The Wheeling Jesuit Wrestlers traveled to Virginia this past Friday and Saturday to participate in the Virginia Duals American College Tournament.  Jesuit finished third in the field of eight colleges and universities, which included Anderson, Apprentice, Central Florida, Ferrum, Liberty, Nassau Community College, and UNC Pembroke.
 
"When we left Thursday, we had one goal in mind and that was to come home with a championship. That goal changed quickly as we were defeated soundly in our first match by Nassau. For the first time this season, our team was facing a little adversity and I was really interested to see how we would respond," stated Head Coach Sean Doyle.
 
In the Quarterfinal round, Nassau Community College, ranked #11 in Junior College, defeated the Cardinals 28-12.
 
The defeat pitted Wheeling Jesuit against Central Florida in the second match of the day.  Wheeling Jesuit rebounded in a big way, defeating Central Florida 32-9.
 
The victory paired WJU against Anderson, ranked #12 in NCAA Division II, in the consolation semi-final round on Saturday.  Wheeling Jesuit defeated Anderson 30-12.   Against Anderson, Dom Nania pinned Sean Turner, the #5 ranked wrestler in the country at the 157 pound weight class. Nolan Whitely dropped a tough 4-1 defeat to the Zak Hale, ranked #4 in NCAA Division II at the 133 pound weight class.  Finally, Preston Bowshier dropped a narrow 5-4 decision to Daniel Telhada, ranked #5 in the 149 pound weight class. As a team, WJU recorded 4 pins for the first time in a dual meet.
 
The win placed Jesuit in a rematch against their first round opponent, Nassau Community College.  Jesuit stood tall and grappled well as Dustin Warner, Ryan Winslow, and Maxwell Lacey all avenged defeats from their first round matchups.  The Cardinals prevailed 22-13 and took home third place in the tournament.
 
The win over Anderson is WJU's first win against a top 15 opponent in program history.  Also of note, WJU wrestlers Corey Siegfried and Nolan Whitely went 3-1 on the weekend and Skyler Terrell went 2-0.
 
"By the end of the day Saturday, I could not have been more proud of our guys and it would rank among, if not the best, team performances in our year and a half as a program. Rattling off 3 dominant wins in a row that included two nationally ranked programs says a lot about our guys resolve. To beat Nassau for 3rd and 4th with almost identical line-ups as the first round showed our guys ability to get up from being knocked down. It was a great weekend," stated Doyle.
 
The Wheeling Jesuit Wrestling team is 7-2 overall this year.  Next up for the Cardinals, the team travels to Millersville University on Thursday January 22^nd and then returns home to the McDonough Center to host the West Virginia Invitational on January 24^th.
 
Please see below for the complete details of each WJU match at the Virginia Duals American College Tournament:
 
Match #1 Quarterfinal: Nassau Community College defeated Wheeling Jesuit University 28-12
125 - Josh Antoine (Nassau Community College) over Dustin Warner (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 6-1
133 - Nolan Whitely (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Joe Russ (Nassau Community College) Fall 2:05
141 - Mark West (Nassau Community College) over Tyler Knul (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 12-6
149 - Preston Bowshier (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Thomas Mcloughlin (Nassau Community College) Dec 6-4
157 - Sam Schwartzafel (Nassau Community College) over Dominick Nania (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 17-13
165 - Deuly Espinal (Nassau Community College) over Reyse Wallbrown (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 9-4
174 - Zakaria Small (Nassau Community College) over Anthony Smith (Wheeling Jesuit University) Maj 12-4
184 - Giovanni Santiago (Nassau Community College) over Ryan Winslow (Wheeling Jesuit University) Fall 0:25
197 - Darien Riley (Nassau Community College) over Maxwell Lacey (Wheeling Jesuit University) Fall 1:54
235 - Double Forfeit
285 - Corey Siegfried (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Jenard Rosemond (Nassau Community College) Dec 5-1
 
Match #2 Cons. Round 1: Wheeling Jesuit University defeated Central Florida 32-9
125 - Dustin Warner (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Timothy Sakow (Central Florida) Fall 1:08
133 - Nolan Whitely (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Austin Vajen (Central Florida) Dec 9-3
141 - Tyler Knul (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Alex Rivera (Central Florida) Dec 6-3
149 - Skyler Terrell (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Maximillian Becks (Central Florida) Maj 9-0
157 - Dominick Nania (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Christian Grillo (Central Florida) Fall 2:01
165 - Reyse Wallbrown (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Michael Seymour (Central Florida) SV-1 5-4
174 - Anthony Smith (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Austin Bailey (Central Florida) Maj 20-7
184 - Giovanni Jiovenetta (Central Florida) over Ryan Winslow (Wheeling Jesuit University) Fall 0:52
197 - Vincent Jiovenetta (Central Florida) over Maxwell Lacey (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 9-4
235 - Double Forfeit
285 - Corey Siegfried (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Tyrell Walker (Central Florida) Dec 1-0
 
Match #3 Cons. Semi: Wheeling Jesuit University defeated Anderson 30-12
125 - Dustin Warner (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Dylan Crossland (Anderson ) Fall 2:19
133 - Zak Hale (Anderson ) over Nolan Whitely (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 4-1
141 - Tyler Knul (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Conor Caffrey (Anderson ) Dec 7-6
149 - Daniel Telhada (Anderson ) over Preston Bowshier (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 5-4
157 - Dominick Nania (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Sean Turner (Anderson ) Fall 0:33
165 - Reyse Wallbrown (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Jared Costa (Anderson ) Fall 1:12
174 - Trevontay Rhodes (Anderson ) over Sawyer Leppla (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 8-2
184 - Michael Gallagher (Anderson ) over Ryan Winslow (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 12-8
197 - Maxwell Lacey (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Fletcher Smith (Anderson ) Dec 7-1
235 - Double Forfeit
285 - Corey Siegfried (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Wyatt Mccrackin (Anderson ) Fall 2:59
 
Match #4 3rd Place Match: Wheeling Jesuit University defeated Nassau Community College 22-13
125 - Dustin Warner (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Josh Antoine (Nassau Community College) Maj 11-0
133 - Jerrio Whaling (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Joe Russ (Nassau Community College) Dec 3-1
141 - Mark West (Nassau Community College) over Tyler Knul (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 4-1
149 - Skyler Terrell (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Ralph Cazzetta (Nassau Community College) Dec 7-4
157 - Sam Schwartzafel (Nassau Community College) over Dominick Nania (Wheeling Jesuit University) Maj 15-4
165 - Deuly Espinal (Nassau Community College) over Reyse Wallbrown (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 7-2
174 - Sawyer Leppla (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Zakaria Small (Nassau Community College) Fall 6:40
184 - Ryan Winslow (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Giovanni Santiago (Nassau Community College) Dec 12-7
197 - Maxwell Lacey (Wheeling Jesuit University) over Darien Riley (Nassau Community College) Dec 4-0
235 - Double Forfeit
285 - Jenard Rosemond (Nassau Community College) over Corey Siegfried (Wheeling Jesuit University) Dec 4-2