Morales Named Athlete of the Week
November 24, 2014 11:52 AM | General
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| Morales |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (November 24, 2014) - Senior Michael Morales of the West Virginia University wrestling squad has been named the Varsity Sports Report Athlete of the Week. Morales was the 141-pound champion at this week’s Navy Classic in Annapolis, Maryland, helping the Mountaineers take fifth place overall.
Morales opened the tournament with a 12-5 decision over Princeton’s Coy Ozias before pinning Anthony Finocchiaro of Brown in the second period (3:35). He followed that with a 17-4 major decision over Chattanooga’s Mike Pongracz in the quarterfinals.
An 11-2 major decision over Navy’s Patrick Prada put Morales into the championship bout, where he defeated Princeton’s Jordan Laster with a sudden victory takedown in the second overtime for the 8-6 win.
This Week in Volleyball: The Mountaineers travel to Kansas for a pair of matches ... they will take on Kansas in Lawrence at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday before traveling to Manhattan to face Kansas State in a 9 p.m. ET tilt.
Last Week in Volleyball: The WVU volleyball team recorded their second straight Big 12 sweep with a 3-0 win over Baylor on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum ... it marked the first time the Mountaineers have defeated Baylor at home and the first Senior Night win in four years as they honored senior middle blocker Evyn McCoy following the contest ... Jordan Anderson had a team-best 17 kills while Hannah Shreve registered a career-high 10 blocks as the Mountaineers posted a season-best 18 team blocks in the win.
Coach Jill Kramer: “I thought we did a good job as a team sticking with it and competing tonight. We were tied with Baylor going into this, and both of us were in a spot where it was time for us to go and make something happen. Before the match we talked about – we’ve talked about a lot this week – we’ve never beat Baylor at home. That is a first for us again. We have not, until tonight, won on Senior Night in the past four years. Those were big accomplishments for us.”
Last Week in Volleyball: The WVU volleyball team recorded their second straight Big 12 sweep with a 3-0 win over Baylor on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum ... it marked the first time the Mountaineers have defeated Baylor at home and the first Senior Night win in four years as they honored senior middle blocker Evyn McCoy following the contest ... Jordan Anderson had a team-best 17 kills while Hannah Shreve registered a career-high 10 blocks as the Mountaineers posted a season-best 18 team blocks in the win.
Coach Jill Kramer: “I thought we did a good job as a team sticking with it and competing tonight. We were tied with Baylor going into this, and both of us were in a spot where it was time for us to go and make something happen. Before the match we talked about – we’ve talked about a lot this week – we’ve never beat Baylor at home. That is a first for us again. We have not, until tonight, won on Senior Night in the past four years. Those were big accomplishments for us.”
This Week in Cross Country: The Mountaineers season has ended.
Last Week in Cross Country: West Virginia placed eighth overall at the 2014 Division I NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Notes & Quotes: The eighth-place finish was the Mountaineers’ fifth top-10 finish since 2007 … sophomore Jillian Forsey and senior Kaitlyn Gillespie earned All-America honors after finishing in the top 40 … Forsey led the Mountaineers, finishing in 14th place overall in 20:17.9 … Gillespie followed closely behind with a 26th-place finish in 20:30.7 … with just one active senior on the roster, the Mountaineers made their seventh appearance at the NCAA championship in the last eight seasons under Cleary.
Coach Sean Cleary: “We are thrilled with this performance. The NCAA Cross Country Championship is the epitome of the sport. This race is the deepest field of distance runners in the world. When we started out this season, we really felt like we could finish in the top 10. To sit here in November having completed the season as an Elite 8 team is a dream come true for this group.”
This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers are idle until the start of its spring season.
Last Week in Tennis: WVU was idle last week.
Notes & Quotes: The Mountaineers collected a combined overall record of 68-40 this fall ... freshman Carolina Lewis stood at a team-best with a record of 11-3 in singles play ... freshman Lyn Yuen Choo had a combined record of 16-7 this fall season ... senior Ikttesh Chahal and junior Hailey Barrett are undefeated in doubles play (4-0).
This Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers will be idle this week before returning to competition at the U.S. Winter Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina from Dec. 4-6.
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia competed at the Mizzou Invite in Columbia, Missouri … the men placed third overall while the women recorded a sixth-place finish.
