No. 11 Wrestlers Fall Short at West Liberty in Dual Meet Opener
11/16/12... (Full Results) After battling back to take a 16-15 lead going into the heavyweight bout, Head Coach Pat Pecora's young and relatively inexperienced 11th-ranked Mountain Cat wrestling squad needed a win to secure a victory in the 2012-13 dual meet opener at West Liberty (WV) University. However, the Hilltoppers got a 3-2 decision by Mike Carpenter over true freshman Josh Duplin (Johnstown, Pa.) to deal Pitt-Johnstown a tough, 18-16 loss on Friday.
Red-shirt freshman Evan Link (Cresson, Pa.) got the Mountain Cats started with a fall at 5:00 over Preston at 125 lbs., before West Liberty's Cole Nace earned an 8-4 decision over freshman Ben Rager (Ebensburg, Pa.) in the 133-lb bout.
At 141 lbs., Dave Cawley (Pittsburgh, Pa.) increased the Mountain Cat advantage to 10-3 with an 8-0 major decision over Johnny McComas.
The Hilltoppers battled back to take the lead 15-10 with four straight wins by decision. After a tight, 3-2, win by Nick Wycoff over Jack Bachman (Greensburg, Pa.) at 149 lbs., Art Hobley scored a 4-2 decision over Joel Paolo (Weirton, WV) to make it 10-9. West Liberty's Mike Emery then defeated Chad Miller (Johnstown, Pa.), 2-1, at 165 lbs., and seventh-ranked Matt Littleton scored a 7-5 decision over red-shirt freshman Brian Gibbons (Buffalo Mills, Pa.) at 174 lbs. to extend the West Liberty lead to 15-10.
Pitt-Johnstown countered with two straight wins of their own to regain the lead, setting up the finale at heavyweight. All-American Travis McKillop (Lower Burrell, Pa.) dealt Derrick Williams a 5-0 loss at 184 lbs., and red-shirt freshman Sean O'Conmnell (Farmington, CT) won 5-1 over Danny Doyle at 197 lbs. to give the lead back to the Mountain Cats at 16-15.
It all came down to Duplin against Carpenter. A win and Pitt-Johnstown would walk off with the victory. It just wasn't to be, as Carpenter held off Duplin, 3-2, to give the Hilltoppers an 18-16 victory.
The Mountain Cats travel to No 18 Kutztown University on Wednesday and to No. 6 University of Findlay (OH) on December 1, before making their 2012-13 home debut on Tuesday, December 4 against No. 20 East Stroudsburg University at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.
#11 PITT-JOHNSTOWN AT WEST LIBERTY
WEST LIBERTY 18 PITT-JOHNSTOWN 16
125 - Evan Link (UPJ) Fall Preston Foster (WLU) 5:00 6-0 UPJ
133 - Cole Nace (WLU) Decision Ben Rager (UPJ) 8-4 6-3 UPJ
141 - Dave Cawley (UPJ) Major Decision Johnny McComas (WLU) 8-0 10-3 UPJ
149 - Nick Wycoff (WLU) Decision Jack Bachman (UPJ) 3-2 10-6 UPJ
157 - Art Hobley (WLU) Decision Joel Paolo (UPJ) 4-2 10-9 UPJ
165 - Mike Emery (WLU) Decision Chad Miller (UPJ) 2-1 12-10 WLU
174 - #7 Matt Littleton (WLU) Decision Brian Gibbons (UPJ) 7-5 15-10 WLU
184 - Travis McKillop (UPJ) Decision Derrick Williams (WLU) 5-0 15-13 WLU
197 - Sean O'Connell (UPJ) Decision Danny Doyle (WLU) 5-1 16-15 UPJ
HWT. - Mike Carpenter (WLU) Decision Josh Duplin (UPJ) 3-2 18-16 WLU