MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In its third season under coach Tim Flynn, the West Virginia University wrestling team opens the 2021 season at the Mountaineer Quad today inside the WVU Coliseum, in Morgantown.
After coming off a season last year that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountaineers will play host to Kent State, Ohio and No. 8 Virginia Tech.
Action gets underway at 12 p.m, as WVU takes on Kent State on Mat 1, followed by Ohio. The Mountaineers will then wrap up their season-opening weekend with the No. 8-ranked Hokies. A 12-minute intermission is scheduled to take place following each match.
Sunday’s quad will be carried live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, the conference’s digital platform.
Of note, due to safety precautions from the COVID-19 pandemic, only essential game operations personnel and families of the wrestlers and wrestling staff will be admitted into the arena.
“I’m excited to just get out there and compete,” Flynn said. “It was taken away from us in March. We weren’t allowed to compete at the NCAA Tournament, and we’ve been off the mats forever. Normally, we are two full months into it. We are just excited to watch some wrestling and compete in general.”
West Virginia will square off with Kent State for just the seventh time since 1941, as the Golden Flashes hold a 4-2 lead in the all-time series. Sunday afternoon’s matchup vs. Kent State marks the first meeting between the two squads since 2001, when WVU earned a 22-21 victory at a quad meet hosted by Virginia.
West Virginia holds a 35-19-1 all-time series advantage over Ohio despite dropping a 20-13 neutral-site match in Parkersburg last season.
Additionally, WVU holds a slim 12-11 edge in the all-time series against Tech, which dates back to 1951. However, Virginia Tech has claimed the last five meetings (2016-20) after the Hokies earned a 36-3 win in Blacksburg, Va., last season. Prior to the 2016 meeting, the two teams had not met since 2004, when the Mountaineers captured a 39-13 victory in Blacksburg.
This weekend also marks Kent State’s season opener, while both Ohio and Virginia Tech began its 2021 campaign on Jan. 2. The Bobcats dropped a 20-12 match at Buffalo, while the Hokies picked up a 28-6 win over Campbell in Blacksburg. Under Flynn’s guidance, the Mountaineers are 1-1 in dual season openers.
West Virginia returns eight starters from its young squad a season ago and will begin the 2021 season with a trio of grapplers ranked nationally at their respective weight classes, including redshirt junior Noah Adams in the top spot at 197 pounds according to a trio of media outlets.
The Coal City, W.Va., native was crowned a Big 12 champion a year ago, earning WVU’s first individual conference title since 2017.
Redshirt junior Killian Cardinale, a transfer from Old Dominion, appears at No. 12, according to Intermat and FloWrestling, and is ranked No. 13 by The Open Mat. Junior Caleb Rea also comes in at No. 20 in FloWrestling’s latest top-25 poll.
Additionally, West Virginia welcomed a 10-man freshmen class to Morgantown this fall. The class includes four wrestlers listed among the top 100 national recruits by at least one wrestling outlet, including No. 31 Peyton Hall and No. 48 Brayden Roberts. Of note, Hall and Roberts are both listed on the Mountaineers’ probable lineup this weekend.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will welcome Bucknell and Oklahoma to Morgantown for a tri-meet on Jan. 17, beginning at 2 p.m.
