Smith, Morales Highlight Northeast Duals
November 29, 2014 08:20 PM | General
TROY, N.Y. (November 29, 2014) – Jake A. Smith and Michael Morales downed ranked opponents as the West Virginia University wrestling team dropped a trio of matches at the Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals at Hudson Valley Community College on Saturday. The Mountaineers dropped an 18-17 heartbreaker to Northern Illinois before falling to Rutgers, 19-6, and to No. 3 Cornell by a score of 26-9.
Morales upset No. 9 Mark Grey of Cornell, while Smith recorded a win over the Big Red’s Jace Bennett, who is ranked No. 17 at 197.
“It was a hard day at the office,” said WVU coach Sammie Henson. “We felt we could have gotten a couple of team wins but it didn’t fall our way. Our guys performed tough through the last two duals and we pulled off some big upsets against ranked guys from Cornell, which should improve some of our individual rankings. I was very impressed with Mike, Jake and Cory Stainbrook in those upsets. We have a short week before we head to Las Vegas on Wednesday.”
No. 19 Zeke Moisey claimed a 10-7 decision over NIU’s Derek Elmore at 125 pounds. Moisey scored on an early takedown before Elmore claimed five straight points with an escape, a takedown and a pair of back points. Moisey countered with a reversal to cut the deficit to one down 5-4 at the end of the first. Moisey scored an escape from the defensive position to tie the match early in the second before taking a 7-5 lead on a takedown. He earned his third takedown of the bout in the third period to make it a 9-5 lead before Elmore claimed two on a reversal. Moisey then added the riding time point in giving WVU a 3-0 lead over NIU.
Keeping things rolling at 133 pounds, Stainbrook won a 9-3 decision against Danny Carlson. Carlson scored a first-period takedown, but after countering with an escape and a takedown of his own, Stainbrook dominated most the match. The two battled to a scoreless second period before Stainbrook started the second period with an escape and a takedown to lead the bout, 6-2. Carlson recorded an escape before Stainbrook claimed another takedown, along with the riding time points, to put the Mountaineers ahead 6-0.
Morales made it 10-0, West Virginia, with a 13-3 major decision over Tyler Argue at 141 pounds. Scoring on a first-period takedown, Morales padded is lead in the second with an escape, a takedown and a pair of nearfall points to enter the third period with a 7-0 advantage. Morales added another takedown in the final stanza, before giving up an escape and a takedown to Argue to make it 7-3. Morales closed out match with a takedown, then added the riding time point to make it a major decision.
The Mountaineers dropped the next three bouts, with James Dekrone losing a tight 3-2 decision to Gabe Morse at 149 and Bubba Scheffel falling the second period to Andrew Morse at 157 as the Huskies cut the WVU lead to just one at 10-9. Tim Wheeling dropped an 8-3 decision to Shaun’Qae McMurtry as Northern Illinois took its first lead of the day at 12-10.
West Virginia rebounded with a win at 165 pounds as Ross Renzi earned a 6-3 decision over Trace Engelkes. After a scoreless first period, Renzi started the second in the defensive position before getting on the board with a reversal. He added a pair of back points giving up a reversal to Engelkes to make the score 4-2. Engelkes registered an escape at the start of the third before Renzi added two more on a takedown. He gave up his second escape of the period, but took the 6-4 decision to give the Mountaineers the lead again at 13-12.
Bubba Scheffel padded the lead at 184, grabbing a 12-4 major decision over Quinton Rosser. Scheffel struck early, taking a 4-1 lead on a takedown and nearfall points in the first before stretching it to 6-3 in the second, picking up two on a takedown but giving up a pair of escapes. After getting called for stalling twice, Scheffel scored on a reversal and added a trio of back points in addition to the riding time points in scoring the major decision and giving the Mountaineers the 17-12 advantage.
Smith suffered a setback at 197 pounds, dropping a 5-0 decision to Shawn Scott to make it a 17-15 match, and making the heavyweight decision to the deciding bout. A.J. Vizcarrondo kept close in the first, trailing 2-1 after scoring on an escape. He then tied things up with an escape in the second before giving up an escape and a takedown in the third to lose the 5-2 decision.
Moisey started the Mountaineers off strong against Rutgers, grabbing a 9-3 decision from Sean McCabe. Taking a 4-1 lead on a pair of first-period takedowns, Moisey added two more takedowns in the second whole giving up a pair of escapes to lead 8-3. Neither scored in the third, with Moisey adding a point for riding time to give WVU the 3-0 lead.
