Wrestling: '03-'04 Schedule Announced
October 16, 2003 01:31 PM | General
October 16, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University athletic director Ed Pastilong today announced the 2003-04 wrestling schedule.
“I feel good about the upcoming schedule,” says WVU coach Craig Turnbull. “It is full of challenging and competitive dual meets and tournament action.”
The Mountaineers will play host six times during the 2003-2004 season. West Virginia opens the season on Nov. 8, by hosting the annual WVU Open.
WVU is set to participate in four tournaments during the first part of the year. The Mountaineers will take part in the Navy Classic, the Las Vegas Invitational, Midlands Tournament and Sun Devil Duals before beginning their dual slate.
“A new wrinkle to the schedule is our trip to Tempe for the Sun Devil Duals,” says Turnbull. “Arizona State has some nice teams coming in for a dual meet tournament. We will get three dual meets in there and take a break from the winter. Penn State also comes back on our schedule this year.”
Highlighting the home slate will be visits by Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) foes Bloomsburg, Clarion, Pitt and Lock Haven. One other home match is set for January 10, against Big Ten power Penn State.
EWL road matches include contests at Virginia Tech, Edinboro and Cleveland State. The Mountaineers make one non-league trip to Athens, Ohio, for a match against Ohio.
Cleveland State will host the prestigious NWCA National Duals in January. The Mountaineers will compete with the top programs in the country during the two-day event.
“Being invited to back to the National Duals is of great significance for our program,” explains Turnbull. “You earn your way back if you are a top six in the tournament and then a panel picks out of teams who were nationally ranked before. Their goal is to invite the top 16 teams in the country. By going to the National Duals, you know that you are in very elite company.”
The Mountaineers are the defending back-to-back EWL champions for just the second time in school history. Bloomsburg will play host to this year’s EWL Tournament, scheduled for March 5-7.
The NCAA Tournament is set for March 18-21, in St. Louis, Mo. A year ago the Mountaineers had nine wrestlers qualify for the NCAAs, which was the most in school history and second most at the 2003 NCAAs.
The Mountaineers return 11 letterwinners from last year’s EWL regular season championship. Craig Turnbull enters his 26th season at the helm of WVU’s wrestling program.
The complete WVU wrestling schedule:
* Eastern Wrestling League match
% Shell Building
