This Week: Notre Dame College will be busy this week, wrestling in four duals over three days. On Jan. 18, the Falcons will take on No. 16 Grand Valley State and No. 1 West Liberty, beginning at 5, in the Murphy Gymnasium.

Schedule Update: Due to inclement weather, NDC will not be traveling to Glenville State, for the tri-match that was scheduled for Jan. 20.

Records: Notre Dame is 0-10 in dual meets this season. Grand Valley (9-2) and West Liberty (9-6) both have nine victories. 

Coaches Corner: Jordon Tague is in his second season leading NDC, while David Wingate is in his first season at Garrett. Joey Simcoe has been with Grand Valley since Novemer 2021, when the Lakers announced it restarted the wrestling program. Danny Irwin is in year number four at West Liberty.

Rankings: In the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Team Rankings, West Liberty was tied with Central Oklahoma at the top of the Division II rankings. Grand Valley State is No. 16.

In the NWCA individual rankings, West Liberty's Nico Taddy is No. 5 at 149 lbs., Jamar Williams is No. 2 at 157, Alec Cook ranks No. 10 at 165, Ty McGeary holds the top spot at 184 and Francesco Borsellino is the top heavyweight wrestler. Grand Valley's Aaron Lucio ranks eighth at 125, Chris Donathan is the No. 3 wrestler at 149, Josh Kenny is ranked No. 3 at 174 and Wyatt Miller is the No. 12 wrestler at 197.
 
Series History: NDC first faced West Liberty in the 2009-10 season and since then, have put together a 7-1 mark against the Hilltoppers. The Falcons have never wrestled against Grand Valley.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame has faced some tough competition already this season. The Falcons have faced four teams that are nationally ranked, along with multiple teams who were receiving votes and just outside of the national poll. Last weekend, at the Tiffin Duals, NDC went up against No. 20 Tiffin, No. 5 Lake Erie and Findlay. Ethan Aguiniga won both of his matchups at 165 and La'Ron Parks won twice via forfeit before he was victorious in his only actually matchup at heavyweight.

Parks is ranked No. 18 in The Open Mat rankings.