The freshmen duo of Bohince and D'Urso, who were a combined 31-7 entering action Thursday, were up to their old tricks, spotting Mercyhurst a 10-0 advantage after the opening two bouts. Bohince jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the opening period on West Liberty's Joe Wagstaff. The freshman from Level Green, Pa. added a takedown in the second period and then got a late takedown in the third period to take a 15-1 lead. Bohince added his riding time point at the end for the 16-1 victory and a 5-0 Mercyhurst lead.
It was Bohince's first win by technical fall this season as he improved to 17-4 on the year.
D'Urso, meanwhile, made quick work of West Liberty's Dillon Nolte at 133 pounds. The freshman from Greenville, Pa. jumped out to a 14-0 advantage after the opening period with four nearfalls and a pair of takedowns. He added a takedown 44 seconds into the second period, and, coupled with the riding time, cruised to a 17-0 victory. D'Urso leads the team with eight technical fall victories this season and improved to 16-3 on the season.
The 141-pound match proved to be, arguably, the best match of the night. It featured redshirt sophomore Nick Hannan of Mercyhurst against Daniel Carpenter of West Liberty. The two went back-and-forth for the entire bout, but Hannan prevailed, thanks to exactly one minute of riding time to give him the one-point decision. Hannan led 2-1 after one period and 4-3 after two periods before Carpenter outscored him 3-2 in the third. The riding time gave Hannan the extra point at the end, the victory, and a 13-0 advantage after the opening three bouts.
Hannan improved to 8-4 on the season, including a 3-0 mark in duals.
West Liberty would cut the Laker lead to 13-6 with victories at 149 and 157. Nick Wykoff, ranked second in the region, held off sophomore Michael Griffith, 9-5, in the 149-pound bout, and Art Hobley, ranked third in the region, would do the same to junior Ian Grecco in the 157-pound match, 10-4.
Redshirt junior Clint Schaefer would get four of those points back in the 165-pound bout. Schaefer, pitted against Eric Antesberger, jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the opening three minutes. Schaefer would add three points in the second period and four more in the third (including riding time) to earn a 12-1 major decision over his counterpart from West Liberty. It was Schaefer's fifth victory by major decision this season. He improved to 15-3 on the year.
The battle at 174 was also a good one, featuring Matt Littleton of West Liberty, ranked sixth in the region, and redshirt freshman Angelo Bortoluzzi of Mercyhurst. After a scoreless first period, Bortoluzzi would score the only point of the second with an escape. Both grapplers would exchange escapes to start the third, but a late takedown by Littleton gave him the victory by a 3-2 final and helped cut the Mercyhurst lead to 17-9.
The 184-pound bout featured two regionally-ranked wrestlers - redshirt senior Eric Lundgren of Mercyhurst, ranked sixth in the region, and Derrick Williams of West Liberty, ranked third in Super Region I. Lundgren would score the only two points of the first period with a takedown and then extended his lead to 5-1 after two periods. Lundgren would add a pair of takedowns in the third period to offset a pair of escapes by Williams and to earn a 9-3 victory. Lundgren improved to 11-7 with the victory.
Senior Seth Stonis battled Danny Doyle of West Liberty at 197 pounds, and despite losing the bout 3-1 in sudden victory one, clinched the victory for the Lakers. Mercyhurst led 20-12 after Stonis' setback, who dropped to 2-3 on the season, and 1-2 in duals. Stonis has wrestled in the last three duals for the Lakers, coming back from an injury he suffered at the W&J Inviational in the first weekend of the season.
West Liberty's Mike Carpenter defeated redshirt senior Jeffrey Pollard 7-2 in the heavyweight bout for the final margin.
Mercyhurst improves to 9-3 lifetime against West Liberty. It doesn't get any easier for the Lakers, as they will host Kutztown at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Bears, ranked fifth in Super Region I, and seventh in the country, will come to Erie for a 1:00 p.m. start. The teams have split six previous meetings in the all-time series.
Results:
125 – Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst) tech. fall over Joe Wagstaff (West Liberty) – 16-1 (7:00) [MU 5-0]
133 – Dylan D'Urso (Mercyhurst) tech. fall over Dillon Nolte (West Liberty) – 17-0 (3:44) [MU 10-0]
141 – Nick Hannan (Mercyhurst) dec. over Daniel Carpenter (West Liberty) – 7-6 [MU 13-0]
149 – Nick Wykoff (West Liberty) dec. over Michael Griffith (Mercyhurst) – 9-5 [MU 13-3]
157 – Art Hobley (West Liberty) dec. over Ian Grecco (Mercyhurst) – 10-4 [MU 13-6]
165 – Clint Schaefer (Mercyhurst) maj. dec. over Eric Antesberger (West Liberty) – 12-1 [MU 17-6]
174 – Matt Littleton (West Liberty) dec. over Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) – 3-2 [MU 17-9]
184 – Eric Lundgren (Mercyhurst) dec. over Derrick Williams (West Liberty) – 9-3 [MU 20-9]
197 – Danny Doyle (West Liberty) dec. over Seth Stonis (Mercyhurst) – 3-1 (SV-1) [MU 20-12]
285 – Mike Carpenter (West Liberty) dec. over Jeffrey Pollard (Mercyhurst) – 7-2 [MU 20-15]
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