WVU Wrestling
WVU Wrestlers Peyton Hall, Jett Strickenberger Advance to Day 2 of NCAA Championships
WVU wrestlers Jett Strickenberger and Peyton Hall advanced to Day 2 of the NCAA Championships inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Strickenberger and Hall each won both of their first day matchups to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round of their respective brackets. Hall is in pursuit of his third All-American honor, while Strickenberger is looking for his first trip to the podium.
The top eight placewinners in each weight class are named All-American. With a victory in the quarterfinals, Hall and Strickenberger will secure the honor.
Hall, the Big 12 champion at 165 pounds, was dominant in both matches. The fifth-year senior defeated both Cody Goebel of Wisconsin and Northwestern’s Maxx Mayfield by technical fall.
Seeded No. 2 at 165 pounds, Hall improved to 32-1 overall on the season. He will face Stanford’s Hunter Garvin, the No. 7 seed, in the quarterfinals.
Strickenberger, who claimed the 125-pound Big 12 title, defeated North Dakota State’s Tristan Daugherty 7-2 before taking down Nicolar Rivera of Wisconsin with an 18-6 major decision victory.
The No. 6 seed Strickenberger now boasts a 19-6 record and will take on No. 3 Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals.
At 197, Ian Bush rebounded from an 8-1 opening round loss to Cal State Bakersfield’s AJ Ferrari by defeating Carson Floyd of Appalachian State by a 5-4 decision. This set Bush up with another bout against South Dakota State’s Zach Glazier, who defeated Bush twice in the Big 12 Tournament.
Despite a strong showing, Bush was ousted from the tournament with a 4-3 defeat.
Jordan Titus and Dennis Robin were each eliminated after dropping the first two matches in their respective brackets.
Entering as the No. 31 seed at 141 pounds, Titus opened with a 4-2 loss to No. 2 Beau Bartlett of Penn State. He then fell to Rutgers’ Joseph Olivieri 4-1 in overtime.
Robin, the 28th seed at 184, was dropped by fifth-seeded Bennett Berge of South Dakota State 8-2 in the first round. Robin’s tournament ended with a 13-0 major decision loss to George Mason’s Malachi DuVall.
Day 2 action for WVU wrestling kicks off at 12 pm Friday on ESPNU and can be found at WV Sports Now.
