Henson Earns First Win as Wrestling Tops Lock Haven
December 19, 2014
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Sammie Henson recorded his first career victory as head coach as the West Virginia University wrestling team earned a 23-12 victory over Lock Haven at Thomas Field House on Friday evening.
“It was nice to get our first dual win tonight,” said Henson. “This was truly a family effort from our coaching staff, athletic administration, medical staff, strength and conditioning coach, team dietitian, sports information director and, of course, our academic advisor. Our student-athletes continue to grind it out to a new level as we have a lot to improve upon, but our family is all in. Consistency wins!”
The Mountaineers opened with a 4-0 lead as Zeke Moisey took a 12-3 major decision from Kaleb Lemaire at 125 pounds. A pair of first period takedowns gave Moisey a 4-1 lead at the end of the first. He padded his lead with an escape and two more takedowns to lead 9-2 entering the third period, where he added another takedown and gave up just an escape in taking the major decision and giving West Virginia a 4-0 lead.
After dropping the bout at 133 pounds, Michael Morales made it a 10-3 WVU lead with a first-period pin of Robert Rehm at 141 pounds.
The Bald Eagles earned wins at 149 and 157 pounds to cut the West Virginia lead to 10-9. Ross Renzi got the Mountaineers back on track with a 4-2 decision over Aaron McKinney at 165 pounds. Renzi twice scored takedowns on McKinney in the first period, yielding just and escape to carry a 4-1 advantage into the second. With Renzi starting on top, McKinney added an escape to his tally in the second before the two battled through a scoreless third period as the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 13-9.
Newcomer Parker VonEgidy, competing in his first match since transferring from Missouri, started his Mountaineer career off by winning a 9-7 decision over Tyler Wood at 174 pounds. VonEgidy scored a takedown in the first to take a 2-1 lead after Wood registered an escape. Wood recorded a take down and two escapes to take a 5-4 lead over VonEgidy, who scored on a reversal. Despite giving up a stalling point and an escape, VonEgidy took Wood down twice and added the riding point for the win, giving West Virginia a 16-9 lead.
After dropping a decision at 184 to cut the lead to four at 16-12, the Mountaineers took the last two bouts for the win. Jake A. Smith dominated in a 12-0 major decision over Blaze Buckwalter at 197. Smith registered a takedown in the first period and scored a reversal in the second, riding out Buckwalter for the rest of the period. Smith added a pair of nearfall points, followed by a trio of nearfall points and tacked on the riding point at the end to push WVU ahead 20-12.
A.J. Vizcarrondo finished out the match with a 6-4 sudden victory over Brad Emerick at heavyweight. Giving up an escape in the second, Vizcarrondo tied the bout in the third with an escape of his own. He would claim the win with a takedown midway through the second overtime, giving the Mountaineers the 23-12 win.
Following a break for the holidays, West Virginia will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, for a pair of duals. The Mountaineers will face Grand Canyon on January 3 in a 10 p.m. ET before heading to Arizona State for a rematch on January 4.
WVU 23, LHU 12
125: Zeke Moisey (WVU) major dec. Kaleb Lemaire (LHU), 12-3
133: Ronald Perry (LHU) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 9-4
141: Michael Morales (WVU) pinned Robert Rehm (LHU), 1:25
149: Daniel Neff (LHU) dec. James Dekrone (WVU), 6-4
157: Elias Biddle (LHU) dec. Tim Wheeling (WVU), 4-2
165: Ross Renzi (WVU) dec. Aaron McKinney (LHU), 4-2
174: Parker VonEgidy (WVU) dec. Tyler Wood (LHU), 9-7
184: Fred Garcia (LHU) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 7-4
197: Jake A. Smith (WVU) major dec. Blaze Buckwalter (LHU), 12-0
HWT: A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU) dec. Brad Emerick (LHU), SV-2 6-4
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