Wrestling to Host Ohio on Senior Day
February 14, 2015 11:51 AM | General
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| Roman Perryman (right) will be one of six seniors honored prior to the start of the match. | |
| WVU Athletic Communications photo |
*Probably lineups available on page one of the match notes.
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Six seniors will be honored when the West Virginia University wrestling team hosts Ohio on Sunday in a 1 p.m. start at the WVU Coliseum.
Due to the uncertainty of next week’s dual against Edinboro, the Mountaineers will celebrate the careers of starters Roman Perryman (149) Michael Morales (141) and Brutus Scheffel (157) along with reserves Mickey Bennett (149), Greg Thurston (184) and John Pellegrino (125) prior to the dual.
The West Virginia-Ohio series is one of the oldest in the WVU record books, as the two teams first met in 1922. The Mountaineers hold a 34-17-1 advantage in the series, thought Ohio has taken the last two meetings. The Bobcats earned a 29-9 victory the last time they visited the WVU Coliseum in 2012, and took a 26-19 win in Athens last season. OU boasts five grapplers who qualified for NCAAs in 2014, including MAC champion Cody Walters.
WVU head coach Sammie Henson is quite familiar with the Bobcats from his time at Missouri. Ohio is a member of the Mid-American Conference, which Mizzou joined as an affiliate member in wrestling when the school joined the SEC in the fall of 2012.
“We have another great battle on Sunday,” said Henson. “Ohio has a solid lineup, and we are looking to have a strong outing. We have had great support from Mountaineer nation at our home matches, and with a youth clinic prior to Sunday’s dual we hope to gain even more fans.”
The Mountaineers have drawn more than 1,000 fans for each of their previous two home duals and are averaging a crowd of about 1,100. This marks a significant improvement from last year’s average of 745 per match, and is the first time since 2011 they have averaged more than 1,000 fans per match.
After going 2-0 on the weekend, freshman Zeke Moisey was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on February 8. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native earned a pair of major decisions at 125 in the team’s matches with Clarion and No. 8 Iowa State. Moisey claimed a 15-6 major over Clarion’s Hunter Jones to help the Mountaineers to a 26-9 victory on Friday before earning a 13-5 major decision against the Cyclones’ Kyle Larson for his second Big 12 victory of the season.
Both Moisey and Morales have appeared in the top-20 rankings by InterMat and Flo Wrestling at various times this season. After earning a spot at 149 entering the season, Morales has consistently stayed in both rankings throughout the season and is now rated 13th by Flo and 16th by Intermat at 141. Moisey appeared in the rankings earlier this season, and re-emerged in the 20th spot in Flo Wrestling’s rankings this week.
West Virginia split its pair of duals last weekend, taking a 26-9 victory at Clarion before dropping a 29-7 match to Big 12 foe No. 8 Iowa State. Moisey and heavyweight A.J. Vizcarrondo led the way, both going 2-0 on the weekend. Morales earned his fourth pin of the season against Clarion’s John Pezze, while Perryman earned a 4-2 decision over Brodie Zacherl on last second nearfall points in his debut at 149 pounds.
The Mountaineers are tentatively schedule to face No. 15 Edinboro on Friday at 8 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum; however the match is pending based on the Fighting Scots participation in the National Duals tournament. West Virginia is set to wrap up the regular season on Sunday when it travels to No. 14 Pitt for a 2 p.m. dual.
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