Wheeling, W. Va. - After competing in their first tournament of the year to open the season, the Wheeling University Wrestling team (0-0, 0-0) hits the mat for their first dual meet of the season on Wednesday. It is the start of their Mountain East Conference (MEC) slate when they welcome in Frostburg State with first matches beginning at 7 PM. The Cardinals have fallen to the Bobcats in each of the last two seasons in dual meet play, and are looking to get the upper hand as they head into Wednesday's conference opener.
In their 2025-2026 season opener, the Cardinal wrestlers traveled to the Mount Union Invitational, where they battled against 14 teams from across all three levels of NCAA Wrestling. They sent 11 wrestlers to the mat on the day, finishing with 117.5 team points on the day. Of their 11 wrestlers at the event, three would place in the top four of their respective weight classes, while the team had seven of their eight starters place in their events. That starting group included six true freshmen taking the mat, as they got a chance to battle some big upperclassmen to get experience. Overall, Head Coach Shane Brown was excited about his team's early season performance, and looks for his wrestlers to continue to grow on the mat as the season moves on.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was #13 Gavin Harper in the Heavyweight Class, who proved why he was able to earn the preseason ranking. Harper would wrestle in four matches on the day, earning four pins on his way to the 285lb weight class victory. He received a bye in his first round match-up, but would hit the ground running with a pinfall in 2:21 against John Carroll's Dawson Brown. Each of his pins would come quicker than the four minute mark, with his longest battle coming in the championship match. Harper would battle Muskingum's Scotty Edwards in a rematch from last year's tri-meet, and pinned him in 3:55. It was Harper's second individual tournament championship since joining the Wheeling Wrestling team, as he looks to lead the Cardinals throughout the season.
It was a day led by the heavyweight classes, with freshman Jaxon Burcher picking up the most wins by a Cardinal in the 197lb weight class. Burcher would have the second fastest pin by a Cardinal on the day, pinning Muskingum's Jack Peterson in 0:33, and would tie for the team lead with two tech falls on the night. He would finish 6-1 across his seven matches on the day, and would end up taking fourth in the weight class due to a medical forfeit by Case Western's Aidan Gassel. The other Cardinal to place in the top three of his weight class was junior Kyle Snider, who made his Cardinal debut in the 184lb weight class. Snider finished with a pin, a tech fall, and three decisions on the day as he wrestled his way to the third place match. He would battle Ohio Northern University's Ajay Locke, and would battle his way to a 3-0 decision to take third overall.
As they head into their dual meet schedule, it will be the first of 15 dual meets for the Cardinals, the most they have had since the program was re-established during the 2020 season. The Cardinals will get a heavy dose of their conference opponents in the early going, with four of their first five dual meets coming in conference play. They open with Frostburg State on Wednesday, before welcoming in Washington & Jefferson next week. The dual meet schedule will finish on the road, with the Cardinals heading to the Fairmont State Quad Meet, where they will face-off with Fairmont State, Point Park, and Davis & Elkins. After going 4-1 over their dual meet schedule last year, Wheeling is looking to show that they can build on that success and continue to climb the ladder in the MEC.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the second time in program history, with Frostburg State leading the all-time series at 2-0. It will be the second trip for the Bobcats to the Alma Grace McDonough Center, where they won the first meeting between the two teams. The Cardinals are averaging 10.5 PPG in the all-time series, scoring 10 or more points in one of the previous two meetings between the teams.
Their last meeting came on November 6th, 2024, in a dual meet that the Bobcats would win 41-8. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Gavin Harper, who earned a team-high five points for his tech fall win over Gavin Bage. The other Wheeling win on the day came from former Cardinal Brent Bosley, who defeated Nate Wilhelm in a 13-10 decision in the 125lb weight class.
The Details
The first match for Wednesday night's dual meet is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE.
