Friday, January 18
Morgantown, W.Va.
8:00 P.M.
West Virginia University
vs
Oklahoma State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Returns to Coliseum on Friday
January 17, 2019 04:36 PM | Wrestling
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Facing its eighth top-25 opponent in 11 matches, the West Virginia University wrestling team returns to the WVU Coliseum to face No. 3 Oklahoma State in Big 12 action on Friday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m.
Friday's match will be streamed live for free on WVUsports.com/Watch and the WVU Gameday App. Fans also can watch the stream live via Roku and Apple TV by searching for the "West Virginia Mountaineers" channel. Tony Onorato and Michael Minnich will have the call.
Additionally, the match will be broadcasted live on FloWrestling.com. Live stats will be available for the match through TrackWrestling.com. Direct links to the video stream and live stats can be found on the wrestling schedule page on WVUsports.com.
Family Day is scheduled for Friday, and families can purchase four tickets and receive a $15 concession voucher for $25. Mountaineer Maniac students also in attendance will receive free Chick-Fil-A and WVU sweatpants. Additionally, the Mountaineers will sign autographs following the match.
Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum. All tickets are general admission.
West Virginia has faced seven teams ranked inside the USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Top-25 Poll this season, and Oklahoma State is WVU's third opponent ranked in the top 10. Of note, the Mountaineers upset No. 20 North Dakota State earlier this season for their first win over a top-25 program.
"We've wrestled a lot of good teams," said first-year coach Tim Flynn. "Oklahoma State is ranked third in the country, but those are the kind of teams that we want to beat to get our program to where we want it to be. It's important to get to wrestle against some of the best teams in the country."
The Mountaineers (2-9, 2-2) and the Cowboys (7-0, 4-0) meet for the 14th time on Friday in a series that dates back to 1927. Oklahoma State owns a 13-0 lead in the series and took a 29-6 win in Stillwater last season as the No. 5 team in the nation. As Big 12 opponents, the Cowboys have taken seven wins in the all-time series.
The Mountaineers will enter Friday night's dual with a trio of wrestlers nationally ranked by Intermat. Redshirt sophomore Matthew Schmitt is the highest-ranked Mountaineer, moving up one spot from last week to No. 15 at 133 pounds. Redshirt senior Christian Monserrat checks into the rankings for the first time in his career at No. 16 at 149 pounds, following a 3-1 upset victory over then-No.4 Justin Oliver of NC State on Sunday. Sophomore Nick Kiussis sits at No. 20, despite a 9-5 loss to Thomas Bullard of NC State, who was ranked at No. 15 by The Open Mat.
Monserrat is putting together quite the story in his final season as a Mountaineer. A 3-1 win over Oliver on Sunday ran Monserrat's 2018-19 dual record to a perfect 11-0. For the year, Monserrat has only lost three matches, one of which came to Oliver by technical fall, 18-3, at the Journeyman Collegiate Classic in November. Since that event, Monserrat has not lost a match. During that period, he has wins over three previous NCAA qualifiers (Oliver, Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma and Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech). He also leads the team with 38 match points and 20 takedowns on the year.
"Consistent fight and confidence," Flynn said. "When I first saw him wrestle, I told him that he was plenty good to place really high at nationals. He has the ability. He continues to improve as the season progresses. It's a testament to his work ethic, his fight on the mat, his preparation and his mental fortitude. When you get clobbered and come back and beat a guy, that's pretty tough to do."
The third-ranked Cowboys moved to 7-0 this season with wins at No. 25 Princeton and No. 24 Rutgers a week ago. Each Cowboy starter is ranked at his respective weight this week, with seven landing inside the top 10 and four in the top five. Derek White and Daton Fix are the highest-ranked Cowboys, both coming in at No. 2. Nick Piccininni (125) and Fix (133) remain undefeated this season and have five ranked wins apiece.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will take on No. 16 Iowa State on Sunday, Jan. 20, at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers' annual Cradles for Cancer match for breast cancer awareness is set 1 p.m.
