WVU Trio Set to Compete at U.S. Open Wrestling Championships

WVU wrestling will be sending three members of its program to compete at the 2023 U.S. Open Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, beginning Thursday.

Mountaineers freshman Brody Conley and sophomore Michael Dolan, as well as West Virginia volunteer assistant coach Muhamed McBryde, will represent the West Virginia Regional Training Center at the annual tournament.

Brody Conley, Muhamed McBryde, and Michael Dolan are set to compete this weekend in Las Vegas at the US Open. #HailWV https://t.co/7l0lua0X28

— WVU Wrestling (@WVUWrestling) April 26, 2023

“We are all excited that they are going to go out and compete for an opportunity to make a World Team,” West Virginia head coach Tim Flynn said in a release. “It’s good for them, good for our program, and we wish them the best.”

Conley (79 kilograms-174 pounds) and Dolan (65 kilograms-143 pounds) will compete in the U20 division. The top eight wrestlers from each weight class will qualify for the World Team Trials tournament from June 2-4 in Geneva, Ohio.

The winner of the event will earn an automatic berth to the best-of-three wrestle-off series against the WTT Challenge tournament champion.

Conley, who just completed his first season with the Mountaineers, was regarded as one of the top recruits brought in during the five years Flynn has served as head coach. 

While retaining a redshirt status, Conley recorded a 15-4 overall record, including a 3-2 mark in dual meets. He earned three straight dual meet wins against Glenville State, Edinboro and Northern Colorado.

Dolan compiled a 19-12 record during the 2022-23 season, while winning in his only dual meet appearance against Glenville State to open the year.

On the senior level, McBryde will attempt to earn a spot in the top seven of the 79 kilograms-174 pounds weight class to advance to the World Team Trials challenge in May. The winner qualifies for Final X and a best-of-three wrestle-off against either a returning world medalist or the champion of the World Team Trials, depending on the weight class.

McBryde, a native of Buffalo, New York, has served as an assistant under Flynn for two seasons and continues to compete domestically and internationally as a wrestler.

He won the United States U23 World Team Trials en route to claiming a fifth place finish at the U23 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017.

McBryde wrestled collegiately at the University of Buffalo, where he was a two-year starter and an eventual assistant coach. He also was a member of the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where was the main training partner for two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist J’den Cox.

The U.S. Open can be streamed on FloWrestling.