#4 Wrestling takes down #22 Mercyhurst, 22-14
January 18, 2019
WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 18) - The No. 4 Wheeling Jesuit University wrestling team picked up a 22-14 dual win over No. 22 Mercyhurst Friday night inside the McDonough Center.
The Cardinals won six matches and earned bonus points in three of those victories to claim the top-25 win.
"A hard fought win tonight for our program over an extremely tough Mercyhurst team," said Head Coach Danny Irwin. "It was our first-ever win over them in program history which should make anyone who has helped build our program proud!"
Wheeling Jesuit entered the dual without some of its key cogs in the lineup, but Irwin and the Cardinals managed to persevere despite a few noticeable absences.
"We were missing a couple of our nationally ranked wrestlers, however they were missing one themselves," he added. "I liked what Brice Harkness did out there even though it came by way of defeat. A few guys need to dial their weight management in a bit more which will lead to better results for them and the team!"
The Cardinals held a 19-14 lead entering the only nationally ranked matchup of the night between No. 2 Terrance Fanning (Bruceton Mills, W.Va./Preston) and Mercyhurst's Jake Robb. Robb, who entered the night ranked No. 8 in Division II, held his own against Fanning, but the defending national champion did just enough to earn a 5-4 decision to clinch the match for WJU.
"Terrance continues to build in the right direction," said Irwin. "His last couple opponents have challenged him in some different ways that the majority of heavyweights aren't capable of. He embraces these challenges and it has him excited to learn more at the next workout."
Beating Mercyhurst means a lot to me as an individual to be able to represent our present team and also our past graduated teammates and founding fathers of this program," Fanning said. "This win furthers proves that Wheeling Jesuit wrestling is always moving forward and is continuing to build and will never be satisfied."
The Cardinals will not have much time to rest. WJU will travel to Painesville, Ohio on Sunday, January 20 to take on Lake Erie College in a dual at 3 p.m.
#4 Wheeling Jesuit 22, #22 Mercyhurst 14
125: Jacob Ruggeri (MU) def. Alex Godinez (WJU) DEC 5-4 (TB1)
133: #4 Tyler Warner (WJU) def. Alexis Soriano (MU) DEC 5-0
141: Jared Donahue (WJU) def. Aidan Burke (MU) MD 10-1
149: Christian Rivera (WJU) def. Mike Clark (MU) DEC 11-6
157: Kevin Kinyua (MU) def. Dylan Taylor (WJU) DEC 4-3
165: #6 Logan Grass (MU) def. Brice Harkness (WJU) TF 16-0
174: #5 Connor Craig (WJU) def. Kevin Holman (MU) TF 16-0
184: #8 Aidan Pasiuk (WJU) def. Trevor Johnson (MU) MD 12-2
197: Trever Begin (MU) def. Chase Logan (WJU) DEC 5-0
285: #2 Terrance Fanning (WJU) def. #8 Jake Robb (MU) DEC 5-4
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