MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The No. 2-ranked West Virginia rifle team opened its 2018-’19 home season with a 4711-4639 win over Memphis this afternoon at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building.
The Mountaineers (2-0, 2-0 GARC) swept the Tigers (1-1, 0-1 GARC) in the discipline competitions, winning smallbore, 2331-2304, and air rifle, 2380-2335.
All three of WVU’s scores are season highs.
“I think it was a good match for us to have and to get back into the swing of things,” Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. “We had some good performances today. There were a lot of good lessons for the team members, which made this a productive outing. It’s always nice to get back home. The Bill McKenzie Rifle Range is still relatively new for us as a team, and it was good to compete again in this setting. It really feels like our season is underway now.”
Senior Ginny Thrasher won the individual competitions, shooting a season-best 599 air rifle (100-100-100-100-99-100), just one shot short of a perfect score, and 589 (197 kneeling, 199 prone, 193 standing) smallbore.
Golf
HOCKLEY, Texas — The West Virginia men’s golf team bounced back from an early loss to No. 5 seed TCU to top Iowa State in the championship round of the Big 12 Match Play Tournament at the Club at Houston Oaks in Hockley, Texas on Sunday.
Junior Philipp Matlari picked up a pair of wins on the day, but it was sophomore Logan Perkins who sealed the win for the Mountaineers against the Cyclones.
West Virginia suffered a setback to No. 5 seed TCU 4-1-1, in the final round of pool play on Sunday morning. Matlari won his match against Turner Maclean (1UP), while Perkins finished his match tied with David Ravetto.
The Mountaineers went on to pick up their first win with a 4-2-0 triumph of the No. 7-seed Cyclones. Sophomore Mark Goetz claimed a win over Jackson Kalz (2&1), while Matlari grabbed his second triumph of the day with a win over Tripp Kinney (3&2). Matthew Sharpstene defeated Sam Vincent (5&4) before Perkins topped Ricky Costello (1UP) to seal the deal for WVU.
