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Mountaineers Prepped for Beauty and the Beast
January 16, 2016 02:54 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2016 home season at the WVU Coliseum against No. 18-ranked New Hampshire on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 4 p.m.
Tomorrow afternoon marks the return of the exciting Beauty and the Beast meet, and the No. 24-ranked WVU wrestling team will compete against No. 9 Oklahoma simultaneously. Sunday is the fourth Beauty and the Beast meet hosted by WVU and the first since Feb. 14, 2014.
Tickets for Sunday’s competition are available now at WVUGAME.com. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youths and senior citizens and $2 for groups of 10 or more. Students are admitted for free with a valid WVU student I.D. Additionally, fans who attended the wrestling match against Oklahoma State on Jan. 15 will receive free entry Sunday by showing their ticket stub.
Sunday also is “Poster Day,” and the gymnastics and wrestling teams will meet with fans following the competition to sign autographs. Additionally, Mr. Twister will be in attendance to make balloon creations and offer face painting.
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“Our fans love the Beauty and the Beast meet, and we’re really excited to bring this event back for them,” WVU gymnastics coach Jason Butts said. “Our team loves supporting WVU wrestling, too, so competing alongside the Mountaineers is a nice bonus this Sunday. I’m hoping for a huge crowd – this is a great family event, and we’re excited to see everyone in the stands.”
“I think this will be a great weekend for our fans and West Virginia University,” WVU wrestling coach Sammie Henson added. “I’m excited to work with coach Butts and his team, and we look forward to two exciting competitions.”
The Mountaineers (0-2, 0-1) are 28-10 all-time against UNH (2-1, 0-1 EAGL). The squads met three times in 2015, with each team winning in its own gym. Following a 196.525-195.3 defeat in Durham, New Hampshire, on Feb. 8, the Mountaineers bounced back with a 195.2-194.1 victory over the Wildcats on Feb. 22 in the WVU Coliseum. The squads also competed at the 2015 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships, with WVU finishing fifth (195.65) and UNH placing sixth (194.825).
WVU opens its home season following a third place, 193.65 showing at No. 16 Denver on Jan. 9. The Pioneers finished first with a 195.375 score, and No. 24 Southern Utah took second place with a 194.1 mark. The Mountaineers closed the meet on vault with their best showing of the night, as each gymnast tallied 9.7 or better and the team rolled to a 49.0 score. WVU enters Sunday’s competition ranked No. 11 nationally on the event.
Freshman Kirah Koshinski paced the Mountaineers on three events last week, winning vault outright with a 9.875 score. She also finished third on beam (9.8) and floor (9.825). For her efforts, she was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week. Junior Alexa Goldberg also had a strong showing, finishing third in the all-around with a 38.975 score. She tied sophomore Zaakira Muhammad for third place on bars with a 9.85 mark.
“We are happy to be able to compete in the WVU Coliseum this week; it’s such an advantage for this team,” added Butts. “We got a lot of our jitters out last weekend in Denver. It’s time for the team to lock in and focus on what’s in front of us.”
The Wildcats, led by 35-year coach Gail Goodspeed, are coming off a 196.075-189.7 win over Yale on Jan. 14, at Lundholm Gymnasium, in Durham, New Hampshire. Freshman Danielle Mulligan has placed first on bars in each of UNH’s meets this season, scoring 9.9 in the team’s season opener on Jan. 9 and 9.875 against Yale.
The WVU wrestling team (5-3, 0-1) is coming off a 38-3 loss to Big 12 foe and No. 5-ranked Oklahoma State on Friday. No. 7 Jacob A. Smith earned a 4-2 win in sudden victory at 197 pounds for West Virginia.
WVU and OU will face each other for the seventh time since 1986 on Sunday. The Mountaineers are 1-5 against the Sooners, with their lone win coming in the first-ever meeting. OU earned a 25-13 triumph in Norman last season with WVU taking four bouts.
The 125-pound match will be a bout to watch as sophomore Zeke Moisey and No. 14/15 Ryan Millhof squared off numerous times as high school foes. Moisey owns both college matches, including a thrilling 7-4 victory on near fall points in a tiebreaker period last season. The heavyweight match could also be interesting. Though No. 14 Ross Larson of OU won a 11-2 major decision over A.J. Vizcarrondo during the 2014 regular season, Vizcarrondo went on to pin Larson in the Big 12 Championship Semifinals.
For the second straight dual, the Mountaineers boast a number of connections to their opponent. Henson spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Sooners from 2010-12. Volunteer assistant Tyler Caldwell started his collegiate career with the Sooners before transferring to Oklahoma State for his final two seasons. Keegan Moore and Zachary Moore are natives of Oklahoma City, and were recruited by Mark Cody at Oklahoma prior to signing with West Virginia.
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