MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - After two solid wins last week, senior Dylan Cottrell of the West Virginia University wrestling team has been named the WVU Student-Athletes of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
No. 11/19 Cottrell went 2-0 on the weekend to move to 15-4 with a three-match win streak. During Friday’s Senior Night match against Edinboro, Cottrell won a 9-3 decision over No. 12/9 Austin Matthews. Using a takedown and a pair of nearfall points for a 4-1 lead in the first period, Cottrell added two more takedowns, as well as, the riding time point to claim the 9-3 win.
On Sunday, he helped the Mountaineers to a 22-10 win over Clarion with a 5-1 win over Evan Delong. Cottrell scored takedowns in the first and second periods and tacked on a point for riding time to claim a win in his final career dual match. He finished the weekend with five takedowns, a pair of nearfall points and two points for riding time.
This Week in Women’s Basketball: The West Virginia University women’s basketball team (18-9, 6-9) enters its final week of the regular season with three matchups … the Mountaineers play host to TCU (12-14, 4-11) on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in a 7 p.m. contest at the WVU Coliseum … tickets to the contest are $1 courtesy of United Bank and the second of three limited edition pint glasses will be given away to the first 300 fans at the Gold Gate … West Virginia plays its final road game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 25, in a 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT matchup at Oklahoma State (14-12, 4-11) … the Mountaineer conclude the regular-season against Kansas (8-18, 2-13) on Monday, Feb. 27, in a 7 p.m. contest at the Coliseum … WVU will honor its two seniors, Lanay Montgomery and Desiree Rhodes … the third and final installment of the pint glasses will be given away to the first 300 fans at the Gold Gate … it is also Family Day, where fans can purchase four tickets and receive a $15 concession voucher for $25 … to purchase tickets visit WVUGAME.com or call the Mountaineer Ticket Office at 1-800-WVU GAME.
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: West Virginia picked up its second top 25 win of the season with a 66-59 victory over 24th-ranked Kansas State on Wednesday … Chania Ray recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists, while Lanay Montgomery followed with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds … the Mountaineers dropped a 68-53 decision to Iowa State on Saturday, as Lanay Montgomery led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the setback.
Notes: West Virginia recorded its second top-25 win of the season with a win over No. 24 K-State … the Mountaineers have knocked off at least two ranked opponents in the last eight seasons and in 11 of the last 12 years … WVU has won 44 games over AP ranked opponents since 1983 and 34 under coach Mike Carey … WVU has won 13 or more games at home in each of the last four seasons … junior guard Teana Muldrow (995) is five points away from becoming the 33rd Mountaineer to reach the 1,000-point milestone … With a double-double at Iowa State, Lanay Montgomery became the first Mountaineer since Maria Tchobanova in 1999 to reach 19 or more double-doubles in a career … the 19 double-doubles ranks seventh on WVU’s all-time career ledger.
Coach Mike Carey’s comments after Saturday’s loss at Iowa State: “Give Iowa State credit. I thought right before the half, we took a one-point lead and lost focus. They took the lead. In the middle of the third quarter, we lost complete focus. Give them a lot of credit. They played hard.”
This Week in Gymnastics: A tight meet in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 18 was tipped away from the Mountaineers in the fourth rotation, as WVU suffered a narrow 196.075-195.8 loss at No. 19 Ohio State inside St. John Arena … the Mountaineers tallied a season-high 48.825 on balance beam and won vault with a 49.05 mark … the team also scored 48.9 on uneven bars and 49.025 on floor exercise … freshman Chloe Cluchey tallied 9.925 on floor in just her second career appearance and earned the event win … sophomore Kirah Koshinski earned the vault victory with a 9.9 score … senior Alexa Goldberg and sophomore Tiara Wright tied for third on bars with 9.825 scores, and sophomore Carly Galpin finished second on beam with a season-best 9.85.
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU (6-4, 1-1) tallied 194.575 in a third-place finish at Towson on Feb. 12 … North Carolina won the meet with a 195.525 mark, and the Tigers finished second with a 195.025 total … Temple scored 193.575 and placed fourth … WVU finished first on vault (48.975) and bars (49.075), third on floor (48.85) and fourth on beam (47.675) … junior Zaakira Muhammad earned the vault win with a 9.85 score … senior Alexa Goldberg and sophomore Tiara Wright tied for first on bars with season-high matching scores of 9.875 … junior Kirah Koshinski tied for third on floor with a 9.85 … Koshinski also paced on beam and finished 10th overall with a 9.75 … Goldberg finished fourth in the all-around with a 39.05 total.
Notes: The teams were separated by 0.025 points in the first two rotations, and WVU led, 146.975-146.875, after the third rotation … WVU hit 24-for-24 for the first time this season … freshman Abby Kaufman matched her beam career high of 9.775 and tied for third place … Goldberg also matched her season-high beam score of 9.75 … OSU continues to lead the all-time series, 18-13 … Sunday is WVU’s second meeting against Maryland … the Mountaineers were victorious in the first contest, earning a 194.4-193.95 victory in College Park on Jan. 8.
