Wheeling, W. Va. - On Saturday, the Wheeling University Wrestling team will head up the hill to West Liberty University for the 2022 NCAA Super Regional Wrestling Championships. Some of the best wrestlers from across the region will be at West Liberty University marking the official start of the road to Nationals. Wrestling will begin at 9 AM on Saturday and goes all day until the top three wrestlers in each class are determined.
The last time Wheeling took the mat was back on February 15th when they hosted rival West Liberty University in their final dual meet of the season. Wheeling would fall 37-3, but had good contributions from all three wrestlers that competed as they had their final tune ups against some of the competition they could face in this tournament. Chase Montgomery wrestled at 133-pounds, Brennon Reid wrestled at 157-pounds, and Clarouly Meca wrestled at 285-pounds to round out the lineup for Wheeling. They combined to go 1-2 on the night, but each battled hard on the mat.
Montgomery was the lone winner for the Cardinals at 133 where he scored a 6-2 decision over West Liberty's Luke Miller. It was quick offense for the sophomore as he scored all six of his points in the first period of the match. He scored three takedowns and led by that same 6-2 score at the end of the first period. Neither wrestler could score for the rest of the match, but Montgomery would be able to hold his lead and pick up Wheeling's first, and only win of the night. It brought the team score to 6-3.
Reid was up next in the 157-pound weight class as he took on Blake Miller in what was Reid's first career matchup with West Liberty. The freshman got into a hole early and was unable to battle back as he fell in a 13-2 Major Decision. Meca would wrap up the night as he battled West Liberty's Jamie Kilmer in the final match of the night. The two wrestlers went back and forth trading takedowns, but in the end Klimer got the best of Meca with an 11-5 decision loss.
The Wheeling Wrestling team will be sending four wrestlers to this year's NCAA Super Regionals as they compete for a spot in St. Louis. Joining Montgomery, Reid, and Meca will be River Pappas in the 174-pound weight class. The four wrestlers will compete in a double-elimination bracket with the top six wrestlers in each weight class placing. From there, the top three wrestlers in each weight class will move on to the NCAA National tournament in St. Louis, Missouri from March 11th to March 12th.
The Matchup
The last time that the Wheeling University Wrestling team competed at the NCAA Super Regionals was back during the 2018-2019 season. That year, they sent six wrestlers to the National Tournament, sending wrestlers in the 125, 133, 141, 174, 184, and 285 pound weight classes. Of those six qualifiers, four won regional title with former Cardinals Cole Laya, Tyler Warner, Connor Craig, and Terrance Fanning winning their respective weight classes,
The Details
Wrestling is set to begin at 9 AM on Saturday on the campus of West Liberty University. Stay tuned with wucardinals.com all day long for updates throughout the event.
