Alliance, OH. – In their first trip to the mat for the 2025-2026 season, the Wheeling University Wrestling team impressed in their opener at Mount Union. They sent 11 wrestlers to the mat and scored 117.5 points on their way to a seventh place finish as a team. Wheeling was able to place three in the top five of their respective weight classes, including their first individual champion of the season as they started the year strong.

That individual champion for the Cardinals was their preseason ranked wrestler Gavin Harper in the 285lb weight class. He would wrestle in four matches during the day, and went a perfect 4-0 across the tournament. Not only was Harper able to win all four of his matches, but he did so by pinning all four of his opponents. He entered the match being ranked #13 in the heavyweights and showed his dominance on the mat throughout the afternoon. He would head into the 285lb championship match against Muskingum's Scotty Edwards with three pins already and was able to close out the night with his fourth pin. His 4-0 start to the season is the best start by a Cardinal wrestler since the 2019 season and he looks to continue climbing the national rankings as the season goes on.

The Cardinal with the most wins on the night was Kyle Snider, who competed in the 184lb weight class. He would see the most matches of any Cardinal on the night, wrestling in seven matches and finishing 5-2 on the day. After picking up a win in his opener, Snider would drop his first match before hitting a run in the consolation bracket. He would win three straight matches before a loss sent him to the third place match. There, he would take on Ohio Northern University's Ajay Locke and came out on top for his fifth win of the day. The other Cardinal to place in the top four of his weight class was Jack Dinwiddie at 141. The freshman took the mat for his first collegiate match and finished 4-2 across six matches. He would advance to the third place match winning four of his first five matches, but would fall to Casper Caizzo of Ohio Northern University to finish 4^th.

Rounding out the day for the Cardinals were four other placers, giving the Cardinals seven total placers out of 11 wrestlers in the field. The heavyweight classes continued their dominance on the day as Jaxon Burcher took 5^th place in the 197lb weight class. He would finish the day 6-2, picking up the most wins of any wrestler at the event while battling across eight matches. Manix Wasco would take 6^th at 149, going 3-2 and ending his day with a medical forfeit to round out the evening. Bradley Spencer would equal Wasco's sixth place finish at 157lb, going 4-2 on the night, while Neal Krysty rounded out the day with a 7^th place finish, going 4-2 at 125. Frank Aquila would round out the starting lineup, finishing 1-2 in the 165lb weight class to round out the day.

The Wheeling University Wrestling team returns to action on Wednesday, November 5^th, when they host Frostburg State in dual meet action at 6 PM.