Mountaineer Wrestling
2020-21
SEASON REVIEW » 7-3 overall, 3-2 Big 12; first winning season since 2013-14 » West Virginia finished the 2020-21 season at 7-3 and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference, winning four of its last five dual meets to end the year ranked No. 22 in the final Dual Meet Rankings by Intermat and FloWrestling » In the postseason, WVU finished ninth (57 points) at the 2021 Big 12 Wrestling Championship and 31st (11.5 points) at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The squad placed 43rd at the 2019 tournament, improving 12 places in this year’s team standings » Four Mountaineer grapplers qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt juniors Killian Cardinale (125) and Noah Adams (197) and freshman Peyton Hall (165) each earned automatic bids based on their performances at the conference championship, while redshirt freshman Ryan Sullivan (133) received an at-large selection to punch his ticket » Cardinale earned All-America honors to highlight the Mountaineers’ run at this year’s tournament. Despite Adams receiving NWCA All-America First Team honors last season, Cardinale became the first wrestler in the Tim Flynn era to garner All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships » Cardinale finished the three-day tournament with a 12-7 win over No. 19-seed Eric Barnett of Wisconsin to earn a seventh-place finish in his respective weight bracket. The last Mountaineer grappler to finish seventh or higher at the national tournament was 125-pounder Zeke Moisey, as he earned a runner-up finish at the 2015 event » Hall suffered a setback to No. 2-seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State in the 165-pound blood rounds, just short of earning All-America status » Additionally, six WVU wrestlers finished on the podium at the Big 12 Championship, including two thirdplace finishes from Cardinale and Adams » West Virginia topped its first ranked opponent since the 2018-19 season, defeating No. 17 Northern Colorado in a 25-11 contest on Jan. 31, inside the WVU Coliseum » Adams started the 2021 season on a seven-match win streak before he dropped an 8-7 battle to No. 14 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming on Feb. 6 to snap his 39-match win streak. Jones was the last Mountaineer grappler to win 39 or more consecutive matches, as he won 51 matches in a row from 2003-05 » Eight Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2021 Academic AllBig 12 Wrestling Teams. The eight honors are a team record and top the previous season-best showing of six, set in 2013 and 2020. All but two of the honorees landed on the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, also a program-best showing
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