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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia wrestling team fell to South Dakota State (9-5) Friday night 29-15, bringing their season tally to 3-9 overall.
Caleb Rea, Scott Joll, Noah Adams and Sean Mullican were the only Mountaineers to win. The most came from Adams who won by default due to SDSU not having a wrestler in the 197 weight class.
Daniel Vega (125) began the dual meet with a 15-10 decision over Joey Thomas, and was followed by teammate Zach Price (133) with a 6-4 decision over Lucas Seibert for SDSU’s first six points.
Rea (141) got WVU’s first points on the board with a tiebreaker 2-1 win over Clay Carlson, but Henry Pohlmeyer (149), Peton Smith (157) and Tanner Cook (165) combined for three straight pins to give the Jackrabbits 18 points.
Joll (174) put the Mountaineers back on the board with an 8-3 decision over Cade King, but Zach Carlson (184) won by tech fall (18-3) over Hunter DeLong for another five points. After Adams’ forfeiture win, Mullican (285) picked up WVU’s final three points with a 5-2 decision over Blake Wolters.
West Virginia returns to action next Friday with a road dual meet at No. 16 Northern Iowa before traveling to Aimes, Iowa, to face Big 12 foe No. 11 Iowa State.
Tennis defeats Buffalo
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Mountaineers (3-0) held off Buffalo 5-2 Friday in their first win of a two-day home stand at the Summit Tennis Academy.
West Virginia claimed two of the three doubles matches, and four of its six singles matches.
In doubles action No. 1 Anne-Sophie Courteau-Kat Lyman picked up the first win for WVU with a 6-2 victory over Pia Scharwz-Nikoleta Antoniou. They were followed by No. 2 Sophie Duran-Nicole Roc who defeated UB’s Emel Abibula-Azra Deniz Comlek 7-6. Buffalo’s (4-1) only win in doubles came from No. 3 Gabriella Akopyan-Ambre Amat who defeated Anastasia Bovolskaia-Christina Jordan, 7-6.
In singles action, No. 2 Courteau first defeated Abibula in two sets 6-3, 6-2, and was followed by No. 4 Nicole Roc with a two-set win over Amat 6-2, 7-6. No. 3 Giovanna Caputo was next to finish, defeating Akopyan in two sets 7-5, 6-2. No. 1 Scharwz picked up Buffalo’s first singles win, defeating Bovolskaia in three sets, but No. 5 Lyman was there to tack on another win for WVU, defeating Comlek 6-3 in both sets. Finally, Antoniou picked up UB’s final win, defeating Jordan 6-3, 6-4 in the six-seed match.
West Virginia returns to action today at noon, closing out its weekend matches against George Washington.
Gymnastics prepare for road quad at University of New Hampshire
Following a jump in the national rankings on floor, West Virginia hits the road for the second straight week heading to Durham, N.H., for a quad meet with New Hampshire, George Washington and Brown.
The Mountaineers (3-4, 0-1 Big 12), ranked just outside the top 25 at No. 26 overall, rose to No. 21 on floor following George Washington’s quad in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 31. WVU fell in other competition rankings: No. 26 in uneven bars (48.819 average), No. 34 on vault (48.731) and No. 35 on balance beams (48.644).
Despite placing 3rd at GW, the Mountaineers were in a tight race for a higher spot. The Colonials (8-4, 0-1 EAGL) placed 2nd with a score of 195.375, just edging WVU at 194.850. Pitt took the top spot at 195.700.
Kianna Yancey is still ranked in the top 50 in all-around and uneven bars, rated at No. 36 and No. 42, respectively. Regionally, Yancey is tied for No. 4 in AA, No. 5 in bars, No. 13 on floor and No. 19 on vault.
Outside of Yancey, eight other girls are ranked in the top 25 in the Southeast Region. First, Esperanza Abarca, Kendra Combs and Kayla Yancey, are all ranked in the uneven bars with Abarca tied at No. 12 with N.C. State’s Katelyn Cox, while Combs and Kayla Yancey are tied at No. 23. Further, Abbie Pierson, Abby Kaufman and McKenna Linnen are all ranked on beams, resting at No. 14, No. 22 and No. 25, respectively. Finally Erica Fontaine is No. 25 on floor, while Julia Merwin in No. 26 on vault. Pierson is also tied for the No. 13 spot on vault.
Kianna Yancey is ranked No. 6 in the Big 12 in the AA, and is ranked No. 8 on floor and is tied for No. 10 on bars. Further, Pierson is No. 9 on beam and No. 10 on vault, and Kaufman is No. 8
in AA.
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