In Pat Pecora's mind, four teams distanced themselves from the pack at last weekend's W&J Open: Division I West Virginia along with three DII teams - Mercyhurst, West Liberty and Pecora's own Pitt-Johnstown squad.
The latter two will meet tonight at the Sports Center in the dual-meet opener for both teams. UPJ is offering a free live stream of the match as well as live scoring.
Pecora's eighth-ranked Mountain Cats have two All-Americans and two other returning national qualifiers back from last season. They also have a rarity in a true freshman starter in PIAA champion Travis McKillop of Burrell. You can check out my full season preview here.
McKillop (174 pounds) joined UPJ teammates Ryan Link (133) and Zach Lundgren (165) in winning titles at Washington & Jefferson. West Liberty got a 149-pound championship from Art Hobley.
"It’s going to be a tough one," Pecora said. "West Liberty is always a solid, solid team. They have a solid program. They’re in our region, so it’s a very, very important match. It has consequences in regional seedings and national rankings."
UPJ offers a complete breakdown of tonight's potential matches. I won't rehash it here, but instead look at how the matchups compare to the W&J results.
125-Forest Hills grad David Fogle should get a rematch at 125 pounds with West Liberty's Joe Wagstaff, whom he beat 8-0 in the first round. Looks like a good start for the Mountain Cats.
133-Link, a returning All-American, didn't wrestle tonight's projected opponent, Dillon Nolte at 133 last week. But Link did beat West Virginia's Jesse Schiffbauer 15-5 in the semifinals. Schiffbauer teched Nolte, 17-2, in the quarters. Should be bonus points for UPJ.
141-Jack Bachman was scheduled to wrestle West Liberty's Nick Wykoff for fifth place at W&J but forfeited. Bachman actually forfeited his final two matches - to Mercyhurst's Logan Kellogg and Wykoff. Both are on UPJ's schedule, so I don't know if that was the main factor in skipping the matches or if Bachman was simply dinged up. Unless there's a significant injury, it's hard to go against Bachman, a returning All-American.
149-This one could be interesting. Hobley's a redshirt freshman who gave up just 10 points total in winning five matches for the W&J title. UPJ's Nathan Link is a fifth-year senior and returning national qualifier. He won his first two matches at W&J before defaulting out. Again, no word from Pecora about a significant injury, but last week's results seem to favor West Liberty, even though Link is ranked seventh nationally.
157-UPJ's David Cawley won four matches at W&J before forfeiting to West Liberty's Matt Thomas. No word on whether Thomas or David Schlieper will be in the lineup tonight, but both placed at W&J. Interestingly, UPJ backup Joel Paolo was the highest finisher from either school, as he came in third.
165-Lundgren beat West Liberty's Jordan Nolan 9-3 for the W&J title, but Nolan isn't expected to go tonight according to the Mountain Cats' match notes. Instead, Lundgren could face another national qualifer in Jarrod Shaw, who did not wrestle at W&J. Shaw is ranked a spot ahead of Lundgren in the regional rankings, so this looks like a toss-up.
174-McKillop was impressive in his debut, with two pins and a major decision on his way to the title, but could face a bigger test tonight. West Liberty's Matt Littleton, who did not wrestle at W&J, is ranked third in the region. Could be the highlight of the night.
184-Like Cawley, Gary Lantz is bumping up two weight classes from where he was last year. In fact, Lantz is up 10 pounds from last week, when he placed third at the W&J Open. Tonight, he'll face Derrick Williams, a fourth-place finisher at 184 pounds last week. If they are that evenly matched, the 10-pound weight difference would seem to be too much for Lantz to overcome, but UPJ freshman Nikos Garofola beat Williams 5-1, so maybe Lantz should be the favorite.
197-West Liberty's Jacob Donley took second at W&J while UPJ's Zak Newton went 4-1. Newton lost to Mercyhurst's Brian Slattery - who was beaten by Donley - in the first round, but the Penn Cambria graduate and St. Francis transfer bounced back with a solid day. Pecora said he got better with each match, but after taking two of the previous three years off to concentrate on football, this match might bee too much for him.
285-West Liberty looks to have the advantage here. Seventh-ranked J.D. Ramsey took second at W&J while UPJ's Josh Krupa went 2-2 and was pinned by Hilltoppers' backup Mike Carpenter.
Overall, I'd expect a UPJ victory, but West Liberty should win a few matches.
"We’ll see where we’re at
right away," Pecora said. "Things are going to get going right off the bat."
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