Connect with us

WVU Wrestling

All-American Wrestler Killian Cardinale Named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week

Published

on

Following a seventh-place finish in the 125-pound pool of the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, West Virginia University redshirt junior Killian Cardinale has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week. The Bristow, Virginia native is the first Mountaineer wrestler to earn this honor in 2021.

After suffering a setback to eventual NCAA Champion Spencer Lee of Iowa in the championship second round, No. 17-seed Cardinale fought his way through the consolation bracket, posting a 3-0 record on the second day of competition to advance to the medal round. In doing so, Cardinale took down a pair of top-eight seeded wrestlers in the process,  upsetting No. 6-seed Jakob Camacho of NC State in the Round of 12, also known as ‘The Blood Round’ to earn All-America status for the first time in his career.

West Virginia’s Killian Cardinale finishes seventh at the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Photo courtesy of the NCAA/WVU Athletics.

On the final day of competition, Cardinale followed up his All-America performance with a 12-7 decision over No. 19-seed Eric Barnett of Wisconsin to place seventh in his respective bracket.

A transfer from Old Dominion, Cardinale became the first wrestler in the Tim Flynn era to garner All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships. He scored a team-high 6.5 points for the Mountaineers, helping WVU finish 31st overall with 11.5 team points. It’s worth mentioning that teammate Noah Adams was a 2020 NWCA All-American last season despite the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of note, he posted a team-best 17 wins in his first season as a Mountaineer. He also compiled a 5-1 record at his first-ever appearance at NCAAs.

Day One Recap can be found here.

Day Two and Three Recap can be found here.

Updated Brackets and Final Team Scores can be found here.

Get WVSN in your mailbox!

Enter your email address to subscribe to WVSN and receive notifications of new posts by email.

COMPLETE COVERAGE