West Virginia Wrestling

WVU Drops Home Finale to No. 14 Edinboro

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (February 20, 2015) – The West Virginia University wrestling team won three bouts but fell in its home finale to No. 14 Edinboro by a score of 25-9 on Friday evening at the WVU Coliseum.

Brutus Scheffel (157), Ross Renzi (165) and Jake A. Smith (197) each earned a win for the Mountaineers, who fall to 8-9 on the season. Two more matches went to overtime, but were ultimately won by Edinboro. The Fighting Scots, who boast six nationally ranked grapplers in the lineup, move to 14-5 on the season.

“I really feel like we have some of the best fans in the country, as far as attendance and enthusiasm,” said first-year coach Sammie Henson. “I believe this is the first time since about 2007 that we’ve averaged over 1,000 fans in this arena, which says a lot about the way our guys are wrestling and competing. It really falls back on them. They’re doing the work and putting the time in, and we’re just along for the ride.”

The Mountaineers lost the first four matches and found themselves in danger of heading into the break without a point on the board and with the Fighting Scots up 16-0. However, Brutus Scheffel came through with a 6-5 decision over Chase Delande at 157. Scheffel trailed 2-1 after the first period and added an escape in the second to tie the score 2-2. Delande recorded an escape to take a 3-2 lead at the start of the third, but Scheffel’s perseverance showed in the final stanza as he sent Delande to the mat for two points. Delande escaped to knot the score once again at 4-4 and Scheffel registered another late takedown for the 6-4 lead. Delande claimed the riding time point, but Scheffel took the 6-5 decision as West Virginia trailed 16-3.

Ross Renzi made it two in a row for WVU, taking a 5-2 decision over Casey Fuller at 165. After a scoreless first period, Renzi scored first with an escape in the second for a 1-0 lead. Fuller chose to start the third in the defensive position and escaped to tie the match 1-1, but Renzi took a 3-1 lead on a takedown soon after. Fuller escaped, and Renzi added another takedown to pad his lead at 5-2 for the win and add three more to the board for the Mountaineers, who found themselves down 16-6.

A tough battle at 174 pounds ultimately went in favor of the Fighting Scots, as Parker VonEdigy dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 20 Patrick Jennings in sudden victory. VonEgidy took a 1-0 lead on an escape in the second period, but Jennings matched his feat in the third to send the bout into an extra period. Jennings recorded the takedown in sudden victory as Edinboro took a 19-6 advantage.

The Fighting Scots took a decision at 184 before Jake A. Smith earned a win at 197 pounds with an 8-1 decision over Vince Pickett. Smith used a takedown to take a 2-0 first-period advantage, and escaped in the second to make it 3-0 after five minutes. The two started the third period in the neutral position, with Smith registering his second takedown of the match for a 5-0 lead. Pickett got on the board with an escape, but Smith was able to take him down once again in the last 30 seconds and added a point for riding time in taking the 8-1 win.

A.J. Vizcarrondo nearly added another win at heavyweight, but dropped a 5-3 decision in sudden victory to Warren Bosch. Bosch recorded a takedown, but Vizcarrondo countered with an escape as Bosch led 2-1 after three minutes of action. Vizcarrondo started the second period with an escape before things got chippy between the two, resulting in a misconduct on Bosch and a penalty point for Vizcarrondo, who took a 3-2 lead. However, Bosch earned the point for riding time at the end of regulation to send things into overtime. Bosch sent Vizcarrondo to the mat for the sudden victory as Edinboro took the match, 25-9.

The Mountaineers will finish up the regular season on Sunday when they travel to No. 18 Pitt for a 2 p.m. dual at Fitzgerald Field House. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

No. 14 Edinboro 25 West Virginia 9
125: No. 18/19 Kory Mines (EU) dec. No. 20 Zeke Moisey (WVU), 8-4
133: No. 2 A.J. Schopp (EU) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 6-5
141: No. 2 Mitchell Port (EU) pinned No. 13/16 Michael Morales (WVU), 4:32
149: No. 1/3 Dave Habat (EU) major dec. Roman Perryman (WVU), 10-2
157: Brutus Scheffel (WVU) dec. Chase Delande (EU), 6-5
165: Ross Renzi (WVU) dec. Casey Fuller (EU), 5-2
174: No. 20 Patrick Jennings (EU) dec. Parker VonEgidy (WVU), 3-1 SV-1
184: No. 11/17 Vic Avery (EU) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 8-6
197: Jake A. Smith (WVU) dec. Vince Pickett (EU), 8-1
HWT: Warren Bosch (EU) dec. A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU), 5-3 SV-1

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