The No. 6-ranked West Liberty Hilltoppers’ wrestling team is readying itself for Super Region III Championships at Tiffin’s Heminger Center.
The reining MEC team champions closed out an impressive, and unbeaten dual-meet regular season with a shutout victory against rival Wheeling. The Cardinals roster is only three wrestlers strong presently, but all three lost in head-to-head matches with WLU wrestlers.
Last winter West Liberty finished sixth at the regional held at Indianapolis, finishing with 52 points while fellow MEC participant Notre Dame won the team title with 127 points.
The Hilltoppers enter this season’s Super Regional with seven wrestlers ranked individually according to openmat.com’s rankings.
Leading the way is senior Connor Craig in the 184-pound class. Craig is ranked second, one behind Central Oklahoma’s Gray Heath. Craig, who wrestled for the University of Pitt-Johnstown last season, finished runner-up at the Super Region 2 tournament as was the fourth seed for the NCAA championships before being canceled because of the pandemic.
Last season, fellow Hilltopper Cole Laya also finished second at the regional, along with then senior Chase Logan, who came in third. They both advanced to the national tournament.
Laya is currently ranked No. 5 at 125. He’s joined by teammates Tyler Warner (4th at 133), Chase Morgan (15th at 165), Ty McGeary (15th at 174), Logan Kemp (4th at 197), and Francesco Borsellino (10th at 285) in the rankings.
Craig is the only MEC wrestler ranked No. 2 or higher. The next closest non-Hilltoppers’ ranked wrestler is Notre Dame’s Kelan McKenna, who is fourth at 141.
West Liberty’s top competition for the team title at the Super Region figures to come from Ashland, competing in its final season in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference before officially joining the Great MidWest Athletic Conference next season.
Ashland is ranked just ahead of West Liberty at No. 4 and also boasts seven ranked wrestlers nationally, the highest of which is No. 3 Aidan Pasiuk, who is directly behind Craig at No. 3 at 184.
Cardinals Bounce Back from First Conference Loss
It was inevitable, in theory. Eventually, some Mountain East opponent was going to knock off No. 21 Wheeling University in conference play.
Yet, since the MEC’s inception, it had yet to happen—until recently.
Playing back-to-back matches against Fairmont State, the Cardinals and Falcons fought through five sets before the Cardinals prevailed in the first match.
Fairmont wasted little time in the second match, taking a 2-0 lead before Wheeling took Set 3 with a 25-16 score. The Falcons, not about to let Wheeling event the set score, closed out the upset with a 25-22 game score to take the match.
The loss snapped Wheeling’s 115-match winning streak in conference play. Counting conference opponents in the MEC, the streak extended to 219 matches, the longest streak of consecutive wins in the history of Division II.
Wheeling began a new streak a match later when it took care of West Liberty, 25-19, 25-14, and 25-14. Kayla Bekier led the way with 18 kills with Raegan Rosi added 14.
The Cardinals close out the regular season with four straight road matches, capped by a rematch with West Liberty, at the ASRC, on March 5.
UC’s Pannell Honored Nationally
Charleston’s Brooklyn Pannell was recently named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Women’s Division II Player of the Week recently.
The nation’s leading scorer for Division II put up monster numbers in leading the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 week. She totaled 41, 35, and 34 points in wins against Wheeling, West Virginia State, and West Virginia Wesleyan, respectively.
During that span, she connected on 21 of 29 attempts from range, averaging a ridiculous 72 percent.
Pannell is the second Mountain East women’s player to earn such a distinction as Wheeling junior Lily Ritz won it back on January 31.
Historic First for Hilltoppers’ Runner
West Liberty junior distance ace Phil White had a strong showing during the North Carolina Wesleyan Classic, capturing the team’s first event of the season.
His efforts were noticed on a national scale as the United States Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches’ Association honored White as its Division II National Athlete of the Week.
White is a former MEC Freshman of the Year and All-Region selection.
The Hilltoppers’ cross country teams are back in action Friday at the Golden Eagle Invitational in Charleston.
Weekly Conference Honors
The following athletes were honored last week by the MRV as the top performer(s) in their respective sports:
| Players of the Week |
| Men’s Basketball: Dale Bonner, Fairmont St./John Williams, Glenville St. |
| Women’s Basketball: Brooklyn Pannell, Charleston |
| Men’s Cross Country: Isaac Prather, Concord |
| Women’s Cross Country: Hannah Kemp, West Liberty |
| Men’s Swimming/Diving: Michael McAlpine, W.Va. Wesleyan |
| Women’s Swimming/Diving: Kay Lange, W.Va. Wesleyan |
| Volleyball: Madison Clayton, West Liberty (Offense)/Brilane Manchego, Davis & Elkins (Defense) |
| Wrestling: Logan Kemp, West Liberty |