This Week in Track and Field: West Virginia will travel to Ames, Iowa, to compete for a conference title at the 2017 Big 12 Indoor Championship on Feb. 24-25 … Iowa State will host the championship inside the Lied Recreation Center.
Last Week in Track and Field: Redshirt-freshman Candace Jones won the women’s 800-meter run at the Penn State Tune-Up on Saturday to close out the regular indoor season for the West Virginia University track and field team in University Park, Pennsylvania … in addition to the win by Jones, a pair of top-three finishes in the women’s pole vault and women’s mile highlighted Saturday’s action … Jones, a Bristow, Virginia, native, won the 800 meters with a career-best time of 2:10.34 … in the women’s pole vault, the Mountaineers claimed a top-three finish thanks to junior Sara Finfrock, placing third with an indoor career-best mark of 3.81 meters …junior Maggie Drazba notched a top-three finish in the women’s mile, placing third with a time of 4:56.10 … a total of eight Mountaineers competed at the Penn State Tune-Up.
Notes: At last year’s Big 12 Indoor Championship, seven Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 honors for finishing within the top eight in the final events: senior Hannah Stone, junior Amy Cashin, sophomores Shamoya McNeil, Rebecca Wendt, Millie Paladino and Jillian Forsey, and freshman Faith Penny.
Coach Sean Cleary after the Penn State Tune-Up: “This was a nice little meet for us. We brought eight athletes to the meet and will return home with six seasonal bests.”
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia is off until the 2017 Big 12 Championship March 4-5 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers (4-12, 1-3) went 1-1 in the final week of the regular season … on Friday, WVU fell to No. 23 Edinboro, 27-10, at the WVU Coliseum … Joe Wheeling (141), Dylan Cottrell (165) and Jacob A. Smith (197) came away with wins in the loss … during the match, seniors Dylan Cottrell, Cory Stainbrook, Bryson Begley, Ty Millward, James Dekrone, William Jenkings, Louis Colonna, Jake S. Smith and Tony DeAngelo were honored … West Virginia capped the regular season with a 22-10 win at Clarion on Sunday … Stainbrook posted a major decision to lead the way … seven Mountaineers picked up victories in the match.
Notes: Jacob A. Smith has now won 12 straight matches at 197 pounds … Smith has not lost a match since Dec. 18, 2016 … Dylan Cottrell also is on a three-match win streak … Cottrell topped ranked foe Austin Matthews in a 9-3 decision against Edinboro … Cottrell and Smith remain nationally ranked at 165 and 197, respectively … Cottrell ranks at No. 11 via InterMat and No. 19 via FloWrestling … Smith comes in at No. 5 in both polls … Smith leads the squad with 18 wins on the year … Christian Monserrat (149) boasts a team-best 25 takedowns in dual competition … Cottrell, Monserrat and Cory Stainbrook (133) are tied for the team lead with three pins each … Cottrell leads the way with six bonus-point victories: three pins, two tech. falls and a major decision … Stainbrook and Monserrat both have three pins and a major decision for four bonus-point wins … Devin Brown (125) has a pair of tech. falls and a major decision.
This Week in Rifle: The No. 2-ranked Mountaineers (12-0, 8-0 GARC) travel to Akron, Ohio, for the 2017 GARC Championships, Feb. 24-25, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
Last Week in Rifle: WVU shot the nation’s best qualifying score with a 4724 mark in an NCAA Qualifying match at the WVU Rifle Range on Feb. 18 … the team finished with scores of 2345 smallbore and 2379 air rifle … sophomore Ginny Thrasher paced in both disciplines, shooting 592 smallbore and 597 air rifle, a mark matched by freshman Milica Babic … Thrasher’s day included a school-record 200 prone mark.
Notes: WVU’s qualifying score will be added to its ranking average and will factor into the team’s NCAA Championships qualifying mark … the eight-team field for the 2017 NCAA Championships will be revealed during the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m., on NCAA.com.
This Week in Swimming and Diving: After a month hiatus, West Virginia travels to Austin, Texas, to compete for a Big 12 title at the 2017 Big 12 Championship on Feb. 22-25 … Texas will host the championship at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The event will be broadcast live on FloSwimming.com
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: The Mountaineers did not compete last week.
Notes: At last year’s Big 12 Championship, the Mountaineer men placed second, posting their best finish at the conference championship since joining the league in 2013-13, and the WVU women placed fourth … coach Vic Riggs was named the Men’s Coach of the Meet for the second time in three years …the championship was highlighted by senior Andrew Marsh’s Big 12 title in the men’s 100 backstroke with a Big 12 Championship-record time of 45.41 … Marsh also set a WVU record in the 100 butterfly with record with a 46.59 in the prelims before a 46.91 in the finals … freshman diver Austin Smith set a school record on men’s platform, scoring 322.55 in the prelims to advance to the finals, where he placed fourth (291.45) … Marsh added another record as the opening leg of the men’s 400 freestyle relay, swimming a 42.77 to set a new team record for the Mountaineers.
