MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s wrestling team earned three straight wins to close the match, but it was not enough as the squad fell to Buffalo 24-11 on Sunday, at the WVU Coliseum.
Redshirt Sophomore Noah Adams (197), senior Brandon Ngati (HWT), Jackson Moomau (184) and Joey Thomas (125) picked up wins in the contest. Sunday’s victory marked Ngati’s second straight, while Adams now a perfect 12-0 to begin the 2019-20 campaign.
WVU fell to 0-4 (0-1) on the year with the loss, while Buffalo moved to 2-4. The Mountaineers hold a 3-1 advantage in the series between the two schools despite the setback.
“There were some positives today, but overall we’re disappointed,” coach Tim Flynn said. “Buffalo is a team that we can compete with. We’re making mistakes, we’re getting caught in unfavorable positions. Right now, we clearly aren’t good enough to win so we need to get better before next week so we can try to get four wins.”
The Mountaineers jumped out to an early,3-0, lead after Thomas earned an 8-1 decision over Buffalo’s Jordan Reyes at 125. Thomas quickly gained the advantage after he earned two takedown points in the first period. The score remained 2-0 as Thomas remained in the top position through the duration of the period, racking up two minutes of riding time.
Thomas began the second period on top and registered a two-point nearfall to take a 4-0 advantage into the third. After choosing to start the period from the bottom position, Thomas quickly broke free from Reyes and earned his second takedown of the match. Reyes earned an escape point, but it was too late as Thomas secured the riding time and the victory.
The Mountaineers then dropped six straight bouts as the Bulls took a commanding 24-2 lead. Of note, one team point was deducted from WVU in the 165-pound match due to an unsportsmanlike like conduct penalty on the Mountaineer bench.
WVU closed the match strong, however, as the Mountaineers earned wins at 184, 197 and 285 to close the match.
At 184, Moomau used a late takedown to earn his first career dual match victory with a 5-3 decision over Pete Acciardi. After a scoreless first period, Moomau chose to start the second on the bottom. He then earned a quick reversal to take a two-point advantage before Acciardi escaped to cut the lead to one. Acciardi took his first lead of the match in the third period thanks to a penalty point and an escape.
Trailing by one point with time winding down in the match, the resilient Moomau earned a takedown and remained on top for the remainder of the match to add a riding point and secure a 5-3 win
Adams topped his second straight ranked opponent and his third of the season after earning a 10-3 decision over No. -/20/11 Sam Schuyler in what was considered to be the match of the day. The match was knotted at two heading into the third period following a first-period takedown by Schuyler and a pair of escapes from Adams.
Adams exploded for eight points in the final period thanks to a nearfall-2, a takedown and a nearfall-4 to give the Coal City, West Virginia, native a 10-3 win. The victory extended Adams’ winning streak to 12 matches to open the season.
Ngati continued his own winning streak with a hard-fought 2-0 decision over UB’s Nolan Terrance. With the match scoreless heading into the third, Ngati chose to start on the bottom. The decision paid off as he was able to escape from Terrance’s control to the contest’s lone point as Ngati was also given an additional point for riding time.