WVU Medicine will sponsor the match and will collect donations for the WVU Cancer Institute. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and can get the WVU sports official "pink" t-shirt with a donation of $10 or more to WVU Medicine. Autographs also will take place following the match.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Friday's match will be streamed live for free on WVUsports.com/Watch and the WVU Gameday App. Fans also can watch the stream live via Roku and Apple TV by searching for the "West Virginia Mountaineers" channel. Tony Onorato and Michael Minnich will have the call.
Additionally, the match will be broadcasted live on FloWrestling.com. Live stats will be available for the match through TrackWrestling.com. Direct links to the video stream and live stats can be found on the wrestling schedule page on WVUsports.com.
Family Day is scheduled for Friday, and families can purchase four tickets and receive a $15 concession voucher for $25. Mountaineer Maniac students also in attendance will receive free Chick-Fil-A and WVU sweatpants. Additionally, the Mountaineers will sign autographs following the match.
Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum. All tickets are general admission.
West Virginia has faced seven teams ranked inside the USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Top-25 Poll this season, and Oklahoma State is WVU's third opponent ranked in the top 10. Of note, the Mountaineers upset No. 20 North Dakota State earlier this season for their first win over a top-25 program.
"We've wrestled a lot of good teams," said first-year coach Tim Flynn. "Oklahoma State is ranked third in the country, but those are the kind of teams that we want to beat to get our program to where we want it to be. It's important to get to wrestle against some of the best teams in the country."
The Mountaineers (2-9, 2-2) and the Cowboys (7-0, 4-0) meet for the 14th time on Friday in a series that dates back to 1927. Oklahoma State owns a 13-0 lead in the series and took a 29-6 win in Stillwater last season as the No. 5 team in the nation. As Big 12 opponents, the Cowboys have taken seven wins in the all-time series.
The Mountaineers will enter Friday night's dual with a trio of wrestlers nationally ranked by Intermat. Redshirt sophomore Matthew Schmitt is the highest-ranked Mountaineer, moving up one spot from last week to No. 15 at 133 pounds. Redshirt senior Christian Monserrat checks into the rankings for the first time in his career at No. 16 at 149 pounds, following a 3-1 upset victory over then-No.4 Justin Oliver of NC State on Sunday. Sophomore Nick Kiussis sits at No. 20, despite a 9-5 loss to Thomas Bullard of NC State, who was ranked at No. 15 by The Open Mat.
Monserrat is putting together quite the story in his final season as a Mountaineer. A 3-1 win over Oliver on Sunday ran Monserrat's 2018-19 dual record to a perfect 11-0. For the year, Monserrat has only lost three matches, one of which came to Oliver by technical fall, 18-3, at the Journeyman Collegiate Classic in November. Since that event, Monserrat has not lost a match. During that period, he has wins over three previous NCAA qualifiers (Oliver, Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma and Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech). He also leads the team with 38 match points and 20 takedowns on the year.
"Consistent fight and confidence," Flynn said. "When I first saw him wrestle, I told him that he was plenty good to place really high at nationals. He has the ability. He continues to improve as the season progresses. It's a testament to his work ethic, his fight on the mat, his preparation and his mental fortitude. When you get clobbered and come back and beat a guy, that's pretty tough to do."
The third-ranked Cowboys moved to 7-0 this season with wins at No. 25 Princeton and No. 24 Rutgers a week ago. Each Cowboy starter is ranked at his respective weight this week, with seven landing inside the top 10 and four in the top five. Derek White and Daton Fix are the highest-ranked Cowboys, both coming in at No. 2. Nick Piccininni (125) and Fix (133) remain undefeated this season and have five ranked wins apiece.
Looking ahead, West Virginia will take on No. 16 Iowa State on Sunday, Jan. 20, at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers' annual Cradles for Cancer match for breast cancer awareness is set 1 p.m.
WVU Medicine will sponsor the match and will collect donations for the WVU Cancer Institute. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and can get the WVU sports official "pink" t-shirt with a donation of $10 or more to WVU Medicine. Autographs also will take place following the match.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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