Notes & Quotes: Some of the Mountaineer notable performances included Andrew Marsh taking home top honors in the 100-yard butterfly, becoming the first Mountaineer of the season to crack the 50-second mark in the 100 fly with a time of 47.49 … in the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle, Emma Skelley raced to second place in 16:36.21 … Skelley also touched fourth in the 500-yard freestyle in a time 4:52.14, dropping more than five seconds for a new season-best mark in the event .. in the men’s 3-meter diving finals, Alex Obendorf led the way for the Mountaineers, placing fourth overall with a mark of 322.95 ... Obendorf shattered his prelim mark of 266.40 ... Mike Proietto took fifth overall (314.20) and Markus Perry finished sixth (239.30).
Coach Vic Riggs: “Overall, it was a pretty good meet. We didn’t swim our best race plans on Saturday morning, but the teams made great adjustments tonight which resulted in some very fine swims.”
This Week in Rowing: The Mountaineers are idle until the start of its spring season.
Last Week in Rowing: WVU was idle last week.
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team (8-0, 6-0 GARC) is idle until Saturday, Jan. 17, when they compete against Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foe Nebraska.
Last Week in Rifle: WVU competed in two conference matches at the WVU Rifle Range last week ... on Saturday, Nov. 22, they defeated No. 11 Navy, 4702-4577 ... on Sunday, Nov. 23, they defeated No. 13 NC State, 4714-4586.
Notes & Quotes: The Mountaineers won both disciplines in each match … against Navy, WVU won smallbore, 2330-2258, and air rifle, 2372-2319 … junior Michael Bamsey and sophomore Jean-Pierre Lucas tied for first in smallbore with 587 scores … the shot was a career high for Bamsey and matched Lucas’s season high … senior Ziva Dvorsak placed first in air rifle with 597 (99-100-100-100-98-100), one short of her career high … junior Garrett Spurgeon followed in second matching a career-high 596 score, also his best this season … in their victory over NC State, the Mountaineers won smallbore, 2340-2263, and air rifle, 2374-2323 … the team’s smallbore score matched a season high last shot against TCU in the first match of the season … junior Garrett Spurgeon placed first in smallbore with 587, while classmate Michael Bamsey followed in second with 586, one short of his career high … freshman Elizabeth Gratz placed third with a career-high 585 score … placing first in air rifle, senior Maren Prediger shot 597, and Spurgeon matched his career-high 596 (99-100-99-100-99-99) score for the second match in a row and placed second … Spurgeon’s 1183 aggregate score bettered his career high by one point, and Sunderman matched his career-high 1175 aggregate score.
Coach Jon Hammond: “We can take a lot of positives from this semester. The team has put in some really good performances, which has resulted in some great team scores. They all have room to improve and want to get better. There is a lot of healthy competition between them, and that will continue into next semester.”
This Week in Wrestling: The WVU wrestling team heads to Troy, New York, to take part in the Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals on Saturday ... starting at 9 a.m., the Mountaineers will face Cornell, Rutgers and Northern Illinois in a series of duals at Hudson Valley Community College.
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers traveled to the Navy Classic in Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday and took fifth place overall ... Michael Morales won the title at 141 pounds, while Zeke Moisey claimed third at 125 pounds ... Bubba Scheffel earned a fourth-place finish at 184 while both Jake A. Smith (197) and James Dekrone (149) took fifth at their respective weights.
Coach Sammie Henson: “I’m proud of the way our team competed today. We are making strides every week. We have become a close team and there’s a lot of excitement within the Mountaineer wrestling family. Thanks to the parents, family and support staff who made the trip to Annapolis this weekend.”
This Week in Women’s Basketball: No. 17/16 West Virginia University women’s basketball (2-1) returns to action against Evansville on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. ... it is Feed-A-Family Day ... any fan that brings a non-perishable food item to the Blue Gate will receive a free hot dog coupon ... kids can receive free admission by completing a coloring sheet of Musket (available online at WVUsports.com) ... on Saturday, Nov. 29, WVU hosts Fairfield at 2 p.m.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia picked up a thrilling 89-87 win over Seton Hall to advance to the Preseason WNIT semifinals ... Bria Holmes became the first Mountaineer since 2005 to score 35-plus points in a single game with her 36 point evening ... Averee Fields recorded a double-double (21 points/15 rebounds) and freshman Teana Muldrow drained six 3-pointers in the victory ... the Mountaineers fell 74-61 at Mississippi State last Thursday with Fields leading the way with 23 points.
Notes and Quotes: Bria Holmes has reached double figures in seven consecutive games dating back to last season … Holmes leads WVU with 25.7 points per game … Crystal Leary is the Mountaineers’ top rebounder with 8.7 boards per game … West Virginia’s 89-87 victory over Seton Hall marked the first time since 1998 that the Mountaineers had won a game when giving up 87 or more points to an opponent ... WVU is 80-6 at the Coliseum against non-conference opponents since 2002.
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