Fairmont, W. Va. – On Saturday, the Wheeling University Wrestling team headed to the biggest stage in the region at the NCAA DII Super Regional 1 Championships. It was a historic end to the 2024-2025 season as the Cardinals had three placers at the event for the first time since the 2019 season. They had one wrestler earn the National alternate spot, while all three finished in the top six of their weight class.
The National alternate title went to Brent Bosley, who finished the day 3-2 in the 125lb weight class, taking fourth in the field. He would face a familiar foe in the first round, earning a Major Decision victory over Frostburg State's Nate Wilhelm, winning 16-6 to start the day. He would move on to the quarterfinal, where he took on Millersville's Bryce Beatty, and earned his second win of the day in a 9-5 decision. With a chance at Nationals on the line, he moved to the semifinals against Gannon's Logan Sallot, but would take his first loss of the day in a 16-0 Tech Fall. He would move to the consolation bracket, earning hi wy to the third place match with a Tech Fall win over Wilhelm in their second meeting of the day. His third place match would be against Beatty again, but this time Beatty would get the win in an 8-4 decision rounding out the day.
The other two Cardinals placers were Gavin Harper and Isaac Valdez, who took 5th and 6th respectively. Harper collected the most wins on the day for the Cardinals, going 4-2 across six matches. Harper would drop his quarterfinal matchup, making his run in the consolation bracket. His first win would come over Shippensburg's Connor Livingston in a 15-0 Tech Fall and he added a pin against Frostburg's Gavin Bage in the next round. He would fall to Millersville's Bishop McCoy to head to the fifth place match, and would earn his placing with a 6-2 decision over East Stroudsburg's Layton Schmick for his fourth win of the day. Harper rounded out a strong season for the Cardinals, finishing with 31 wins on the season, the most by a Cardinal since the 2019 season.
The other placer for the Cardinals was Isaac Valdez, who took 6th in the 157lb weight class. Like Harper, Valdez dropped his opening round match and would make a run in the consolation bracket. He would pick up back-to-back wins, beating East Stroudsburg's Gavin Reynolds in a 9-5 decision and Shippensburg's Anthony DeAngelo in a 20-5 tech fall. He dropped his next match to Gannon's Ethan Richer in a 3-0 decision to make it to the 5th place match. He would face Frostburg State's John D'Amico and fell in a 9-1 Major Decision to take sixth overall. The final Cardinal win came out of the 184lb weight class, where Austin Hinzman picked up a pinfall over East Stroudburg's Augustus Warke. Hinzman finished 1-2, while Chris Johnson (197lb), Hunter Bittinger (174), Brian Crevar (165), Caden Canning (141), and Angelo DiPol (133) all finished 0-2.
The Wheeling University Wrestling team will now see if there are any scratches at Nationals to allow Bosley to make the trip next week.