After dropping the next six bouts to fall behind 19-3, Scheffel picked up a win at 184 with a third-period pin of Anthony Pafumi. Smith kept things rolling with a major decision over Hayden Hrymack. Taking a 5-1 lead in the first after scoring an escape, a takedown and a pair of back points, Smith scored another takedown in the second. He added two more, plus a riding time point, to earn the 12-4 major decision.
Vizcarrondo closed things out with a victory against Wesley Bernard, but his 1-0 decision wasn’t enough. Scoring an escape in the third period, Vizcarrondo claimed the 1-0 victory but the Mountaineers fell to the Scarlet Knights, 19-16.
Stainbrook put the Mountaineers on the board first against Cornell, taking a 9-4 decision over Bricker Dixon as WVU trailed 4-3. Morales highlighted the match by winning an 11-7 decision from No. 9 Mark Grey. Scoring on an early takedown, he fell behind 3-2 before adding an escape and another take down to lead 6-3 following the first. Morales picked up three more points in the second with an escape and a takedown before Grey registered an escape and a takedown to cut into the lead. Morales finished out the third with an escape and a takedown in recording the decision as WVU took a 6-4 lead.
The Mountaineers dropped the next five matches before Smith registered a thrilling 6-1 win over No. 17 Jace Bennett. Smith jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period with a pair of takedowns before battling through a scoreless second period. He added another takedown in the third for the victory, but it would mark West Virginia’s last win as the Mountaineers fell 26-9.
West Virginia will head to Las Vegas, Nevada, next week to compete in the 33rd Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center on December 5 and 6.
Northern Illinois 18, West Virginia 17
125: No. 19 Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. Derek Elmore (NIU), 10-7
133: Cory Stainbrook (WVU) dec. Danny Carlson (NIU), 9-3
141: Michael Morales (WVU) major dec. Tyler Argue (NIU), 13-3
149: Gabe Morse (NIU) dec. James Dekrone (WVU), 3-2
157: Andrew Morse (NIU) pinned Brutus Scheffel (WVU), 3:15
165: Shaun’Qae McMurtry (NIU) dec. Tim Wheeling (WVU), 8-3
174: Ross Renzi (NIU) dec. Trace Engelkes (NIU), 6-4
184: Bubba Scheffel (WVU) major dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU), 12-4
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) dec. Jake A. Smith (WVU), 5-0
HWT: Arthur Bunce (NIU) dec. A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU), 5-2
Rutgers 19, West Virginia 16
125: No. 19 Zeke Moisey (WVU) dec. Sean McCabe (RU), 9-3
133: No. 20 Scott DelVecchio (RU) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 7-4
141: No. 15 Anthony Ashnault (RU) dec. Michael Morales (WVU), 7-2
149: No. 17 Ken Theobold (RU) dec. James Dekrone (WVU), 6-2
157: No. 4 Anthony Perotti (RU) dec. Roman Perryman (WVU), 8-4
165: Ethan Orr (RU) dec. Tim Wheeling (WVU), 5-3
174: Phil Bakaukus (RU) major dec. Ross Renzi (WVU), 8-0
184: Bubba Scheffel (WVU) pinned Anthony Pafumi (RU), 6:06
197: Jake A. Smith (WVU) major dec. Hayden Hrymack (RU), 12-4
HWT: A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU) dec. Wesley Benard (RU), 1-0
No. 3 Cornell 26, West Virginia 9
125: No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) major dec. Zeke Moisey (WVU), 19-8
133: Cory Stainbrook (WVU) dec. Bricker Dixon (Cornell), 9-4
141: No. 9 Michael Morales (WVU) dec. Mark Grey (Cornell), 11-7
149: No. 7 Chris Villalonga (Cornell) dec. James Dekrone (WVU), 9-2
157: Taylor Simaz (Cornell) major dec. Brutus Scheffel (WVU), 10-2
165: Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) dec. Tim Wheeling (WVU), 1-0
174: Jake Taylor (Cornell) dec. Ross Renzi (WVU), 7-6
184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 10-3
197: Jake A. Smith (WVU) dec. No. 17 Jace Bennett (Cornell), 6-1
HWT: Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell) pinned A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU), 0:39
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