West Liberty University Men's Wrestling

  Now through six seasons as head wrestling coach at West Liberty University, Danny Irwin has his Hilltopper mat program firmly established as a perennial national championship contender. The 2024-25 season was another outstanding campaign for the Hilltoppers with three national qualifiers, two All-Americans and another national champion as Ty McGeary won his third straight at 184 and Khyvon Grace was the national runner-up at 141 with the team finishing 10th at the NCAA National Championship.  The 2023-24 season saw the Hilltoppers qualify six wrestlers for the national tournament with two earning All-American honors and Ty McGeary winning his second national championship at 184 as the team finished 12th overall. In 2022-23 the Hilltoppers went an impressive 21-4 in dual meets while winning their third straight Mountain East Conference Championship. For the second straight season they had eight national qualifiers with four All-Americans. Ty McGeary won his first national championship at 184 and the Toppers finished sixth at the national tournament.    Irwin enjoyed a spectacular third season on the hilltop, leading WLU to its second straight Mountain East Conference and NCAA Division II Super Region 3 championships and guiding the Black and Gold to a third-place finish at the NCAA D2 Nationals in St. Louis. That marked the highest national finish of the NCAA Division II era for the West Liberty wrestling program and the best in nearly three decades, dating back to a runner-up finish in the 1995 NAIA Nationals. Eight of Irwin's wrestlers qualified for Nationals and five of them came home as NCAA Division II All-Americans. Cole Laya rolled to his second straight 125-pound national title and was a finalist for NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year. Connor Craig was runner-up at 184 pounds for the second consecutive year, sophomore Ty McGeary placed third at 174, Ty Warner was fourth in the nation at 141 and senior Logan Kemp placed eighth at 197. That followed hot on the heels of a dazzling 2021 campaign that saw Irwin’s Hilltoppers sweep the conference and regional titles and return home from Nationals with a fourth-place trophy to go along with four All-Americans and two national champions – Laya (125) and Warner (133). Irwin was not only voted MEC Wrestling Coach of the Year, he was honored as the Mountain East Conference All-Sports Coach of the Year, the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 Wrestling Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the 2021 NCAA Division II Wrestling Coach of the Year. Irwin’s wrestlers have been just as successful in the classroom. Over his six seasons on the hilltop 55 of his wrestlers have earned Academic Scholar All-American honors. Irwin came to West Liberty after leading neighboring Wheeling University to a runner-up finish in the 2018-19 NCAA Division II Nationals at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. In just his second year as a collegiate head coach, Irwin’s Cardinals battled defending national champion St. Cloud State (Minn.) to the wire before falling just short of an NCAA Division II national title. All six of Irwin’s national qualifiers earned NCAA Division II All-America status in Cleveland with two of them bringing home national championship hardware. Irwin put an exclamation point on his team’s thrilling run when he was presented with the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year trophy. Irwin began his coaching career at the high school level, taking over a Bluffton (Ind.) High School squad that had won just 20 percent of its matches the previous year. In just two short seasons (2006-08), Irwin led Bluffton to a conference championship and regional tournament berth before moving into the college ranks as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. The Little Giants posted four NCAA Division III Top 10 finishes and a trio of Top 5 finishes during Irwin’s nine years on the staff. He won three Regional Assistant Coach of the Year Awards and was a national finalist for the Best of Brands Social Media Award across all NCAA divisions before heading off to Wheeling. Irwin was a regional champion and 2-time NCAA Division III national qualifier during his collegiate career at Manchester (Ind.) University. He graduated from Manchester with a bachelor’s degree in History. Irwin and his wife, Andrea, live in St. Clairsville, Ohio with their daughter, Addison and son, J.P. DANNY IRWIN AT A GLANCE Head Coach West Liberty University 2024-25: Dual Record: 8-4 - 9 Scholar All-Americans / 3 National Qualifiers / 2 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DII National Championships: 10th 2023-24: Dual Record: 14-6 - 10 Scholar All-Americans / 6 National Qualifiers / 2 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DII National Championships: 12th 2022-23: Dual Record: 21-4 - 16 Scholar All-Americans / 8 National Qualifiers / 4 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DII National Championships: 6th 2021-22: Dual Record: 10-3   - 8 Scholar All-Americans / 8 National Qualifiers / 5 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DII National Championships: 3rd 2020-21: Dual Record: 5-0   - 9 Scholar All-Americans / 6 National Qualifiers / 4 All-Americans / 2 National Champions / NCAA DII National Championships: 4th 2019-20 Dual Record: 9-8 - 3 Scholar All-Americans / 2 National Qualifiers / 1 All-American / NCAA DII National Championships: Canceled   Wheeling University 2018-19: Dual Record: 14-3   - 7 Scholar All-Americans / 6 National Qualifiers / 6 All-Americans / 2 National Champions / NCAA DII National Championships: 2nd 2017-18: Dual Record: 6-6   - 4 Scholar All-Americans / 5 National Qualifiers / 2 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DII National Championships: 13th Head Assistant Coach Wabash (Ind.) College 2016-17: Dual Record: 7-2   - 2 Scholar All-Americans / 7 National Qualifiers / 4 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DIII National Championships: 3rd 2015-16: Dual Record: 13-1   - 5 Scholar All-Americans / 6 National Qualifiers / 3 All-Americans / 2 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 4th 2014-15: Dual Record: 12-2   - 6 Scholar All-Americans / 5 National Qualifiers / 4 All-Americans / 2 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 3rd 2013-14: Dual Record: 13-3   - 5 Scholar All-Americans / 6 National Qualifiers / 2 All-Americans / 1 National Champion / NCAA DIII National Championships: 9th 2012-13: Dual Record: 9-5   2 Scholar All-Americans / 2 National Qualifiers / 1 All-American / 0 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 39th 2011-12: Dual Record: 12-3   - 3 Scholar All-Americans / 1 National Qualifier / 1 All-American / 0 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 38th 2010-11: Dual Record: 11-4   3 Scholar All-Americans / 1 National Qualifier / 1 All-American / 0 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 35th 2009-10: Dual Record: 11-4   0 Scholar All-Americans / 2 National Qualifiers / 0 All-Americans / 0 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: 44th 2008-09: Dual Record: 6-4   0 Scholar All-Americans / 0 National Qualifiers / 0 All-Americans / 0 National Champions / NCAA DIII National Championships: N/A    

