West Virginia Wrestling

WVU Shuts Out Grand Canyon

PHOENIX, Ariz. (January 3, 2015) – Five bonus-point victories, including a pair of pins, led the West Virginia University wrestling team to a 42-0 victory over Grand Canyon at the GCU Arena on Saturday evening.

Cory Stainbrook and Michael Morales each recorded first-period pins, while Zeke Moisey earned a tech. fall in the closing seconds of the third period in his bout. Parker VonEgidy won a major decision in just his second match for the Mountaineers.

The victory was the second straight for coach Sammie Henson and the Mountaineers, who defeated Lock Haven, 23-12, on December 19.

“It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was still a good victory for team,” said Henson. “We need to wrestle a more complete match up and down on Sunday to beat Arizona State. Our guys will be ready to battle.”

Moisey won a 21-4 tech. fall over Grand Canyon’s Jacob Reyes in 6:51 at 125 to start things off for the Mountaineers. Moisey used seven takedowns and a total of five nearfall points in earning his second tech. fall of the season.

Stainbrook sent A.J. Salazar to the mat early on in the 133-pound bout, pinning him in 2:22 to make it 11-0 in favor of WVU. At 141, Morales pinned Uzo Owuama in 1:04, registering his third pin of the season and giving the Mountaineers a 17-0 lead.

James Dekrone won a 7-2 decision over Austin Solari at 149 to make it a 20-point advantage. Dekrone took a 2-1 lead with a takedown in the first, then scored two on a reversal in the second to lead 4-1. Solari scored an escape to start the third, but Dekrone countered with another takedown and tacked on the riding time point as well.

At 157 pounds, Tim Wheeling won a 4-1 decision over Chayse Jackson to push the score to 23-0. Ross Renzi followed with a 6-1 decision over Casey Larsen at 165 pounds to make it a 23-0 Mountaineer advantage.

VonEgidy won an 18-5 major decision over Austin Trujillo at 174 pounds. VonEgidy scored four takedowns in the first period to lead 8-3 before adding two more and a stalling point in the second to lead 13-5. He recorded his seventh takedown of the bout in the third period and added a pair of stalling points in addition to riding time in taking the major decision.

Bubba Scheffel won by forfeit at 184 pounds to make it 36-0 in favor of West Virginia. Jake A. Smith won a 5-3 decision over Marcus Haughian at 197 as the Mountaineers led 39-0 entering the heavyweight bout. A.J. Vizcarrondo won a 10-3 decision at 285 over Grand Canyon’s Evan Lancelot. Vizcarrondo recorded a trio of takedowns in the first period to take a 6-2 lead, adding an escape in the second. He closed out the bout with a takedown in the third before adding a point for riding time as well.

“We did have some bright spots with our men making improvements in areas that we have concentrated on all season long,” said Henson. “A.J. wrestled his best match of the season tonight.”

West Virginia will head to Tempe, Arizona, on Sunday for a 9 p.m. ET re-match with Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena that is set to be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. The Sun Devils previously took a 19-13 win over the Mountaineers on November 13 at WVU Coliseum.

West Virginia 42, Grand Canyon 0
125: Zeke Moisey (WVU) tech. fall Jacob Reyes (GCU), 21-4 (6:51)
133: Cory Stainbrook (WVU) pinned AJ Salazar (GCU), 2:22
141: Michael Morales (WVU) pinned Uzo Owuama (GCU) 1:04
149: James Dekrone (WVU) dec. Austin Solari (GCU), 7-2
157: Timothy Wheeling (WVU) dec. Chayse Jackson (GCU), 4-1
165: Ross Renzi (WVU) dec. Casey Larsen (GCU), 6-1
174: Parker VonEgidy (WVU) major dec. Austin Trujillo (GCU), 18-5
184: Bubba Scheffel (WVU) won by forfeit.
197: Jake A. Smith (WVU) dec. Marcus Haughian (GCU), 5-2
285: A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU) dec. Evan Lancelot (GCU),10-3

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