MORGANTOWN – The No. 22 West Virginia University wrestling team welcomed the No. 13 Iowa State Cyclones to the snow-covered Coliseum Wednesday as the Mountaineers hosted their first Big 12 dual of the season.
Iowa State (5-3, 2-0 Big 12) defeated WVU (7-2, 1-2 Big 12) 24-18. The Mountaineers gave a solid effort, winning five of the ten bouts in the dual. However, two consecutive pinfall victories for the Cyclones in the 149 and 157-pound weight classes proved the difference, as WVU earned its five victories by decision on points.
“I thought we wrestled pretty hard,” WVU head coach Tim Flynn said. “You know, they’re a good team. I think that going into the match, maybe we were favored in one or two, so we got a couple more than that. Let’s stay positive, but I think we could have done better.”
Iowa State got out to a fast start, winning the first four matches of the dual to pull ahead 20-0.
Twin brothers Evan and Jacob Frost opened the evening for the visitors, and each won their bout.
Evan Frost defeated WVU’s Tommy Maddox 20-3 at 131 pounds, while his brother earned an upset victory over WVU’s No. 32-ranked 141-pounder Jordan Titus 10-7 in a close match.
The following two matches made the difference for the Cyclones as Paniro Johnson and Cody Chittum each won by pinfall, earning six points for their team total.
WVU’s Sasha Gavronsky put up an intense fight against Chittum at 157 pounds, but just as the door cracked open, Chittum slammed it shut and showed why he is ranked sixth in the country at 157 pounds with a quick maneuver that caught Gavronsky off-guard for the pin.
Despite the early deficit, the Mountaineers rallied with consecutive wins to get on the scoreboard. WVU would go on to take five of the final six matches.
Fifth-year No. 3 Peyton Hall earned his 19th win of the season with a 16-6 victory over Aiden Riggins at 165. No. 29-ranked redshirt sophomore Brody Conley followed him with a 14-2 decision win over MJ Gaitan at 174 pounds.
WVU’s No. 23 Dennis Robin fell to No. 16 Evan Bockman of Iowa State at 184, but the Mountaineers captured the final three matches to cap the evening but ran out of bouts before making up the difference.
“It’s a long year, and we showed some resiliency tonight,” Flynn said. “Some of these kids have disappointments throughout the year, but we know every weekend and every match is another opportunity to go out and win. We had some positives with guys like Brody and Jett (Strickenberger) doing nice jobs.”
WVU will remain in Morgantown for the weekend as Coach Flynn and his club host the Backyard Brawl against No. 18 Pittsburgh on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum.
RESULTS
133: E. Frost (ISU) def. T. Maddox (WVU) 20-3 Tech Fall [5-0 ISU]
141: J. Frost (ISU) def. J. Titus (WVU) 10-7 Decision [8-0 ISU]
149: P. Johnson (ISU) def. S. Hillegas (WVU) PIN [14-0 ISU]
157: C. Chittum (ISU) def. S. Gavronsky (WVU) PIN [20-0 ISU]
165: P. Hall (WVU) def. A. Riggins (ISU) 16-6 Decision [20-4 ISU]
174: B. Conley (WVU) def. M. Gaitan (ISU) 13-2 Decision [20-8 ISU]
184: E. Bockman (ISU) def. D. Robin (WVU) 8-1 Decision [24-8 ISU]
197: I. Bush (WVU) def. N. Schon (ISU) 13-2 Decision [24-12 ISU]
HWT: M. Wolfram (WVU) def. D. Herrera (ISU) 5-3 Decision [24-15 ISU]
125: J. Strickenberger (WVU) def. K. Terukina (ISU) 4-1 Decision [24-18 ISU]
