NEW YORK – Dylan Cottrell dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 6 seed Oklahoma State in the consolation round as the West Virginia University wrestling team’s season came to an end at the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Cottrell went 2-1 on the day and 3-2 in the tournament, missing All-America honors by one round. The Mountaineers are in 47th place with 4.0 team points midway through Friday evening’s semifinal session.
The Spencer, West Virginia native, found himself in an early 2-0 hole against Smith, who is the son of OSU’s head wrestling coach John Smith. Cottrell escaped to cut the deficit and trail 2-1 after one period before starting on top in the second and riding Smith for the first 30 seconds. Smith escape to claim a 3-1 advantage, which he took into the third period. Starting in the defensive position, Cottrell escape to cut the deficit to one, down 3-2 before Smith registered another takedown. Cottrell escaped again to put the score at 5-3, but couldn’t generate any offense and dropped the bout to end his run.
Cottrell started the session with a 4-0 decision against Richie Lewis of Rutgers in the second round of wrestle-backs. After a scoreless first period, Lewis chose the defensive position for the second and Cottrell was solid on top, riding Lewis through the period. Going down to start the third, Cottrell quickly took a 1-0 lead on an escape and scored a takedown with 45 seconds remaining to push his lead to 3-0. He tacked on the riding time point to make it a 4-0 victory.
Against No. 16 Markus Scheidel of Columbia, Cottrell struck two minutes into the first with a takedown but lost out on riding time after the official determined he locked hands. Scheidel was awarded a point to make the bout 2-1 in favor of Cottrell. He covered Scheidel and was warned for stalling to start the second before Scheidel escaped to tie the score 2-2. Cottrell struck with another takedown in the closing seconds of the third for a 4-2 advantage. Starting on bottom, he escaped early to make it 5-2 in the third but was called for stalling again, giving a point to Scheidel. Leading 5-3, Cottrell scored his third takedown of the match with ten seconds to go and tacked on riding time for the 8-3 win to advance to the blood round.
Bubba Scheffel dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 12 seed Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State in the second round of the 184 wrestle-backs on Friday morning, while No. 13 seed Jacob A. Smith suffered a 4-0 setback to Oklahoma State’s Preston Weigel as both of their tournament runs came to an end.
Results
Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: Dylan Cottrell (WVU) dec. Richie Lewis (RUT), 4-0
Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 184: No. 12 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 5-0
Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 197: Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 4-0
Third Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: Dylan Cottrell (WVU) dec. No. 16 Markus Scheidel (COL), 8-3
Fourth Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. Dylan Cottrell (WVU), 5-3
