Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Wrestling team (3-1, 2-1) took the mat for the first time since November 15th when they traveled to the Fairmont State Tri Meet. The day started with a historic effort in the first of the two duals, but in the end the Cardinals would earn a split, taking their first dual meet loss of the season. The Cardinals would take down Point Park 58-0, earning the third shutout victory in program history, before falling to Fairmont State 21-17 in the second half of the night.
Dual #1: Wheeling 58, Point Park 0
Wheeling would start the night with their first-ever match-up against the Point Park Pioneers. The Cardinals would get 18 points right off the bat, thanks to three forfeits, and the night would start in the 133lb weight class. After wrestling at 125 for most of the season, Neal Krysty would take on his first 133lb match and got the early advantage with three big takedowns in the first 40 seconds of play. The last of those takedowns would end in his team leading seventh pin of the season to extend the Cardinal lead to 24-0. It would begin a run of three straight pins for the Cardinals, with Jack Dinwiddie and Mannix Wasconeach following with pins of their own. Dinwiddie would earn his at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter while Wasco's came at the 2:08 mark. It extended Wheeling's lead to 36-0 as they headed into the middle weight classes.
The first non-pin of the night came at the 157lb weight class, where Courtney Rider would make his 2025-2026 debut. Rider would start things with a bang, allowing just two escape points on his way to a 20-2 tech fall. It added five more points to his team's score and the Cardinals would go ahead 41-0. After the second pin of the night, Xander Coates would step on the mat to make his collegiate debut at 174. He would take on Point Park's Charles Perkins and took home a Tech Fall victory, defeating his opponent 18-2 at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter. Kyle Snider returned to the mat in the 184lb weight class, and got the Cardinals back on the pinfall train. He would have the second fastest pinfall of the night, putting his opponent on the mat at 1:35 mark. The Cardinals saw their lead grow to to 52-0 heading into the final bout of the night.
Jaxon Burcher would earn the final forfeit win of the night and Gavin Harper would hit the mat after taking his first two losses of the season at Findlay. Harper would take on Point Park's Oscar Simmons, and would work to a 9-2 lead at the minute and a half mark of the first quarter. He would get his opponent down once more and flipped him to his back. He would complete the pin at the 2:09 mark, picking up his sixth pin of the season. It would bring the dual to its final score of 58-0 as the Cardinals set their dual meet team point record and earned just the third shutout victory in program history to wrap up a strong start to the day. The full results against Point Park are below:
125: Brent Bosley (WU) over (PPU) (For.)
133: Neal Krysty (WU) over Preston Chandler (PPU) (Fall 0:59)
141: Jack Dinwiddie (WU) over Aiden Burford (PPU) (Fall 2:12)
149: Mannix Wasco (WU) over Liam Hein (PPU) (Fall 2:03)
157: Courtney Rider (WU) over Jacob Kandis (PPU) (TF 20-2 5:00)
165: Jake Taylor (WU) over (PPU) (For.)
174: Xander Kartes (WU) over Charles Perkins (PPU) (TF 18-2 5:50)
184: Kyle Snider (WU) over Gavin Kohler (PPU) (Fall 1:35)
197: Jaxon Burcher (WU) over (PPU) (For.)
285: Gavin Harper (WU) over Oscar Simmons (PPU) (Fall 2:09)
Dual #2: Fairmont State 21, Wheeling 17
Right after taking down Point Park, the Cardinals were right back in action as they took on the host Fairmont State. After a five minute break Brent Bosley would take the mat in the 125lb weight class. In the first period, he kept things close against the Falcon's JoJo High with the score sitting at 8-6. However, High would run away with things and ended up earning a 19-8 Major Decision to give the Falcons the early 4-0 lead. Neal Krysty would take the mat in the 133 pound match-up and would take on Trace Ragland from Fairmont State. Krysty kept his opponent to single digits, but would end up taking the second straight Major Decision loss this time an 8-0 swing. With the Cardinals trailing 8-0, Jack Dinwiddie would come to the mat in the 141lb weight class and was able to get the Cardinals on the board. He would earn his second pinfall of the day, taking down Fairmont State's Noah Hess at the 2:22 mark of the day.
The Cardinals would take losses in both the 149 and the 157lb weight class, moving the score to 18-6 in favor of the Falcons. Jake Taylor would get the Cardinals back in the win column as he took the mat at 165 pounds. Taylor would battle Fairmont State's Brick Evans and was able to battle to a 5-4 decision that got the Cardinals three points to make it a 18-9 score. It was another tight battle at 184 with Xander Coates battling through three periods. However, he would fall by one point, dropping a 4-3 decision and it would make it a 21-9 score. Kyle Snider returned to the mat at the 184 lb match, and would be part of the third straight bout to end in a decision. He would have the highest single match score on the night, and earned three more points for the Cardinals with a 16-9 decision. It moved the score to 21-12 with the heavyweights remaining.
Jaxon Burcher was up first at 197lbs, taking on Fairmont State's Jake Stephenson. Just like the previous three matches, the two wrestlers went back and forth, with Stephenson holding a 4-2 advantage entering the third period. However, Burcher was shut out over the final two minutes and fell in a 4-2 decision. With the dual meet sealed in favor of the Falcons, Cardinal Heavyweight Gavin Harper would head to the mat looking to close things out strong. He would face off with Fairmont State's Justin Bishop and would use several takedowns to walk away with a 17-0 tech fall victory. It gave Wheeling five more points, but brought the dual to its final score of 24-17. Of their four wins on the night, two would come by pinfall or tech fall, rounding out a strong night the rest of the results look like this:
125: Jojo High (FSU) over Brent Bosley (WU) (MD 19-8)
133: Trace Ragland (FSU) over Neal Krysty (WU) (MD 8-0)
141: Jack Dinwiddie (WU) over Noah Hess (FSU) (Fall 2:22)
149: Shane Hatfield (FSU) over Mannix Wasco (WU) (Fall 4:55)
157: Jim Green (FSU) over Bradley Spencer (WU) (MD 14-4)
165: Jake Taylor (WU) over Brock Evans (FSU) (Dec 5-4)
174: Cole Turner (FSU) over Xander Kartes (WU) (Dec 4-3)
184: Kyle Snider (WU) over Cooper Durst (FSU) (Dec 16-9)
197: Jake Stephenson (FSU) over Jaxon Burcher (WU) (Dec 4-2)
285: Gavin Harper (WU) over Justin Bishop (FSU) (TF 17-0 5:14)
The Wheeling University Wrestling team returns to the mat on Saturday, December 13th when they take on the Midwest Classic, hosted by UINDY.
