East Stroudsburg, PA. – After a month-long preparation, the Wheeling University Wrestling team traveled to East Stroudsburg University Saturday for the NCAA DII Super Region 1 Wrestling Championships. Several Cardinals were competing at the event for the first time, and the Cardinals would walk away with three wrestlers placing in the top six of their weight class. For the second year in a row, the Cardinals had a National Qualifier as they fell one match shy of their first National Championship appearance since the 2018-19 season.
Leading the way was redshirt junior Gavin Harper, who would earn the National Alternate by taking fourth overall in the 285-pound weight class. He would wrestle across five matches during the night, and hit a run early on that got him going. He started things off with his 11th pinfall victory of the season, taking down Felician's Justin Perry at the 2:49 mark. He coupled that with a tight 2-0 decision over East Stroudsburg's Ajay Hillsf and advanced to the semifinal round. It was there that his night in the championship bracket came to an end, when he took on Gannon's Dorian Crosby. Harper would be pinned at the 3:49 mark, and moved to the consolation bracket. He bounced back with his second decision of the day, taking down Seton Hill's Ritchie McCormick in a 4-3 Decision. He would advance to the third place match, competing for a spot at Nationals, but he ended up falling to Pitt-Johnstown's Isaiah Van d in an 18-2 tech fall to end the night taking 4th in the weight class.
The two other Cardinals to place on the day were Jack Dinwiddie (141) and Jaxon Burcher (197), both taking sixth in their respective weight classes. Jack Dinwiddie was up first in the 141-pound weight class, and started his day in a big way with a 15-0 Tech Fall over Bridgeport's Jaiden Hernandez. He would move on to the quarterfinals, where he faced Millersville's Nicholas Cottone, and added his second win, this time a 5-3 decision. However, his day would come to an end with back-to-back losses in the consolation bracket, as he ended his day 2-2. Burcher was the other Cardinal to place in the top six, after he fell in his opening match. He headed to the consolation round, and got to the consolation semifinal with a Sudden Victory Pinfall over Frostburg State's Nick McCarthy. However, a loss in the Consolation Semi and the 5th place match would end his day at 1-3 to round out his season.
The final win for the Cardinals came in the 125-pound weight class courtesy of Brent Bosley. His win would come in the consolation round, when he faced Bridgeport's Christian Mendoza. Bosley would need just 28 seconds to secure the pinfall to even his record on the day at 1-1. However, he fell to Millersville's Gavin Boland in a 14-5 Major Decision to end his day. Courtney Rider (149), Bradley Spencer (157), and Jake Taylor (165) would round out the day for the Cardinals, each going 0-2 in their respective weight classes.
The Wheeling University Wrestling team now heads into the off-season as they look to continue to grow towards 2026-2027.
