Notes from Coach Doyle

Sean Doyle, Head Coach
Wheeling Jesuit University


January 19, 2014

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! We had a big weekend that didn't see the final result we would have liked but progress was made. A lot of credit to Scott Lopez and Dominick Nania for wrestling for the team. Neither of them would have been in the line up if had not been such a big dual for us. Both saw very limited time all week, with no live wrestling, but we wanted to bring home a victory Saturday. Scott and Dom wanted to be part of that match.

Please be sure to make it out this Friday for our next home event. We'll have a rocking crowd at the McDonough Center as we face off against Millersville Friday evening at 7pm. Prior to our match will be Wheeling Park vs Shadyside. The next day we will compete at the WV Open at West Liberty University. A great weekend of wrestling ahead.

125
Brad Kakos (7-16 5th Mount Union Inv.)
Brad lost by fall. I'm sure Brad is not happy with the result of being pinned in the 2nd period. Brad wrestled a very tough opponent to a 0-0 first period and just relaxed for a short moment in the 2nd period. Against an opponent like the West Liberty kid, Brad can't have moments of let down. One thing about Brad is that I'm certain he was back working hard today preparing for next Friday.

133
Scott Lopez (19-9, 3rd BW Open, 2nd W&J Inv, 5th Mount Union Inv, 2nd Spartan Mat Classic)
Scott lost a 5-1 decision to his opponent from West Liberty. As mentioned above, if it weren't for wrestling our rival, Scott would not have wrestled. He did not wrestle live at all during the week. Scott has been our most consistent performer all season and it was clear he wasn't sharp Saturday morning. Scott has outperformed his West Liberty opponent all year and I'm certain that will be the case in a month.

141
Damon Outward (22-10, 5th BW Open, 5th W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv, 3rd Spartan Mat Classic)
Damon won by decision. Damon continues to impress almost every time out. Damon is probably a boarder line 125lbs and he continues to perform at a high level at 141lbs. Damon's intensity and wrestling is very contagious and he's quickly become a fan favorite. As Damon grows physically and settles into his weight class, he will continue to be a force. Damon won 8-6 but that score was not indicative of how dominant he was in defeating a much older opponent. West Liberty' wrestler was in the preseason regional rankings and Damon took it to him.

149
Dominic Nania (18-15, 5th BW Open, 7th Midwest Classic, 2nd Spartan Mat Classic)
Dom lost by pin. Dom is a leader on our team and really wanted to help his team Saturday. So much that he spent his whole night Thursday and hours Friday with medical staff trying to get cleared to wrestle. Selfishly we knew our chance to beat West Liberty would be if we could win at 149lbs and it was clear Dom wasn't himself. We will get Dom healthy and he'll be back to form before regionals.

157
John Gershom (10-17, 7th Mount Union Inv)
John lost by major decision. John wrestled a very good opponent Saturday and worked hard to try and not give up bonus points. John is adjusting to 157lbs and definitely gaining confidence in his attacks. Saturday he had a few opportunities to score but just isn't transitioning quick enough. John works very hard and knows what he needs to get better at.

165
Anthony 'TJ' Smith (4-15, 4th Spartan Mat Classic)
TJ lost by major decision. TJ has consistently battled hard and wrestled his butt off all year. Saturday was no different. He attacked the whole match and had many beautiful takedowns and takedown attempts. I've said it many times with TJ, he just needs a lot of matches to get used to the many positions and situations that college wrestling presents. We're never unhappy with TJ's effort and attitude. He'll continue to get better.

174
Sawyer Leppla (18-10, 1st BW Open, 4th W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv, 3rd Spartan Mat Classic)
Sawyer wrestled won of West Liberty's best wrestlers and won by injury default. Sawyer was winning the match 1-0 at the time of the default and wrestling well. He continues to work hard and evolve into a very dangerous college wrestler. We're excited about Sawyer's last month heading into the post season.

184
Nate Hupp (11-9, 4th BW Open, 6th Mount Union Inv)
Nate lost an 8-6 decision. Nate wrestled a very good match for about 4 minutes and like a few of our guys, his decisions to rest at critical times are costing him. With 20 seconds to go in the 2nd period Nate was in the lead 5-3 and in position to get a win. He was reversed and in the 3rd gave up an escape and riding point to lose 8-6.

197
Maxwell Lacey (16-14, 6th W&J Inv, 7th Mount Union Inv)
Max had a very big win Saturday over his West Liberty opponent that is ranked 5th in our region. This is Max's 2nd win over a very good regional opponent and he's positioning himself to make a run at the NCAA Tournament. Max is very hard on himself and is beginning to understand the work that is required to be great. He has a way of winning a lot of matches in the 3rd period because of his strong desire to win.

285
Corey Siegfried (15-9, 3rd W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv, 6th Spartan Mat Classic)
Corey lost a hard battle 2-0 and worked very hard throughout the match. Corey's size makes it very difficult for us to pick down against larger opponents and Saturday was no different. The match went to the 3rd period 1-0 and Corey chose down. After being rode the entire period he lost 2-0 with a riding point added on. Corey is one of our hardest workers every single day in the room and he will continue to win a lot and get better. We just need to magically add about 40 pounds by March 1st.

Thanks for everyone's support and for those that came out Saturday to cheer us on. We had a number of fans and family members there. It was great to see everyone and we hope to see everyone this weekend.

Coach Doyle


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