Coach Vic Riggs about the 2017 Big 12 Championship: “This is a great week every year. I truly enjoy and look forward to it every year. It’s what the teams have been working so hard for and when we are at our best as a team. This group has done a great job all season, and we’ve had some tough challenges that they’ve handled very well and learned from, which builds confidence for this week. I think the most exciting aspect of the week is our youth and to see what they can do. With that said, we have very strong leadership that have been here before, and I will look to them to continue to lead and guide our teams to some great swims. As always, our focus is on competing at our highest level at this meet and getting people to NCAAs.”
This Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers (4-5) are off this week.
Last Week in Tennis: West Virginia split a pair of home matches, falling 4-3 to Virginia Tech on Saturday and beating in-state rival Marshall, 4-3, on Sunday… WVU was able to take the doubles point in both matches this weekend … Virginia Tech claimed victories in four of the six singles matches to claim a 4-3 victory over the Mountaineers … on Sunday, the Mountaineers overcame a rally by Marshall to win the last two doubles matches … freshman Sofia Duran was the hero for the Mountaineers when she defeated Marshall’s Marija Bogicevic in two sets to give WVU the 4-3 win.
Notes: Sunday’s win over Marshall ended the Thundering Herd’s four game winning streak in the series … West Virginia now
holds the all-time advantage, 22-17, in a series that dates back to 1974 … Two Mountaineers went 4-0 on the weekend, with junior Lyn Yuen Choo and Duran winning their singles and doubles matches on both day … Duran recorded her first career singles and doubles victories on Saturday and now holds a 2-0 overall singles record … Habiba Shaker leads WVU with a 6-3 record at the No. 1 slot … Paula Goetz and Yvon Martinez pace the Mountaineers with a 4-2 record in doubles play.
Coach Miha Lisac following Sunday’s win over Marshall: “It was very important for us to do better in doubles. Not necessarily in terms of the game, but to close out the doubles point. It was important for us to play ahead and we were able to accomplish that in both matches this weekend.”
This Week in Golf: The Mountaineers travel to Mobile, Alabama, for the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate at Magnolia Grove Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday … Golfers tee off at 9 a.m. ET for 36 holes on Monday, followed by the final 18 on Tuesday … South Alabama will host 14 teams in addition to the Mountaineers at the tournament … Big 12 foe Kansas State will be in attendance, along with Louisville, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, Louisiana Lafayette, Illinois State, Southern Mississippi, Western Kentucky, Georgia State, Texas State, Abilene Christian, Chattanooga and Alcorn State.
Last Week in Golf: West Virginia did not compete.
Notes: Chris Williams, Etienne Papineau, Tristan Nicholls, Max Sear and Alan Cook will represent the Mountaineers’ scoring squad ... Jon Ransone, Drew Dewald and Avery Schneider will compete at the USA Individual Tournament, which will be held in conjunction with the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate on the Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course … West Virginia is paired with Louisville and Cincinnati … the Mountaineers opened the spring season on Feb. 4 when they traveled to Orlando, Florida, for a head-to-head matchup with rival Penn State … The Nittany Lions took home the Athletic Directors Trophy, 377-386 … Williams led WVU in the tournament, taking third place at two over par with a score of 74.
Quotes from WVU coach Sean Covich before the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate: “We are excited to play in our first full-field event of the spring season. Our guys have really enjoyed practicing down here for the past few days. I think they have a good game plan in place, and we just need to trust the work we’ve put in and let the results happen.”
This Week in WVU Baseball: West Virginia returns to the road for four games at the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this weekend … The weekend begins against George Mason on Friday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m. ET … WVU will face No. 11 Coastal Carolina, the defending national champions and tournament hosts, on Saturday at 2 p.m. and again on Monday at 12 p.m. … The Mountaineers also will play Ball State on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Last Week in Baseball: West Virginia opened the 2017 season with a three-game series at Charlotte, where the Mountaineers went 1-2 … WVU won the series finale, 6-3, after falling in the opener, 6-3, and on Saturday, 13-2 … Conner Dotson earned the win on Sunday, allowing one run in 6.0 innings, as every batter in the Mountaineer lineup recorded at least one hit … On Opening Day, West Virginia rallied from two down in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead, but it was not enough as Charlotte answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh … WVU was held to two runs on seven hits in Saturday’s loss.
Notes: West Virginia is 1-2 on the season … eleven Mountaineers saw their first career action in the opening weekend, including TJ Lake, who started all three games at second base, and Brandon White, who started Saturday and Sunday’s games in center field … White had four hits and two RBI, while Lake had three hits and Isaiah Kearns one … sophomore Darius Hill led the team with five hits and four RBI, notching at least one hit in all three games and posting two hits and two RBI in both Saturday and Sunday’s games … Conner Dotson earned his first win of the season on Sunday, pitching 6.0 innings and allowing one run on seven hits … every Mountaineer in the lineup in Sunday’s win had at least one hit.
