CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – In its final road and Big 12 dual of the regular season, the No. 17 West Virginia University wrestling team (9-5, 2-5 Big 12) fell to No. 18 Northern Iowa (5-5, 4-1 Big 12) by a score of 26-12 inside the McLeod Center on Sunday afternoon.
Junior
Jett Strickenberger gave West Virginia an early 3-0 lead after scoring a 9-6 decision over No. 28 Trever Anderson in the opening bout at 125 pounds.
Following a pair of bonus-point victories by UNI in the next two matches at 133 and 141, true freshman
Ty Watters blanked Cael Rahnavardi for a 8-0 major decision at 149 pounds to pull the Mountaineers to within two (9-7). Senior
Peyton Hall added a 21-5 tech. fall at 165 pounds to tie the dual up at 12-12, before the Panthers closed out the day on a 14-0 run to seal the win.
Of note, this marked junior
Tristan Kemp's first dual action of his college career for West Virginia at heavyweight.
WVU wrestling takes a week off, before joining WVU gymnastics inside the WVU Coliseum for the return of the "Beauty and the Beast" meet on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. ET. Tickets for the regular-season finale against Glenville State are $8 each, as one ticket will admit fans to both events.
Fans can purchase tickets in advance online at WVUGAME.com or by calling 1-800 WVU GAME. Any remaining tickets will be available at the Mountaineer Ticket Office on meet day, which opens one hour prior to the start of the event.
Match Results vs. No. 18 Northern Iowa
125:.
Jett Strickenberger (WVU) dec. No. 28 Trever Anderson (UNI), 9-6
133: No. 22 Julian Farber (UNI) tech. fall
Mason Mills (WVU), 22-5 [T – 5:24]
141: No. 6 Cael Happel (UNI) major dec. No. 11
Jordan Titus (WVU), 11-3
149: No. 9
Ty Watters (WVU) major dec. Cael Rahnavardi (UNI), 8-0
157: No.12 Ryder Downey (UNI) dec.
Alex Hornfeck (WVU), 5-3
165: No. 9
Peyton Hall (WVU) tech. fall RJ Weston (UNI), 20-5 [T – 6:20]
174: No. 30 Jared Simma (UNI) dec. No. 21
Brody Conley (WVU), 5-4
184: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) tech. fall No. 28
Dennis Robin (WVU), 18-3 [T – 7:00]
197: No. 20 Wyatt Voelker (UNI) dec.
Austin Cooley (WVU), 8-1
HWT: No. 15 Tyrell Gordon (UNI) dec.
Tristan Kemp (WVU), 6-1 (SV1)
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit
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