Connect with us

WVU Wrestling

Oklahoma Snaps No. 23 West Virginia’s Streak with 18-15 Victory

Published

on

WVU wrestler Peyton Hall

Oklahoma continued its recent success over West Virginia on Friday night in Norman.

The Sooners used a string of lightweight victories to help defeat the No. 23 ranked Mountaineers 18-15 inside the McCasland Field House, giving Oklahoma its fourth consecutive dual meet victory over West Virginia.

The loss also snaps a four-match win streak for West Virginia (7-2), which was tied for the team’s longest run under head coach Tim Flynn. Oklahoma (6-3) has now won four straight.

West Virginia drops to 2-2 on the road this season and 1-2 in Big 12 competition. The Mountaineers are now a combined 6-22 away from the WVU coliseum under Flynn, not including neutral site meets.

With the match starting with the heavyweights, West Virginia’s Michael Wolfgram put the Mountaineers ahead early with a 3-1 decision over No. 18 ranked Josh Heindselman.

Wolfgram, who sits at No. 20, avenged a 5-4 loss to Heindselman at the 2022 Big 12 Championship Tournament.

No. 7 ranked Killian Cardinale followed by extending his undefeated streak to seven with a 3-2 decision over No. 22 Joey Prata at 125 pounds, giving the Mountaineers a 6-0 lead.

Oklahoma responded with four consecutive victories to gain the advantage it would never lose.

The Sooners’ Wyatt Henson defeated Davin Rhoads 9-2 at 133 pounds to put Oklahoma on the board. At 141, Mosha Schwartz defeated West Virginia’s Jordan Titus 4-1 to tie the match at 6-6.

No. 23 Mitch Moore received a medical default at 149 pounds, before Jared Hill defeated Alex Hornfeck in sudden victory to give Oklahoma a 15-6 lead.

West Virginia attempted to claw back into the match, as No. 8 Peyton Hall took down No. 17 Gerrit Nijenhuis with an 8-2 decision at 165 pounds. Mountaineers senior Scott Joll then defeated No. 21 Darrien Roberts 8-5 at 174 to close Oklahoma‘s lead to 15-12.

Keegan Moore sealed the win for  Oklahoma by defeating Anthony Carman 3-1 at 184 pounds. West Virginia’s Austin Cooley, in his first dual meet action since December, defeated Carson Berryhill 8-1 at 197 to set the final.

West Virginia will close its string of four matches on the road with a Sunday matinee contest at No. 12 Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon.

The Mountaineers have dropped six straight matchups with the Cowboys, with the last being a 30-6 victory in 2014. Sunday will be the first meeting between the Big 12 conference foes since 2019.

The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET and can be viewed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Get WVSN in your mailbox!

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

COMPLETE COVERAGE