Greensburg, PA. – The January Tri-Match schedule continued for the Wheeling University Wrestling team (6-2, 3-1) as they hit the road to Greensburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. The Cardinals would end up splitting the two matches, starting the night with a 29-21 win over Shippensburg, before falling to Seton Hill 28-15 in the nightcap. Three Cardinals would finish 2-0 on the day, led by a pair of Tech Fall victories for freshman Jack Dinwiddie.
Dual #1: Wheeling 29, Shippensburg 21
The night began with neutral site action as Wheeling battled Shippensburg in the opening match. Up first was Brett Bosley at 125-pounds and he picked up right where he left off after a strong freshman campaign. He would take on Shippensburg 's Colin Marano and had control of the match from the get-go. He wrestled his way to a 16-4 Major Decision and earned four points for Wheeling right off the bat. The closest battle of the light weights would come at 133 as Leroy Steagall took on Shippensburg's Kyle Von Schmidt. Early on, Von Schmidt would control things with an early takedown to take a 3-0 lead. That would remain the score at the end of the first period, but Steagall would turn the tide in the second. He would get a takedown to tie the match at 3-3, but an escape point would make it 4-3 in favor of Von Schmidt at the end of the period. It would take just one more takedown in the third period, and Steagall would walk away with a 6-4 decision.
After the back and forth match, Wheeling was staked to a 7-0 lead and Jack Dinwiddie would continue to add into that at 141 pounds. He would control his match throughout the night, picking up a 16-0 victory over Shippensburg's Kaden Casey. He got the job done in just 5:33 and the Cardinals were riding high with a 12-0 lead heading into the 149-pound match. This is where the Cardinals would concede their first points of the night as they had to take a forfeit to make it a 12-6 match. The Cardinals would get those points back right away at 157-pounds as Jeremy Ginter made his season debut. He started things off strong against Shippensburg's Anthony Lavish, earning five more team points with a 20-4 tech fall win at the 3:34 mark of the match. It made it a 17-6 Wheeling lead and a forfeit victory for Jake Taylor at 165 would push that advantage to 23-6 with four bouts to go.
Shippensburg would start to battle back at 174-pounds, with the Raider's Kyle Everly earning a pinfall over Xander Kartes. It brought the score to 23-12, and a forfeit victory at 184-pounds would inch Shippensburg closer at 23-18. The 197-pound match would prove to be a crucial one as Wheeling's Jaxon Burcher took on Diesel Koser. Burcher would battle throughout the night and kept Koser close throughout the match. He would end up dropping the bout, but was able to keep Shippensburg to just three team points, falling in a 7-6 decision. The bout would end up icing the dual meet as Gavin Harper got six points via forfeit at 285-pounds, and Wheeling would walk away with a 29-21 victory. It moved Wheeling's win steak to four straight dual meets, and the Cardinals would look to complete the sweep against a highly talented Seton Hill team.
125 Brent Bosley (Wheeling) over Colin Marano (Shippensburg) (MD 16-4)
133 Leroy Steagall (Wheeling) over Kyle Von Schmidt (Shippensburg) (Dec 6-4)
141 Jack Dinwiddie (Wheeling) over Kaden Casey (Shippensburg) (TF 16-0 5:33)
149 Michael Trainor (Shippensburg) over Unknown (For.)
157 Jeremy Ginter (Wheeling) over Anthony Lavish (Shippensburg) (TF 20-4 3:34)
165 Jake Taylor (Wheeling) over Unknown (For.)
174 Kyler Everly (Shippensburg) over Xander Kartes (Wheeling) (Fall 4:07)
184 Anthony Horiates (Shippensburg) over Unknown (For.)
197 Diesel Koser (Shippensburg) over Jaxon Burcher (Wheeling) (Dec 7-5)
285 Gavin Harper (Wheeling) over Unknown (For.)
Dual #2: Seton Hill 28, Wheeling 15
After earning a close victory in their opening dual of the night, the Cardinal light weights looked to keep the momentum rolling. Brent Bosley would once again getting started at 125-pounds and he would battle Seton Hill's Jacob Haupt. This time, Bosley would drop an 11-1 Major Decision to get the night going and the Cardinals trailed 4-0. However, Leroy Stegall would pick up his teammate at 133 when he battled Jacob Braun. Stegall got a few early take downs and was able to hold off Braun the rest of the day as he earned an 18-7 Major Decision. It was the most points that Stegall has scored in a single match this season, and he was able to tie things up at 4-4 through two bouts. At 141, Jack Dinwiddie would keep his momentum going, earning his second tech fall of the day over Seton Hill's Youssef Abdelsalam. It would take two periods for him to wrap up the effort, as he secured the 20-4 win and Wheeling took a 9-4 lead.
A forfeit win at 149 made it a 10-9 Seton Hill lead, before the 157-pound match-up going into extra time. It would once again be Jeremy Ginter taking the mat as he battled Mike Zacur. The two wrestlers were tied at 4-4 after three periods, and they would go into Sudden Death, where Zacur would secure a takedown for the 7-4 victory. It would start a swing of momentum for the Griffins, as they won each of the next four bouts. Jake Taylor fell in a Medical Forfeit and, after a forfeit at 174, Xander Kartes would fall in an 8-4 decision at 184 that made it a 28-9 Seton Hill lead. However, it would be the Cardinal heavyweights that helped them end the night on a high note, starting with Jaxon Burcher at 197-pounds. He was locked in yet another tight match-up, battling Luke Boylan, and it came down to the final period. Burcher would secure his second decision of the day, earning a 3-2 Decision to make it a 28-12 match.
Rounding out the night was Gavin Harper, who would take on Seton Hill's Richie McCormack. Harper and McCormack would be locked in a 0-0 tie through one quarter and a takedown for Harper in the second period put him in front 3-0. He would earn one more escape point in the third period, and completed the shutout victory in a 4-0 decision. It completed a 2-0 day for Harper, who joined teammates Jack Dinwiddie and Leroy Steagall, who all finished 2-0 on the day.
125 Jacob Houpt (Seton Hill) over Brent Bosley (Wheeling) (MD 11-1)
133 Leroy Steagall (Wheeling) over Jacob Braun (Seton Hill) (MD 18-7)
141 Jack Dinwiddie (Wheeling) over Youssef Abdelsalam (Seton Hill) (TF 20-4 6:30)
149 Ty Linsenbigler (Seton Hill) over Unknown (For.)
157 Mike Zacur (Seton Hill) over Jeremy Ginter (Wheeling) (SV-1 7-4)
165 Christian Hirak (Seton Hill) over Jake Taylor (Wheeling) (MFFL)
174 Kane Kettering (Seton Hill) over Unknown (For.)
184 Troy McClelland (Seton Hill) over Xander Kartes (Wheeling) (Dec 8-4)
197 Jaxon Burcher (Wheeling) over Luke Boylan (Seton Hill) (Dec 3-2)
285 Gavin Harper (Wheeling) over Ritchie McCormack (Seton Hill) (Dec 4-0)
The Wheeling University Wrestling team returns to action on Saturday, January 31st, when they compete at the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Wrestling Championships beginning at 9 AM.
