WVU Wrestling Claims Battle of Mountaineers, Taking Down Appalachian State

In a battle of Mountaineers, the No. 19 WVU wrestling team won again, securing a convincing 37-8 victory over Appalachian State indie Varsity Gym on Friday night.

In the opening match at 133 pounds, senior Jett Strickenberger secured an 11-8 sudden victory after erasing a 7-1 deficit in the third period. Strickenberger picked up a pair of takedowns in the final two minutes to even the match up at 8-8 and then claimed the final takedown in overtime to seal the comeback. Redshirt junior Jordan Titus delivered the first bonus-point victory of the dual at 141 pounds with a 17-2 technical fall and extend West Virginia’s early lead to eight.

The OG Mountaineers.

Country Roads take us home! #HailWV pic.twitter.com/8Fpx6hNxKj

— WVU Wrestling (@WVUWrestling) November 23, 2024

Despite Appalachian State earning a technical fall of its own at 149 pounds, WVU answered with back-to-back pins by redshirt freshman Sasha Gavronsky (157) and fifth-year senior Peyton Hall (165) to take a 15-point advantage into the intermission.

The Mountaineers from Morgantown came out of the break by winning four of the final five bouts, including two major decisions from redshirt senior Dennis Robin (184) and fifth-year senior Michael Wolfgram (HWT) and a pin from redshirt junior Jace Schafer (125) to close out their time in Boone.

Of note, Gavronsky redshirt junior Blake Boyers and true freshman Rune Lawrence all made their dual debuts for the Gold and Blue.

WVU wrestling will now enjoy a holiday break before opening the month of December at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 6-7. The two-day event will be streamed on FloWrestling from the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For a related story, Peyton Hall won while representing WVU wrestling at NWCA All-Star Classic.