Thursday, March 15
Cleveland, Ohio (Quicken Loans Arena)
11:00 a.m.
West Virginia University
at
NCAA Championships
Mountaineers Prep for Nationals in Cleveland
March 14, 2018 10:31 AM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Three members of the West Virginia University wrestling team will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, set for March 15-17, at Quicken Loans Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Redshirt junior Zeke Moisey (125) and redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith (197) earned automatic bids, as they each took second in their respective pools at the 2018 Big 12 Wrestling Championship earlier this month. Redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt (133) also was awarded an automatic bid at 133 pounds, as he finished fourth at his first-ever conference tournament.
The three-day event will start Thursday at Noon ET with pigtails and the first round of championship competition (Session I). Wrestle-backs and the championship second round (Session II) will take place at 7 p.m. ET. Quarterfinals and the second and third round of wrestle-backs (Session III) will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, followed by semifinals and fourth round wrestle-backs (Session IV) at 8 p.m. ET that evening. Medal rounds (Session V) will take place at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the championship finals (Session VI) set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday night.
Early sessions will be broadcasted on ESPNU, while second round and semifinal matches will be shown live on ESPN. Saturday's championship finals will be broadcasted on ESPN2. Live stats for all matches are available on TrackWrestling. All matches also will be shown on ESPN3.
"We are excited about the postseason," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "It's always a good time of year to have some closure on a pretty good season. We had some good high's and a couple low's. There were a lot of positives this season, and we are looking to cap it off with some guys on the podium. Our goal is to bring back some All-Americans to Morgantown."
No. 13 seed Moisey (22-9) will face Kyle Norstrem (11-14) of Virginia Tech in the first round of the 125-pound bracket. Schmitt (21-12) is set to take on No. 1 seed Seth Gross (24-1) of South Dakota State in the opening session of the 133-pound bracket, and Smith (13-7) is set to square off with No. 2 seed Ben Darmstadt (30-1) of Cornell at 197 pounds.
Both Moisey and Smith bring a wealth of prior experience with them to Cleveland this week.
Moisey returns to the spotlight for the first time since his Cinderella run in 2015, where he entered the tournament as an unseeded wrestler and upset four ranked opponents to earn a spot in the 125-pound finals. The freshman standout was the first unseeded wrestler to make the finals since 2003, as he helped WVU to its first top-20 finish since 2005.
However, the Northampton, Pennsylvania, native did not have a chance to repeat his impressive run in 2016, as he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. He also took a redshirt last season, which helped him return to the national stage stronger than ever this season, as he checks-in as the No. 13 seed. With his seeding at this year's tournament, Moisey has become the fourth Mountaineer since 2009 to earn a seed as a top-16 wrestler at the event.
Additionally, Smith qualified for his fourth straight NCAA Championships this season. The Charleston, West Virginia, native earned at-large bids in 2015 and 2016 as well as automatic bids in 2017 and 2018. Smith qualified as the Big 12 runner-up at 197 pounds last season, but also was forced to withdraw due to injury. With 90 career wins under his belt, Smith looks to improve upon his 1-2 record at the 2016 event. He also is just five wins shy of 10th on WVU's all-time wins leader list.
Schmitt will look to follow in Moisey and Smith's footsteps, as he dons the Flying WV at nationals for the first time in his young career. The Platte City, Missouri, native ranks second on the team with 21 wins, collecting five major decisions and three pins on the year.
With three Mountaineers qualifying for the 2018 NCAA Championships for the first time since 2016, West Virginia boasts 179 national qualifiers since 1979 when the NCAA implemented the current qualification system. The Mountaineers have earned All-America accolades 30 times at the NCAA Championships and have posted 16 top-25 finishes at the event since 1929. The squad also boasts five individual titles, including three-time national champion Greg Jones.
"You have to take it one match at a time," Henson said. "You can't look ahead at this tournament. You have to stay focused on the task at hand. As coaches, we can look ahead a little bit, but our athletes have to keep their mind on the guy in front of them."
