WVU Places Fourth at the Clarion Open

By Amy Salvatore
November 05, 2017

BRACKETS

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Led by redshirt freshman Kyler Rea's first-place finish at 149 pounds, the West Virginia University wrestling team placed fourth at the 2017 Clarion Open held in Clarion, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.  

Big 12 foe Utah Valley won the tournament with 101 points. Kent State placed second with 94.5 points, while Indiana rounded out the top three with 84.5 points. Fourteen Mountaineers added to West Virginia's team total, earning 83.5 points for a fourth-place finish.  

"We performed well," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "I hope we can build off this. The freshmen came out and wrestled great. We had some good wins over ranked opponents, and we fought hard in each and every match throughout the day."  

Rea went 5-0 to take his pool at 149 pounds. He started things off with a 5-3 decision over Pittsburgh's Dallas Bulsak. Rea won a 3-1 decision over Buffalo's Nick Palumbo before topping Penn State's Bo Pipher, 4-3, advancing to the semifinals. He then claimed a 3-1 victory over Virginia's Jake Keating, setting up a rematch with Utah Valley's Grant LaMont in the finals. The final match was tied at 1-1 heading into overtime, but LaMont took a timeout and eventually forfeited, allowing Rea to claim first place in his respective weight class.  

"It was great," Henson said. "He redeemed himself from Friday's match. He wrestled hard, and he went after him in the finals, so it was a good win for him. It's always a good win any time you take first at a tournament with Division I wrestlers."  

In addition to Rea's first-place finish, a trio of wrestlers placed third in their respective weight classes – redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt at 133, redshirt sophomore Zachary Moore at 157 and redshirt senior Parker VonEgidy at 174.

  Schmitt collected three straight victories at 133 pounds before dropping a 4-2 decision to Pittsburgh's No. 8 Domenic Forys in the semifinals. He finished the day with a 5-1 record, most notably winning by fall over Lock Haven's Tyshawn White in 3:56.  

At 157 pounds, Moore won three in a row before losing a hard-fought battle to Kent State's Casey Sparkman at 6-5. VonEgidy also started off strong with a 13-1 major decision over Indiana's Gabe Koontz, but eventually fell to Virginia's Will Schany, 4-3, in the semifinals at 174 pounds.  

Returning all-American Zeke Moisey also collected a fourth-place finish at 125, notching a pin over Cleveland State's Cody Moosman (2:49) in the first round. Moisey then picked up two more victories, one by tech. fall, before suffering a 3-1 setback to Clarion's No. 18 Jake Gromacki in the semifinals.  

"Zeke has to get his legs back underneath him," Henson added. "He hasn't wrestled in a tournament in a long time. He fought hard. He gave up some hard losses, but its early. He'll get better, and I think he'll do great things in the future."  

Up next, the Mountaineers will take a break in competition before traveling to St. Charles, Missouri, for the Lindenwood Open on Saturday, Nov. 18. The tournament is set to begin at 8 a.m. ET.  

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

1 Utah Valley University 101
2 Kent State-Unattached 94.5
3 Indiana University 84.5
4 West Virginia University 83.5
5 Virginia 81
6 Buffalo-Unattached 63.5
7 Pittsburgh-Unattached 63
8 Clarion University 61.5
9 Cleveland State University 57.5
10 Lock Haven-Unattached 41
11 Lock Haven 35.5
12 Bloomsburg University 34
13 Penn State 33.5
14 Clarion-Unattached 22
15 xEdinboro 20
16 Unattached-Unrostered 19.5
17 Penn State-Unattached 17.5
18 Pittsburgh 15.5
18 Pittsburgh Johnstown-Unattached 15.5
18 Virginia-Unattached 15.5
21 Utah Valley - Unattached 15
22 Ohio Valley University 11.5
23 Kent State University 10.5
24 Edinboro-Unattached 9.5
25 West Virginia-Unattached 7
26 Pittsburgh Johnstown 6.5
26 xUnattached 6.5
28 Cleveland State -Unattached 4
29 Penn State Behrend 3.5
29 Penn State DuBois 3.5
31 Lock Haven-Unrostered 2
31 xAmerican University 2
33 American University-unattached 1.5
34 Edinboro-Unrostered 1
35 Bloomsburg University-Unattatched


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