This Week: Notre Dame College wrestling will host a tri-match on Jan. 20, as they welcome No. 4 West Liberty University and Glenville State College to Murphy Gymnasium. The competition is set to begin at 4 p.m. when West Liberty battles Glenville State. Following the matchup, NDC will face Glenville State and then West Liberty.
Spectator Reminder: No spectators will be allowed to enter Murphy Gymnasium on Thursday.
Records: Notre Dame enters the week with an 1-1 record after defeating Wheeling one week ago. West Liberty is 6-3 in duals this season, including a 29-9 win over No. 11 Ashland last week. Glenville State has a record of 14-6.
Coaches Corner: Sonny Marchette is the head coach of the Notre Dame wrestling program in his third season. Danny Irwin is now in his third season at West Liberty and Glenville State's Dylan Cottrell is in his second campaign at the helm of the program.
Rankings: West Liberty is ranked No. 4 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II top 25. Glenville State is receiving votes.
Series History: Since the 2009-10 season, NDC has gone 7-0 in duals against West Liberty. The Falcons have never faced Glenville State.
Noting the Falcons: In just their second dual of the season, Notre Dame was able to defeat Wheeling by a score of 44-6.
Cale Hoskinson highlighted the night with a pin of Aaron Mele at 165 lbs.
Logan Hall also defeated River Pappas with a tech fall (18-1) at 197. The Falcons then competed in the Purple Raider Open on Sunday. At 125,
Jake Arnold finished eighth and
Rodney Winston Jr. took seventh at 165.
Matthew Kaufmann won four times at the Open, including a pin of Cleveland State's Ryan Granger at 149, and took fifth place.
La'Ron Parks took fifth in the heavyweight bracket, which included a win over Michigan's Austin Jordan.
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty has went up against some of the top teams this season. Their three losses in dual competition have come against No. 21 Pitt-Johnstown, No. 2 St. Cloud State and No. 12 Findlay. They also grabbed victories against No. 18 UNC Pembroke, No. 22 Fairmont State and No. 11 Ashland. Last week against Ashland, West Liberty was able to win all but three bouts. At 149, Jacob Simpson won with an 18-2 tech fall. At 184, Connor Craig was victorious via fall. Over the weekend, the Hilltoppers took fourth place at the Spartan Mat Classic in Indiana.
In the individual rankings, Cole Laya is ranked No. 1 at 125, Tyler Warner is No. 1 at 133, Connor Craig is No. 2 at 184, Ty McGeary is No. 7 at 174 and Francesco Borsellino ranks No. 9 at 285.
Noting the Pioneers: Glenville State has competed in 20 duals already this season. They have wins over Fairmont State, who is currently No. 22 in D2, and No. 12 UNC Pembroke. Earlier this season, GSC went 4-0 at the Waynesburg Duals and then put together a 4-1 record at both the Carolina Clash and the Averett Duals. However, the Pioneers are looking for their first victory in 2022 as they went 0-3 at the Kutztown Duals, going up against No. 16 Kutztown and No. 19 Pitt-Johnstown.
Glenville State has one wrestler ranked nationally, as Jordan Williams is No. 9 in the 197 weight class.
