West Virginia University Athletics

Cliff Moore, a NCAA champion at 141 pounds for Iowa, is in his sixth season at West Virginia University after being named assistant head coach on April 17, 2018.
 
His responsibilities include managing the day-to-day operations of the West Virginia wrestling program, assisting with the organization of the team’s travel, and coordinating community outreach work and fundraising opportunities.
 
With his assistance, West Virginia has seen 19 Mountaineers qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and three earn All-America status. WVU has enjoyed great success off the mat as well, earning 64 Academic All-Big 12 and 10 NWCA Scholar All-America honors.
 
West Virginia’s 2023 campaign was one for the history books, seeing the Mountaineers eclipse the double-digit win mark for the 17th time in program history and the first time since 2014. The team made its first appearance in the NWCA Top 25 since January 2016, ranking as high as No. 23 after capturing a pair of wins over Ohio and No. 21 Pitt.
 
WVU experienced great individual success as well. The squad saw eight wrestlers break into the national rankings for the first time since 2003, while six went on to compete on the national stage for the first time since 2012. It marked the fourth consecutive year in which four or more grapplers qualified for the NCAA Championships during Moore’s tenure with the program. 
 
Fifth-year senior Killian Cardinale capped off the season by capturing his second All-America honor with an eighth-place finish at nationals. Cardinale became the eighth WVU wrestler to receive multiple All-American honors in their careers, while the Mountaineers have had one All-American wrestler in four consecutive seasons.
 
In 2022, West Virginia claimed four NCAA qualifiers for the second straight season, in addition to its third Big 12 Champion and third All-American in as many years. The team also eclipsed its record for most wrestlers on the Academic All-Big 12 team with nine, including a record-breaking seven on the first team.
 
The Mountaineers scored 62 points to place seventh in the final Big 12 Championship standings, while landing seven wrestlers on the podium to match a program-best set by the 2015-16 squad.

Redshirt senior Killian Cardinale (125) and sophomore Peyton Hall (165) led off the postseason run by becoming the first Mountaineer duo to reach the Big 12 finals of their respective weight classes since the combination of Zeke Moisey (125) and Jake Smith (197) made the finals in 2018. Top-seeded Cardinale recoded an 8-3 decision over 2021 Big 12 Champion and third-seeded Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) to join former WVU standouts Dylan Cottrell (2017) and Noah Adams (2020) as the only other Mountaineers to reach the top of the Big 12 since West Virginia moved to the conference in 2012, and becomes the second to do it during Moore’s
time in Morgantown.
 
Success continued as Cardinale, and Hall reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit. Both finished in the top 12, while Hall secured his spot on the podium as an All-American after scoring an 11-3 major decision over No.19-seed Justin McCoy of Virginia. The Chester, West Virginia, native joined Jimmie Cox, Mike Mason, Sam Kline, Brandon Rader, and Noah Adams as the sixth WVU wrestler from the state of West Virginia to be named an All-American. In addition, Hall is the first WVU grappler to take home the honor at 165 pounds; Mark Banks reached the feat twice at 167 pounds back in 1990 and 1991.
 
In 2021, Moore helped guide the Mountaineers to a 7-3 record for their first winning season since 2014 and a 31st place finish at the NCAA Championships to close out the abbreviated campaign. He went on to witness Cardinale earn All-America status at 125 pounds. Cardinale is the second All-American in coach Moore’s four years with the Mountaineers and the first since Mountaineer standout Noah Adams earned the honor at 197 pounds in 2020. The Bristow, Virginia, native was also the first to earn the honor at 125 pounds since Zeke Moisey in 2018.

Moore also serves as an integral part of the recruiting process and assisted in bringing in the No. 12-ranked recruiting class via FloWrestling for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
 
WVU placed 10th at the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Noah Adams’ performances highlighted the 2019-20 season, as he won the 197-pound title at the conference tournament to cap an undefeated season at 32-0. Adams, a two-time NCAA Qualifier, was the nation’s second-seeded wrestler heading into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The 197-pound grappler finished his redshirt sophomore campaign with several postseason accolades, most notably earning National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-America First Team honors, as well as becoming the program’s first Big 12 Wrestler of the Year award winner.
 
In Moore’s first season in Morgantown, he helped five Mountaineers qualify for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, marking the first time since 2014 that five grapplers earned themselves a spot at nationals.
 
As a team, West Virginia earned four dual-match wins and placed ninth at the 2019 Big 12 Championship.
 
Moore previously spent 12 seasons at Edinboro, helping coach Tim Flynn build the Fighting Scots into a wrestling powerhouse. His specialty is with the lighter weight classes, as he helped produce two NCAA champions, seven NCAA finalists and 21 All-Americans for the Fighting Scots. In addition, Edinboro has won seven Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships and 10 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) titles with Moore on staff.
 
Prior to Edinboro, Moore spent two years with the Iowa wrestling program. After serving as the strength and conditioning coach during the 2004-05 season, he became an administrative assistant in his second year at his alma mater.
 
As a Hawkeye, Moore earned All-America status three times in addition to claiming two Big Ten titles. After competing at 133 pounds for three consecutive seasons, Moore moved up to 141 his senior year. He posted a 33-2 record after defeating Matt Murray of Nebraska in a 5-2 decision at the 2004 NCAA Tournament, ending his final season with 20 straight wins and a national title. The Dubuque, Iowa, native notched a 109-24 career record and was named the 2004 Mike Howard Award winner, an honor given to Iowa’s most valuable wrestler.

After redshirting his freshman year, Moore notched a 17-3 record at 133 pounds. He then took over as the starter during the 2001-02 season, eventually earning All-America honors with a sixth-place finish at nationals. Moore ended the year with a 28-10 record, also placing fifth at the 2002 Big Ten Championships.
 
He gained another sixth-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Championships, earning back-to-back All-America honors at 133 pounds. Moore ended his junior season with a 31-9 record, capturing his first Big Ten title with a 3-1 win over Minnesota’s Ryan Lewis in sudden victory. He was named the 2003 John and Dorothy Sill Award winner, an honor given to Iowa’s most dedicated wrestler.
 
Additionally, Moore has been inducted into a trio of Hall of Fames: the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame and Hempstead High School Hall of Fame.
 
Moore, a member of the 2006 USA Freestyle National Team, graduated from Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2004. He later received his master’s in educational leadership from Edinboro in 2011. Moore has two sons, Carver and Maddox.