WHEELING, W.Va. – In front of a good McDonough crowd, the Cardinals showed their might with eight opening night victories. Wheeling Jesuit overpowered Alderson Broaddus, 34-10, behind five bonus-point matches.
The No. 19 Cardinals received falls by pin artist Dom Nania (149) and ended the night with another via Logan Bowman (285). Freshman Greg Brusco recorded an impressive 17-0 tech fall in his first collegiate match. Nolan Whitely (133) and Daniel Romero (141) scored major decisions.
"I was a little concerned heading into tonight as we had at least three projected starters not in the lineup," noted Cardinals head coach Sean Doyle. "I was excited for the fans to Daniel (Romero), Greg (Brusco) and Nic (Skonieczny) and excited about the season.
After a 125 forfeit, WJU (1-0) quickly pushed ahead. Whitely wasted no time in taking control of his bout with two first-period take downs on his way to a 12-4 major. Romero followed his teammate's lead. The new Cardinal transfer notched a second-period four-point near fall and rode the momentum to a 9-1 major.
Nania started slow, but the Cardinals all-time fall guy turned an early second-period reverse right into another fall at 3:25 over Alderson Broaddus' Zach Gwynn.
"Dom always find ways to get the crowd excited. I am sure he would say he didn't like his performance tonight, but he did like the end," noted Doyle.
The WJU momentum continued in impressive fashion at 157. Brusco never let the Battlers' Jason West into the match. The WJU freshman took a 6-0 lead into the second. He scored an early takedown before two near fall combinations ended the match in 4:14 with a 17-0 tech fall.
In his first time in a WJU singlet, Skonieczny made the most of it. The senior transfer worked for a 6-0 lead with a late third-period reverse, before a 6-2 final decision over Keith Stedniz for a 22-6 Cardinals team lead.
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| Nate Starkey |
"Greg had a pretty impressive match as he ran it up on very fast on a good wrestler. Nic won his match over the third-ranked wrestler in the region," pointed out the WJU coach.
Reyse Wallbrown (174) and Nate Starkey (197) worked their ways to victories with Alderson Broaddus' lone win in a match wrestled at 184. Bowman continued where he left off last March. The 285-pounder dominated Brady Estep where he turned a reverse into a fall at 4:15 for the 34-10 WJU final victory.
The Cardinals have a day off before they try to defend their 2015 team title at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational Saturday morning.
No. 19 Wheeling Jesuit 34, Alderson Broaddus 10
125 – Brendon Coughlin (AB) forfeit –– AB 6-0
133 –
Nolan Whitely (WJU)
maj.
dec. Cody Buchanon (AB), 12-4 –– AB 6-4
141 –
Daniel Romero (WJU) maj.
dec. Micah Powell (AB), 9-1 –– WJU 8-6
149 –
Dominick Nania (WJU) fall Zach Gwynn (AB), 3:25 –– WJU 14-6
157 –
Greg Brusco (WJU) tech fall Jason West (
AB), 17-0 (4:14) –– WJU 19-6
165 –
Nic Skonieczny (WJU) dec. Keith Stedniz (AB), 6-2 –– WJU 22-6
174 –
Reyse Wallbrown (WJU) dec. Davis Solak (AB), 9-4 –– WJU 25-6
184 – Cody Spinks (AB) maj.
dec. Tyler Jenkins (WJU), 15-4 –– WJU 25-101
197 – Nate Starkey (WJU) dec. Jake Bennett (AB), 3-1 –– WJU 28-10
285 –
Logan Bowman (WJU) fall Brady Estep (AB), 4:15 –– WJU 34-10
-GoCards-
