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MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – The West Virginia University wrestling team will close out its regular season Big 12 action on Sunday when the Mountaineers welcome Iowa State to the WVU Coliseum in a 2 p.m. dual.

 

The Mountaineers (2-11, 0-3) are coming off a 32-9 loss to No. 16 South Dakota State on Thursday, while the Cyclones (1-10, 1-5) are also looking for a win after falling at No. 24 Pitt on Friday by a score of 22-15.

 

The first 250 fans at the Coliseum will receive a free WVU wrestling “Bull Trained” t-shirt. Tickets for the contest are $5 for general admission, $3 for seniors and youths and $2 for groups of 10 or more. Students can gain free admission with a valid WVU student ID. Tickets can be purchased at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, by calling 1-800-WVU-GAME or by visiting WVUGAME.com.

 

Live stats can be found at TrackWrestling and a free live stream will be offered through WVUSports.com.

 

Sunday is the 18th all-time meeting between the Mountaineers and the Cyclones. Though not the most prolific, it is one of the longest-running series in WVU program history as the teams first squared off in 1922. Iowa State holds a 16-1 lead, with West Virginia's last win coming in 2003. The squads became Big 12 opponents in the 2012-13 season after West Virginia was added to the Big 12 in the summer of 2012.

 

The Mountaineers traveled to Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 14, 2016 in the most recent meeting between the two. The then-No. 16 Cyclones took a 28-11 victory over WVU, thought Dylan Cottrell (157) won by tech. fall as Zachary Moore (149) and Jacob A. Smith (197) each came away with victories as well. Zeke Moisey was injured in the first bout of the dual and knocked of out action for the rest of the season.

 

Sunday will mark the sixth all-time meeting between WVU's Cory Stainbrook and ISU's Earl Hall. The two met twice as 125-pound freshmen back in 2013-14, with Hall claiming a win by decision in the regular season and Stainbrook winning by decision to take third at the 2014 Big 12 Championship. The pair also met twice at 133 as sophomores in 2014-15, and adding another meeting in the regular season as juniors last year. Though Hall, who has been nationally ranked the previous three seasons, leads the series 5-1, all six matches have been relatively close. Neither has scored a bonus-point victory on the other.

 

After defeating No. 7 Nate Rotert by injury default on Thursday, Smith has now won nine straight bouts at 197 pounds. He is 3-0 in Big 12 action after going undefeated in league bouts in the 2015-16 regular season. Smith leads the team with a 15-4 mark and has wins over seven nationally ranked opponents and eight opponents that appear in the coaches' panel rankings.

 

The second NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches’ Panel Rankings and the first edition of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) were released by the NCAA on Friday. Four members of the West Virginia University wrestling team appear in the rankings, with two in the top-33 of the Coaches’ Panel Rankings and two in the top-33 for RPI. Smith is ranked at No. 5 at 197 pounds in the Coaches’ Panel Rankings, moving up one spot from his previous rank of No. 8 in the rankings released on Jan. 20. Cottrell is ranked 12th overall in the Coaches’ Rankings at 165 pounds on the season. Cory Stainbrook and Christian Monserrat appear in the top-33 of the RPI rankings at their respective weights. Wrestlers must have 17 matches against Division I opponents to be eligible for the RPI rankings. Forfeits do not count towards that total.

 

West Virginia will close out its home slate on Friday when it hosts Edinboro for a 7 p.m. Senior Day dual.

 

Probable Lineups