Wrestling 1/15/2017 5:21:00 PM Chris Myers

Lacey Dramatic Heavyweight Fall Propels WJU Upset of No. 15 Lake Erie

PAINESVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinals lineup anchor laid down his hammer in a dramatic finale. Wheeling Jesuit's Maxwell Lacey pinned his heavyweight foe and propelled his team to its fifth ranked opponent upset in No. 15 Lake Erie College, 21-19, Sunday afternoon.

Trailing 19-12, Terrance Fanning's performance setup Lacey's winning opportunity. At 197, Fanning took control of his bout and recorded a 5-2 victory. Behind 19-15 and needing a fall for a Cardinals team victory, Lacey rushed the Storm's Evan Loughman right away for a takedown, before he went on for the winning pin in 1:06.

"Today did not go as we would have expected in many ways. Losing five in a row in a dual is pretty tough to overcome, but we found a way," commented a happy WJU head coach Sean Doyle. "Big big credit to Terrance Fanning for knocking off an all-American to give Max a chance to win the dual for us. Terrance has worked through a number of obstacles and had a number of opportunities to close duals for us in the past month. Each time he kept finding himself on the wrong end of very close matches. Today was a huge win for him and I'm proud of him. Max continues to shine when given the opportunity and to get a pin under those circumstances is incredible. Not that today was good for a few individuals, but as a team, it speaks to our resolve."

As was the case Saturday night, the lower Cardinals weight classes gave their team a good start to the day. In the 125-pound bout, Jake Donahue continued his fearless run. He battled to a 3-2 decision over Super Region II's 5^th-ranked Blake Glogouski.

At 133, Nolan Whitely controlled his match from the start and recorded a 10-5 decision over Super Region II 7^th-rated Andrew Lieb.

In the biggest win before the final two weights, Daniel Romero had his way with Lake Erie's Josh Pappas. Romero went out to a 9-3 first-period lead, before he worked to a fall in 4:55. The Romero pin gave WJU a 12-0 lead after three matches.

It was a battled of nationally-ranked 149-pound wrestlers. In the third edition between the two grapplers, the Storm's No. 6 Nick Boggs bested the Cardinals No. 5-ranked Dominick Nania by tech fall, 20-5, in 3:52.

Lake Erie added a major decision at 157 and No. 9 ranked Nick Vandermeer edged out a 4-2 decison on Nic Skonieczny to tie the team score, 12-12.

In the 174 bout, Reyse Wallbrown rallied and made an exciting third period only to fall short by a point, 12-11, to Brendan Winning. No. 8 ranked 184-pound Tyler Hughes extended the home team's lead to 19-12 after he won a 10-2 major decision over Nate Starkey.

Fanning and Lacey pushed WJU back on top for the upset victory in the final two weight classes.

WJU makes its second ever appearance in a special match next Friday at the Wesbanco Arena. The Cardinals host No. 6 rated Lakers of Mercyhurst at 3:45 p.m. prior to the OVAC High School Wrestling Semifinals.

Wheeling Jesuit 21, No. 15 Lake Erie College 19
125 – Jake Donahue (WJU) dec. Blake Glogouski (LEC), 3-2 –– WJU 3-0
133 – Nolan Whitely (WJU) dec. Andrew Lieb (LEC), 10-5 –– WJU 6-0
141 – Daniel Romero (WJU) fall Joshua Pappas (LEC), 4:55 –– WJU 12-0
149 – Nick Boggs (LEC) tech fall Dominick Nania (WJU), 20-5 (3:52) –– WJU 12-5
157 – Christian Baughman (LEC) maj. dec. Greg Brusco (WJU), 13-5 –– WJU 12-9
165 – Nick Vandermeer (LEC) dec. Nic Skonieczny (WJU), 4-2 –– Tied 12-12
174 – Brendan Winning (LEC) dec. Reyse Wallbrown (WJU), 12-11 –– LEC 15-12
184 – Tyler Hughes (LEC) maj. dec. Nate Starkey (WJU), 10-2 –– LEC 19-12
197 – Terrance Fanning (WJU) dec. Evan Rosborough (LEC), 5-2 –– LEC 19-15
285 – Maxwell Lacey (WJU) fall Evan Loughman (LEC), 1:06 –– WJU 21-19

-GoCards-

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Players Mentioned

Terrance Fanning: 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore

Maxwell Lacey: 6' 0"; Senior

Dominick Nania: 149; 5' 10"; Senior

Nolan Whitely: 133; 5' 4"; Junior

Greg Brusco: 5' 7"; Freshman

Daniel Romero: 5' 7"; Junior

Nic Skonieczny: 165; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Terrance Fanning
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Sophomore

Maxwell Lacey
: 6' 0"; Senior

Dominick Nania
: 5' 10"; Senior
: 149

Nolan Whitely
: 5' 4"; Junior
: 133

Greg Brusco
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Daniel Romero
: 5' 7"; Junior

Nic Skonieczny
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior
: 165