No. 16 West Liberty Upset by Gannon

2/11/2012

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 16-ranked West Liberty University wrestling team closed out its home slate on a bit of a down note Saturday night, dropping a hard-fought 23-19 decision to upset-minded Gannon at the ASRC.

The Golden Knights (9-5) jumped out to a commanding 17-4 lead by winning four of the first five matches and Coach Brian Davis's Hilltoppers (9-5) were unable to climb all the way out of the hole.

While Nick Wykoff's major decision at 141 pounds was WLU's only win in the first half of the dual, the Black and Gold still managed to make things interesting down the stretch.

Jordon Nolan brought the fans to their feet with a second-period fall at 165 pounds and a solid 8-3 decision by Matt Littleton at 174 pulled the hosts within range at 17-13 heading into the final three bouts.

But the visitors pulled out back-to-back decisions at 184 and 197 to sew up the upset with a forfeit win by West Liberty 285-pounder JD Ramsey wrapping up the scoring.

The Hilltoppers close out the regular season on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. dual meet at Ashland University.

MATCH NOTES

X Saturday was Senior Night for the Hilltopper program. Six WLU seniors – Jake Donley, AJ Gavin, Drake Kowcheck, JD Ramsey, Jarrod Shaw and Derrick Williams – were recognized prior to the meet

X Tuesday's match at Ashland will be the final tuneup for the Super Region One championship meet, which will be held Feb. 24-25 at UNC-Pembroke

Gannon 23 No. 16 West Liberty 19

125: Matt Turek (GU) tf. Joe Wagstaff, 25-9
133: Adam Weinell (GU) p. Dillon Nolte, 4:58
141: Nick Wykoff (WLU) md. Scott Bulzan, 12-1
149: Ethan Swope (GU) d. Art Hobley, 8-1
157: Sean Floor (GU) d. Jarrod Shaw, 5-2
165: Jordan Nolan (WLU) p. Adam Greenman, 4:18
174: Matt Littleton (WLU) d. Keith Stoerr, 8-3
184: Zack Zelcs (GU) d. Derrick Williams, 6-4
197: Chris Boyd (GU) d. Jake Donley, 8-3
285: JD Ramsey (WLU) won by forfeit

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