Wheeling Wrestling Drops Salem Tri-Meet in Kick-off to Road to Regionals

Salem, W. Va. - After a strong performance at the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Wrestling Championships, the Wheeling University Wrestling team (6-4, 3-2) kicked off the road to regionals in Salem, West Virginia on Thursday night. The team competed in the Salem Tri-Meet, which was originally supposed to be a quad before Emory & Henry backed out, and the Cardinals would drop both of their matches. They would drop the opener to Seton Hill 36-15, before falling to the host Tigers 28-20 to round out the day.

Dual #1: Seton Hill 36, Wheeling 15

Wheeling would start the try meet action against Seton Hill, in the second meeting between the two teams this season. Forfeits at 133 and 141 would have the Cardinals down 12-0 off the bat, and Brent Bosley would open the night at 125-pounds. He would take on the Griffin's Jack Sombronski in a back and forth match, but Bosley would fall in an 8-4 Decision. The Cardinals were down 15-0 after the lightweight bouts, and looked to George Croy to turn things around at 149. However, he ran into Seton Hill's Ty Linsenbigley and would suffer a pinfall defeat in just 27 seconds. The Cardinals were now down 21-0, and would get on the board for the first time at 157.

Bradley Spencer took the mat for the Cardinals, and battled throughout three rounds against the Griffin's Greg Shaulis. The score would sit tied at 5-5 heading into the third period, and a late takedown for Spencer was enough to earn him the 5-3 Decision. It got Wheeling their first points of the night, bringing the sore to 21-3, but the midweights would not end up going in the Cardinal's favor. Jake Taylor dropped a 21-5 tech fall at 165, followed by a pinfall loss for Xander Kartes at 174 and a Major Decision loss for Jordan Solis at 184. It inflated the Griffin lead to 36-3, but the Cardinal heavyweights would earn the final six points of the match for the Cardinals.

It would start in the 197-pound weight class when Jaxon Burcher would wrestle against Seton Hill's Luke Boylan. Burcher had control of the match early, securing some key takedowns and was able to get Boylan on his back to start the second period. He would get the pinfall victory at the 3:55 mark, and earned six points for his team. With the score sitting at 36-9, there was no way for the Cardinals to win, but Gavin Harper would finish things strong at 285 pounds. The redshirt junior battled the Griffin's Richie McCormick and, like Burcher, had control early. He would get a takedown right away in the second period and flipped it into a pinfall victory at the 3:29 mark. It would bring the dual to its final score of 36-15, moving the Cardinals to 6-3 on the season. Match-by-match results are listed below:

125: Jacob Sombronski (SHU) over Brent Bosley (WU) (Dec 8-4)
133: Jacob Braun (SHU) over (WU) (For.)
141: Youssef Abdelsalam (SHU) over (WU) (For.)
149: Ty Linsenbigler (SHU) over George Croy (WU) (Fall 0:27)
157: Bradley Spencer (WU) over Greg Shaulis (SHU) (Dec 8-5)
165: Christian Hirak (SHU) over Jake Taylor (WU) (TF 21-5 5:18)
174: Kane Kettering (SHU) over Xander Kartes (WU) (Fall 4:41)
184: Troy McClelland (SHU) over Jordan Solis (WU) (MD 11-3)
197: Jaxon Burcher (WU) over Luke Boylan (SHU) (Fall 3:55)
285: Gavin Harper (WU) over Ritchie McCormack (SHU) (Fall 3:29)

Dual #2: Salem 28, Wheeling 20

After falling in non-conference action to start the day, the Cardinals would come back for Mountain East Conference (MEC) action in their second dual meet of the night. Wheeling would have the same forfeit at 133 to start the night, but a double forfeit at 141 would save the Cardinals the extra six points. They would trail 6-0 right off the bat, but Brent Bosley quickly got those six points back. He would take on Salem's Ethan Morre, and secured a first period pin at the 2:34 mark to tie the game at 6-6. George Croy would return for the 149 pound weight class, but would also fall via pinfall, having his shoulders touch the mat at 2:11, and Salem would take a 12-6 lead heading into the midweight matches.

Salem would get the advantage at 157 pounds, with Bradley Spencer dropping a Major Decision to Seth Holt, and a Wheeling forfeit at 165 would bring the score to 22-6 with four weight classes to go. The momentum would start to swing the Cardinal's direction at 174 pounds, with Jake Taylor wrestling up a weight class from the first dual. He would take on Salem's Clayton Downs and had his way throughout the match. He scored a season-best 26 points, securing a 26-10 tech fall at the 6:54 mark to earn five points for his team. Xander Kartes would end up being pinned at 184 in just 4:45, and the score would sit at 28-11 entering the heavyweight bouts.

The 197-pound match-up featured a rematch of the MEC Semifinal match, with Jaxon Burcher meeting up with Salem's Iran Love. It was another close battle, as it was in the semifinal, but Burcher would once again have his way. He earned three points for the team with a 7-1 decision and the score sat at 28-14 heading into the final bout. This would also be a rematch from the MEC Wrestling Championships, as Gavin Harper took the mat against Salem's Mikey Lytle. The two met up in the first round of the 285 pound bracket at the tournament and, just as he did then, Harper would once again pin Lytle, this time in 1:07. It brought the dual to its final score of 28-20, with the Cardinals dropping both dual meets on the night. A full list of results for Wheeling vs. Salem is below:

125: Brent Bosley (WU) over Ethan Moore (SAL) (Fall 2:34)
133: Fabian Rivera (SAL) over (WU) (For.)
141: Double Forfeit
149: Elijah Hunter (SAL) over George Croy (WU) (Fall 2:11)
157: Seth Holt (SAL) over Bradley Spencer (WU) (MD 14-2)
165: Seth Thomas (SAL) over (WU) (For.)
174: Jake Taylor (WU) over Clayton Downs (SAL) (TF 26-10 6:54)
184: Landon Ristoff (SAL) over Xander Kartes (WU) (Fall 4:45)
197: Jaxon Burcher (WU) over Iran Love (SAL) (Dec 7-1)
285: Gavin Harper (WU) over Mikey Lytle (SAL) (Fall 1:07)