Glenville, W.Va. -- Wrestling went 2-2 on the day against a tough field of competition at the Pioneer Duals. They started the day with two defeats to very tough opponents. First up was the host school Glenville State who was recently picked to finish second in the MEC. Winning matches were 141 Mikey Jones by fall, 157 Navid Ighani by forfeit and 285 Mason Atkinson by forfeit. The final score for the dual was 33-18. Next up was Super Region 1 foe Seton Hill. The lone winner in that dual was 285 Mason Atkinson by fall.
To finish up their pool play the Fighting Falcons squared up against MEC foe Notre Dame College. Notre Dame is a perennial D2 power that has won 5 National Championships since 2010. They were picked to finish 3rd in the MEC preseason poll. Starting up the dual was 125 Brandan Myers winning by forfeit and 133 Nate Pelesky followed with a big win, winning by fall to push Fairmont State's lead to 12-0. 141 Mikey Jones collected a forfeit win to extend the lead to 18-0. A loss by fall at 149 made the score 18-6 Fairmont State. 157 Navid Ighani had a solid win by decision to make the score 21-6. Freshman 165 Jude Childers secured a big win by fall to extend the lead to 27-6. A tough loss at 174 made the score 27-9 but 184 Austin Gibson put an end to Notre Dame's comeback bid with a big win by fall. After losses at 197 and 285 your Fighting Falcons won by a final score 33-18.
The Fighting Falcons finished the day against Emory & Henry College a D2 school in Virginia. The Fairmont State Matmen finished the day strong with a 43-12 win. They scored a lot of bonus point victories: 125 Myers won by technical fall, 133 Nate Pelesky won by Major Decision, 149 Addison Courtney won by fall, 157 Navid Ighani by major decision, 165 Jude Childers by fall, 184 Austin Gibson by fall and 197 Aydan Edwards by fall. 174 Evan Thompson also collected a win via forfeit.
The Wrestling team is back in action Wednesday November 9th for their home opener against MEC foe Davis & Elkins Action starts at 7:00 PM in the Joe Retton Arena.
