By evening their dual meet record at 4-4, Coach Jon Sioredas' Mustangs have won more matches than any Cal Poly team since the 2011-12 season.
West Virginia, ranked No. 22 in tournament polls but unranked in dual meet polls, fell to 0-6.
After a scoreless first period, Empey rode out the second period to build up riding time, then tallied an early escape in the third period for the dual meet-clinching victory.
Cal Poly's only points in the first four bouts was a fall by Colton Schilling at 141. Schilling scored a takedown and two-point near-fall early, then secured his seventh fall of the year a minute later with 1:11 to go in the opening period.
Schilling is now 11-6 on the year and five of his last six wins this season are by fall. The other was by technical fall.
Trailing 10-6, Cal Poly battled back with a major decision by Colt Shorts at 157 and decisions by Xavier Johnson and Mitch Woods to set the stage for the final two bouts, leading 16-15.
At 197, Jacob A. Smith, ranked No. 7, built a 5-0 lead and held on for an 8-3 decision over Mustang J.T. Goodwin, giving West Virginia, coached by former Mustang assistant Sammie Henson, an 18-16 advantage.
Empey improved to 12-10 on the year with his 2-0 decision over Brandon Ngati at heavyweight.
Ranked No. 19 at 157, Shorts scored four takedowns, a two-point near-fall and a reversal en route to an 11-3 major decision over Dayton Garrett. Shorts' final takedown with 15 seconds to go gave him enough points and riding time for the major, lifting his mark for the year to 16-8.
That extra team point proved to be the difference in the outcome of the dual meet.
Johnson earned a 3-1 decision over Ty Millward at 174. Millward was penalized twice for stalling and Johnson tallied an escape midway through the final period to clinch the win, evening his record for the year at 4-4.
Woods edged Parker VonEdgy 8-7 thanks to a 2-minute, 1-second advantage in riding time. Woods tallied two reversals, an escape and a two-point near fall and rode out the final period for the win and a 7-5 mark for the season.
Cal Poly returns to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. PST Pac-12 Conference dual meet at Arizona State.
Results:
125: Devin Brown (WV) maj. dec. David Gonzalez (CP) 12-4
133: Cory Stainbrook (WV) dec. Yoshito Funakoshi (CP) 7-4
141: Colton Schilling (CP) pinned Joe Wheeling (wV) 1:49
149: Christian Monserrat (WV) dec. Joshy Cortez (CP) 6-1
157: Colt Shorts (CP) maj. dec. Dayton Garrett (WV) 11-3
165: Dylan Cottrell (WV) tech. fall Luke Wilson (CP) 19-4 (6:33)
174: Xavier Johnson (CP) dec. Ty Millward (WV) 3-1
184: Mitch Woods (CP) dec. Parker VonEdgy (wV) 8-7
197: Jacob A. Smith (WV) dec. J.T. Goodwin (CP) 8-3
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