Of note, WVU has qualified 13 wrestlers to the national tournament in the Henson era.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Redshirt junior Zeke Moisey (125) and redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith (197) earned automatic bids, as they each took second in their respective pools at the 2018 Big 12 Wrestling Championship earlier this month. Redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt (133) also was awarded an automatic bid at 133 pounds, as he finished fourth at his first-ever conference tournament.
The three-day event will start Thursday at Noon ET with pigtails and the first round of championship competition (Session I). Wrestle-backs and the championship second round (Session II) will take place at 7 p.m. ET. Quarterfinals and the second and third round of wrestle-backs (Session III) will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, followed by semifinals and fourth round wrestle-backs (Session IV) at 8 p.m. ET that evening. Medal rounds (Session V) will take place at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the championship finals (Session VI) set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday night.
Early sessions will be broadcasted on ESPNU, while second round and semifinal matches will be shown live on ESPN. Saturday's championship finals will be broadcasted on ESPN2. Live stats for all matches are available on TrackWrestling. All matches also will be shown on ESPN3.
"We are excited about the postseason," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "It's always a good time of year to have some closure on a pretty good season. We had some good high's and a couple low's. There were a lot of positives this season, and we are looking to cap it off with some guys on the podium. Our goal is to bring back some All-Americans to Morgantown."
No. 13 seed Moisey (22-9) will face Kyle Norstrem (11-14) of Virginia Tech in the first round of the 125-pound bracket. Schmitt (21-12) is set to take on No. 1 seed Seth Gross (24-1) of South Dakota State in the opening session of the 133-pound bracket, and Smith (13-7) is set to square off with No. 2 seed Ben Darmstadt (30-1) of Cornell at 197 pounds.
Both Moisey and Smith bring a wealth of prior experience with them to Cleveland this week.
Moisey returns to the spotlight for the first time since his Cinderella run in 2015, where he entered the tournament as an unseeded wrestler and upset four ranked opponents to earn a spot in the 125-pound finals. The freshman standout was the first unseeded wrestler to make the finals since 2003, as he helped WVU to its first top-20 finish since 2005.
However, the Northampton, Pennsylvania, native did not have a chance to repeat his impressive run in 2016, as he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. He also took a redshirt last season, which helped him return to the national stage stronger than ever this season, as he checks-in as the No. 13 seed. With his seeding at this year's tournament, Moisey has become the fourth Mountaineer since 2009 to earn a seed as a top-16 wrestler at the event.
Additionally, Smith qualified for his fourth straight NCAA Championships this season. The Charleston, West Virginia, native earned at-large bids in 2015 and 2016 as well as automatic bids in 2017 and 2018. Smith qualified as the Big 12 runner-up at 197 pounds last season, but also was forced to withdraw due to injury. With 90 career wins under his belt, Smith looks to improve upon his 1-2 record at the 2016 event. He also is just five wins shy of 10th on WVU's all-time wins leader list.
Schmitt will look to follow in Moisey and Smith's footsteps, as he dons the Flying WV at nationals for the first time in his young career. The Platte City, Missouri, native ranks second on the team with 21 wins, collecting five major decisions and three pins on the year.
With three Mountaineers qualifying for the 2018 NCAA Championships for the first time since 2016, West Virginia boasts 179 national qualifiers since 1979 when the NCAA implemented the current qualification system. The Mountaineers have earned All-America accolades 30 times at the NCAA Championships and have posted 16 top-25 finishes at the event since 1929. The squad also boasts five individual titles, including three-time national champion Greg Jones.
"You have to take it one match at a time," Henson said. "You can't look ahead at this tournament. You have to stay focused on the task at hand. As coaches, we can look ahead a little bit, but our athletes have to keep their mind on the guy in front of them."
Of note, WVU has qualified 13 wrestlers to the national tournament in the Henson era.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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