WVU Freshman Peyton Hall Rising in Rankings After Strong Start

Following a 1-1 performance in its most recent a meet with Bucknell and then-ranked No. 19 Oklahoma, West Virginia University has three wrestlers ranked within the FloWrestling, InterMat, Trackwrestling, and The Open Mat rankings released earlier this week. The Mountaineers are now 2-2 (0-1 Big 12) on the year.

Peyton Hall used his first collegiate meet to put the wrestling world on notice. The freshman and former Oak Glen High star earned a 3-0 record on the day, including two major decisions — one of which was a 9-0 decision over a then Flo-No. 22-ranked Colt Yinger. In three matches, Hall outscored opponents by a combined 31-7 margin. His performance in his college debut has him ranked 24th by Flo and Trackwrestling, while The Open Mat has him at No. 30. InterMat doesn’t have him ranked yet, but referenced him in one of its latest articles about freshman wrestlers who are already making an early impact on their respective squads.

In his second showing in a WVU singlet, Hall dropped a tightly-contested match, a 5-2 decision, to a top-10 opponent in Bucknell junior Zach Hartman. After, Hall bounced back with a 2-1 win over Oklahoma’s Jake Stiles, who was also ranked. Thus, the freshman moved him up one spot, to No. 23, in the latest Flo rankings. The Chester, West Virginia native also jumped from No. 30 to No. 25, according to The Open Mat.

WVU redshirt sophomore, Alex Hornfeck (2-1), did not compete this past weekend. However, the Mars, Pennsylvania native’s efforts in the season-opener on Jan. 10, which included two strong wins over Kent State and Ohio University wrestlers, helped him earn a No. 30 ranking via Trackwrestling this week.

The nation’s top 197-pounder, Noah Adams, preserved his status as the consensus No. 1 at the weight in all four rankings for the third week in a row. Adams looked dominant in his 17-1-0 technical fall Sunday against Bucknell. Then, Adams came out on top in a close one, a 3-2 match, against No. 13 Jake Woodley of Oklahoma. Flo also kept the Coal City West Virginia native at No. 18 in it “pound-for-pound” rankings, which rates wrestlers from top to bottom regardless of their weight. With the wins, Adams extended his win streak to 37 – which dates back to Nov. 3, 2019.

As a team, WVU did not appear in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll from Jan. 19, but Flo puts the Big 12 school at No. 21 in the country for the second straight week. Similarly, WVU is considered the 23rd-best tournament team in the country by InterMat. Also, Illinois and West Virginia are in a tie for No. 20 team, according to Trackwrestling.

Looking ahead, West Virginia will take a week off before competing against Big 12 affiliate member Northern Colorado on Sunday, Jan. 31, at noon inside WVU Coliseum. The match can be seen on Big 12 on ESPN+.