MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three members of the West Virginia wrestling team rank inside the top 25 of their respective weight classes, as announced by several publications Wednesday.
Redshirt junior Noah Adams opens the season ranked No. 1 at 197 pounds by Intermat, FloWrestling and The Open Mat. The Coal City, W.Va., native was crowned a Big 12 champion a year ago, completing the campaign with a 32-0 overall record, as well as a 13-0 mark against conference opponents.
In an impressive sophomore campaign, Adams was the first wrestler in program history to be named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and the second to be picked as a finalist for the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy.
Adams, the No. 2-seed in the 197-pound bracket at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, also earned All-America First Team honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association for the first time in his career and received the Hardman Award, an honor given to West Virginia’s amateur athlete of the year, as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
At 125 pounds, redshirt junior Killian Cardinale is ranked by a trio of media outlets. The Bristow, Va., native appears at No. 12, according to Intermat and FloWrestling, and is ranked No. 13 by The Open Mat.
Cardinale comes to Morgantown after spending the previous two seasons at Old Dominion. A qualifier for the NCAA tournament, Cardinale finished last year with 25 wins, defeating six ranked opponents in the process. He also earned NWCA Division I All-America Honorable Mention last season.
Junior Caleb Rea comes in at No. 20 in FloWrestling’s latest top-25 poll. The Weirton native also ranks No. 23 in The Open Mat poll at his weight class of 141 pounds. Rea posted 17 wins last season, including six victories against conference foes. He also tied for the team lead in wins by fall with five.
The Mountaineers’ 2021 season commences with three straight competitions at the WVU Coliseum, starting with a quad meet against Kent State, Ohio University and Virginia Tech on Jan. 10. Action is set to begin at 12 p.m.
