MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia University wrestling team hosted one of the top teams in the nation on Friday evening inside of the Coliseum in front of the third-largest crowd in program history.
The No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones were able to battle back from a 10-0 deficit after the Mountaineers won the first three bouts by decision, outscoring the hosts 20-3 from that point.
Despite the loss, many matches were very close losses for the Mountaineers and could’ve gone either way. WVU head coach Tim Flynn knows his team is on the verge of where they want to be.
“I think we really had our chances against a top-3 team in the country tonight,” Flynn said after the match. “They’re a really good team and our effort was good tonight. Heavyweight was close, 157 was close. If one of those goes your way you have a good chance to knock off that team.”
The Mountaineers started fast from the opening match, as the ninth-ranked Killian Cardinale from WVU met ISU’s Caleb Fuessley at 125 pounds and won by a close 3-2 margin.
The next two matches, 133 pounds and 141 pounds, would also go in favor of the Mountaineers, and Davin Rhoades (133) and Jordan Titus (141) each earned decision victories over their opponents. WVU opened a 10-0 lead after three bouts and looked to have a wave of momentum.
“I think the message is the same, it doesn’t change,” Flynn said about the message to his team after winning the first three bouts. “Tell them to stay in their positions and do what they do. We really need to make some better in-match adjustments so we can tighten those gaps near the end.”
ISU’s Paniro Johnson earned an impressive 14-4 victory over Sam Hillegas, giving the Cyclones their first points on the night and cutting into the WVU lead 10-4.
The 157 and 165 bouts also went the way of ISU, which tied the score at ten each going into the final four bouts of the night.
WVU’s Scott Joll then stepped up to faceoff against Julian Broderson for ISU in a crucial match toward the duel results.
Joll earned an impressive 8-2 victory over Broderson, giving the Mountaineers the lead again at 13-10. That, however, would be the last victory for WVU on the evening.
Yonger Bastida gave ISU it’s first lead of the night at 17-13 after a major decision over Austin Cooley, 16-8. Then in the heavyweight match, Sam Schuylar earned a 3-2 victory over Michael Wolfgram to secure the duel victory for the Cyclones.
ISU earned decision victories in the remaining three bouts at 184, 197, and 285 lbs. to earn a 20-13 victory over the Mountaineers.
“You don’t ever want to lose in any sport,” Flynn said. “But man, when you get into a heater with the number three-ranked team in the country, you can tell you’re getting somewhere.”
WVU will face another ranked opponent right away, with No. 14 Northern Iowa coming to the Coliseum on Sunday.
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