follow that up with two more pins against wrestlers from Seton Hill and Purdue to move into the Quarterfinal round of the 184-pound class. It was there that he took his first loss of the day to Rylan Rogers from Michigan as he dropped to the consolation bracket. His run would end with a medical forfeit, but brought his record to 3-1 to start the season. Kuneff competed in 11 matches last season and is already one win away from his career best mark of 4-7. Kuneff looks to keep that confidence high as he heads into the conference championships.
Also wrestling in the last event were a pair of wrestlers who, even though they lost both matches, had some positive to build off. The first was heavyweight Zach Kuneff, who wrestled in the 285-pound division. He fell in both matches on the day, but dropped his decisions by a combined 13 points, and wrestled against two guys from a tough Seton Hill program. Kuneff has had his share of early season success and looks to bring that into this championship event. One of Wheeling’s most consistent wrestlers, freshman Caden Canning rounded out the lineup, and fell in his two matches. He has led the Cardinals with four wins this season and will be getting his first appearance in the Conference Championships this weekend.
Of the six wrestlers participating this weekend, only one has experience at the MEC Conference Championships. The other five wrestlers will each be getting their first experience at the event as they look to show the program’s progression on the conference stage. Junior Chase Montgomery is the lone wrestler with conference championship experience, competing in his third career event, and was the program’s highest placer last season. Montgomery would take fifth place in that tournament, his highest career finish of his two showings. The Cardinals have gotten a chance to see some of the top wrestlers that they will face in this tournament at other events throughout the year and will look to use that experience on Saturday to get as many placers as possible.
Event Details
The 2023 MEC Wrestling Championships will be hosted by West Liberty University in West Liberty, West Virginia. The first matches of the night are set to begin at 10 AM and fans are encouraged to buy their tickets in advance. The tournament will run throughout the day with the championship matches beginning at around 5:30 pm.
Expected Wrestlers
Chase Montgomery (133), Caden Canning (141), Josh Sharron (149), River Pappas (165), Mason Kuneff (184), and Zach Kuneff (285).
The Details
The first matches of the day for the 2023 MEC Wrestling Championships are scheduled for 10 AM. You can follow along with the live action HERE or watch select matches by clicking HERE.
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