Smith looks to expand on his goal of returning the Hilltopper wrestling program to national prominence as he embarks on his second season at the helm of his alma mater.     Smith laid a solid foundation in 2015, producing one national qualifier junior 125-pounder Zach Brown and reeling in a deep and talented recruiting class for the 2016 campaign.     His wrestlers carried their competitive drive into the classroom, as well, ranking among the Top 25 academic programs in the nation with a cumulative team GPA of better than 3.00. Three of his wrestlers were named to the National Wrestling Coaches Associations NCAA Division II All-Academic Team.     Smith returned to West Liberty in April 2015 after three seasons as the founding coach for the NCAA Division II wrestling program at Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.) University.     Among the highlights of Smith's tenure at A-B were a team championship in the 2015 Southern Virginia Invitational, a fourth-place finish in the 2015 West Virginia Intercollegiate Championships and a Top 20 ranking in the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association's All-Academic Team rankings. Four A-B wrestlers earned national All-Academic Team honors last month.      Smith was a West Virginia high school mat legend at Ripley High School, winning three state championships and putting together a dazzling 195-3 record for the Vikings. He also won a pair of USA Wrestling national freestyle titles before heading off to NCAA Division I Hofstra (N.Y.) University to begin his collegiate wrestling career.     After two seasons at Hofstra, Smith transferred to West Liberty for his final two years and earned NCAA Division II All-America honors in 2009 and 2010.     He was ranked No. 1 in the nation at his weight at some point in each of his two years with the Hilltoppers and finished his West Liberty career with an impressive 58-9 record.     Smith remained on the WLU campus for two seasons as an assistant wrestling coach before accepting the head coaching position at Alderson-Broaddus in May 2012.  

Leggett begins his third season as an assistant coach with Coach Mitch Smiths West Liberty University mat squad.     Leggett was a fixture on the WLU mat roster from 2007-11 and served as a team captain each of his last two seasons. He had a career-high 22 wins as a redshirt freshman and went on to a solid career that saw him etch his name in the Hilltopper record book.     By the time Leggett hung up his singlet for good, he ranked No. 1 all-time at West Liberty in career reversals (87) and escapes (173).     Leggett wrestled for three years at Waynesburg (Pa.) Central High School before transferring to Parkersburg, W.Va. for his senior season. He went 25-9 with the Big Reds and was the runner-up at 130 pounds in the West Virginia Class AAA state tournament.     A 2012 West Liberty graduate with a degree in Social Studies Education, Leggett returned to his alma mater after spending one season as a graduate assistant at nearby Waynesburg (Pa.) University.  

    A fixture on the WLU campus and in the Hilltopper wrestling room for more than a decade, Mike Carpenter is back for his seventh year as an assistant coach with the West Liberty wrestling program.     The Lester, W.Va. native was a four-year letterman at heavyweight for the Black and Gold from 2010-13. He finished his career with a sparkling 56-24 record, saving his best for last when he went 31-5 and was a regional title as a senior for a nationally-ranked Hilltopper squad.     Carpenter rose as high as No. 6 in the nation at 285 pounds during the latter portion of the 2013 season and won the 285-pound title at the Super Region One championships. That punched his ticket to the NCAA Division II nationals where he battled back from an upset loss in the opening round only to come up just one point shy of earning All-America honors in his final match.     A 2013 graduate of West Liberty University with a degree in Exercise Physiology, Carpenter resides in Wheeling with his wife, Riley.       COACH IRWIN SAYS: “Coach Carpenter has lived and breathed Hilltopper wrestling. That was evident from day one that I met him and I feel fortunate we were able to retain him on our coaching staff. He has already built strong relationships throughout the program and his care for the team is in the forefront of all his actions.”