WVU coaches Sammie Henson and Danny Felix celebrate (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)ST. LOUIS -- West Virginia University wrestler Zeke Moisey�s incredible NCAA tournament run came to end with a 9-5 loss to No. 4 seed Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State in the 125-pound championship finals at the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
The true freshman from Northampton, Pennsylvania, will cap his rookie season as the NCAA runner-up in addition to receiving All-America honors. He finishes with a mark of 32-14, tying the program mark for wins at 125 and ranking second in program history in wins as a freshman.
�I�m extremely proud of Zeke and his performance this weekend,� said WVU coach Sammie Henson. He represented West Virginia University and the Mountaineer wrestling program with guts and honor. We have a bright future with an extremely motivated coaching staff, support staff, administration and wrestlers.�
After battling through two scoreless minutes in the first, Tomasello hit Moisey for a takedown with 44 seconds remaining. Moisey escaped to trail 2-1 as the first came to a close. Starting the second in the defensive position, Moisey tied the score 2-2 on an escape 26 seconds into the period. Tomasello added another takedown as the period wound down, taking a 4-2 lead into the final stanza. Starting on top, Moisey yielded an escape to Tomasello, who took a 5-2 lead, but scored a takedown to cut the deficit to two at 5-4. Tomasello escaped to push his advantage to 6-4, then registered a final takedown with just under a minute to go. Battling through injury, Moisey escaped to trail 8-5 with 33 seconds left, but couldn�t come from behind. Tomasello tacked on a point for riding time to take the 9-5 decision and the NCAA title.
The first unseeded wrestler since 2003 to compete for a national title, Moisey was the first Mountaineer to reach the NCAA semifinals since 2005 when Greg Jones won the national championship at 184 pounds. He is the 30th All-American in WVU program history and the first to earn the honor since Brandon Rader in 2007.
West Virginia finished the tournament with in 20th place with 23.5 points. It marks the Mountaineers� first top-25 finish since 2005, when they took 18th overall with 34.00 points.
Entering the tournament as an unseeded, unranked true freshman, Moisey pulled off four consecutive upsets in earning his spot in the finals. He defeated No. 15 seed Chasen Tolbert of Utah Valley in a 14-6 major decision in the first round before upsetting No. 2 seed Nahshon Garrett of Cornell in a 5-2 decision. Moisey then beat Big 12 foe and No. 7 seed Eddie Klimara in a 5-2 decision to earn his spot in the semifinals.
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