Wheeling, W. Va. – For the first time in over a year, wrestling returned to the Alma Grace McDonough Center as the Wheeling University Wrestling team (3-1, 0-1) hosted a tri-match against Waynesburg and Muskingum. The young Cardinal team came back with a bang as they swept the Tri-Meet moving to 3-1 in dual meets this season. The Cardinals started the night with a 48-6 win over Muskingum, before rounding things out with a tight 26-22 win over Waynesburg.
Match 1: Wheeling 48, Muskingum 6
After Muskingum and Waynesburg opened the day's festivities, it was time for the Cardinals to take the mat as they battled the Muskies in the second dual of the day. The Cardinals benefitted from a small Muskingum roster, earning forfeits in each of their first three matches to get out to an 18-0 advantage. Brent Bosley (125), Angelo DiPol (133), and Caden Canning (141) were the beneficiaries of the forfeit victories, before Muskingum's Aiden Johnson would earn a forfeit victory at 149 to get the Muskies only points of the day. The first full match of the night would come at the 157lb weight class, and saw Isaac Valdez take the mat for the Cardinals against Muskingum's Zeke Poulos.
Right from the get-go, Valdez had control of the match, getting an early takedown and taking advantage of the riding time. The redshirt freshman would continue holding the advantage over his opponent as the two rolled around to the far side of the mat. That is when Valdez would make his move, getting Poulos's shoulder's to the mat for the pinfall victory. It was his first pinfall victory of the season, as he needed just 1:39 to earn the pin, and it moved him to 7-7 on the season. Hunter Bittinger was the next beneficiary of a forfeit at 174, before a double forfeit came at 184. The Cardinals would earn one more forfeit win at 197 for Chris Johnson, before the heavyweights prepared to take the mat.
The Cardinals would turn to their leader Gavin Harper for the final bout, going against the leader for the Muskies Scotty Edwards. The two heavyweights would go back and forth through the early portion of the period, before Harper would shoot for the legs. He earned the early takedown, and made quick work of Edwards, getting him on his back. Harper was able to get his shoulders down in just 1:14 to earn the victory and bring the dual to its final score of 48-6. The 48 points were the most the Cardinals have scored in a dual match since November 4th, 2018 when they scored 51 points against Keystone. The full results from match one are listed below:
125: Brent Bosley (WHL) win by Forfeit
133: Angelo DiPol (WHL) win by Forfeit
141: Caden Canning (WHL) win by Forfeit
149: Aiden Johnson (MU) win by Forfeit
157: Isaac Valdez (WHL) over Zeke Poulos (MU) Fall 1:39
165: Brian Crevar (WHL) win by Forfeit
174: Hunter Bittinger (WHL) win by Forfeit
184: Double Forfeit
197: Chris Johnson (WHL) win by Forfeit
285: Gavin Harper (WHL) over Scotty Edwards (MU) Fall 1:14
Match 2: Wheeling 26, Waynesburg 22
After earning the win over Muskingum, the Cardinals were back at it against Waynesburg University in the second match of the night. Once again, the Cardinals would start things with a forfeit win for Brent Bosley, and a double forfeit at the 133 class would keep Wheeling in front 6-0. Angelo DiPol would take the mat at 141, facing Waynesburg's Brayden Barbao in the first match of the dual. Things were going well for DiPol early as he took a 14-0 lead in the first period, but he would end up getting caught in a move and was pinned at the 2:12 mark of the first period. In their next match, the Cardinals would get the tech fall that was stolen from them, as Caden Canning competed at 149. Canning took down Waynesburg's Connor Graser 19-3 at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter and Wheeling took a 16-5 advantage.
After earning the pinfall in his first match of the night, Isaac Valdez was back at 157, taking on Waynesburg's JT Hollyfield. While he didn't get the pinfall this time around, Valdez kept on the offensive, scoring 16 points and earning a 16-0 Tech Fall to move to 2-0 on the day. The 174lb weight class was up next with freshman Hunter Bittinger wrestling in his first official match of the night. He would battle Waynesburg's AJ Tomaino and the two went back and forth through the first period and Bittinger held a two-point lead after a period. He would come back strong the rest of the way, and earned a 16-3 Major Decision to keep the Cardinal's success going. However, things weren't smooth sailing as a forfeit win for Waynesburg's Jarvis Thomas and a pinfall victory for Jesse Orbin at 197 over Chris Thomas made it a two-point match at 22-20.
It would all come down to the heavyweights and it was Gavin Harper who was once again called upon. Harper would take on Jaron Polk and again went back and forth over the first 30 seconds of the match. Once again, Harper found his chance and took it, taking a dive at Polk's legs. He kept the tussel in the center of the mat and was able to flip Polk on his back, and earn his second pinfall of the day. This one came in 1:44 and it was enough to secure the 26-22 victory for his team. The pair of wins moved the Cardinals to 3-1 on the season, their highest dual meet win total since the 2018-2019 season. Full results from the second match of the night are below.
125: Brent Bosley win by Forfeit
133: Double Forfeit
141: Brayden Barbao (WU) over Angelo DiPol (WHL) Fall 2:12
149: Caden Canning (WHL) over Connor Graser (WU) TF 19-3 (5:22)
157: Isaac Valdez (WHL) over JT Hollyfield (WU) TF 16-0, 3:49
165: Seth Evans (WU) over Brian Crevar (WHL) MD 10-2
174: Hunter Bittinger (WHL) over AJ Tomaino (WU) MD 16-3
184: Jarvis Thomas (WU) wins by Forfeit
197: Jesse Orbin (WU) over Chris Johnson (WHL) Fall 4:55
285: Gavin Harper (WHL) over Jaron Polk (WU) Fall 1:44
The Wheeling University Wrestling team returns to action on Sunday, January 19th, when they head to the Purple Raider Openat 9 AM.
