WVU Drops Home Opener - West Virginia University Athletics

Thursday, December 5

Morgantown, W.Va.

7:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

Pitt

Results

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

December 05, 2019 10:18 PM | Wrestling

Results Coach Tim Flynn Postgame Noah Adams Postgame

Noah Adams earns 11th straight win

By: Chris Pharis

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt sophomore Noah Adams earned his 11th consecutive win as the West Virginia University wrestling team fell to No. 10 Pitt, 29-6, on Thursday, at the WVU Coliseum.

WVU fell to 0-3 (0-1 Big 12) on the year with the loss, while Pitt moved to 3-1. The Mountaineers are now 25-38-2 in the Backyard Brawl, with Thursday's result knotting the series at 13-13-1 in Morgantown.

"There were some signs of fight tonight and I saw a lot of improvement," coach Tim Flynn said. "We have a lot of steps to go to be where we want, but we're focusing on us right now and making little improvements every day."

The Panthers jumped out to an early,9-0, lead after earning a major decision and a technical fall at 125 and 133, respectively. The Mountaineers couldn't respond as Pitt earned a pair of decisions when sophomore Caleb Rea dropped the match at 141 and freshman Liam Lusher suffered a close 11-9 loss in his dual match debut for the Mountaineers at 149.

At 157, redshirt freshman Alex Hornfeck gave No. 12/11/6 Taleb Rahmani all he could handle, but his upset bid ultimately came up short as he found himself on the wrong side of a 7-6 decision.

With the pair tied at two heading into the second period, Hornfeck chose to start at the bottom and quickly earned an escape point to take a 3-2 advantage. Rahmani responded with a takedown to regain the lead, before Hornfeck picked up two reversal points to continue the back-and-forth affair. Rahmani would close the period with an escape point to even the match heading into the third.

Rahmani chose to start the third in the bottom position and earned a quick reversal to gain a two-point advantage. Hornfeck found an escape but could not earn another point as he fell 7-6 to give Pitt an 18-0 team lead.

The Panthers secured the team victory after wins at 165, 174 and 184 to take a 29-0 lead over WVU.

The Mountaineers closed the match strong, however, as redshirt sophomore No. 11/18/19 Noah Adams and senior Brandon Ngati earned decision wins at 197 and 285.
Adams topped his second ranked opponent of the season after earning an 8-6 decision over No. 25-ranked Kellan Stout. After a scoreless first period, Adams chose to start the second period from the bottom and quickly earned a reversal. Following an escape and a takedown from his counterpart, Adams regained the lead with his second reversal of the period.

The Coal City, West Virginia, native remained in the top position through the remainder of the second period to take a 4-3 lead into the final period. Stout tied the match to begin the third period with an escape, but Adams countered both of Stout's third period escapes with a takedown to earn the decision. The win marked Adams' 11th straight to begin the year.

Ngati started the final bout of the contest fast and never looked back as he bested Pitt's Cole Rickert, 10-3. The Gaithersburg, Maryland, native earned a pair of takedown points in the first and second period, before outscoring Rickert 6-2 in the third to earn the win.

Looking ahead, West Virginia closes its two-match homestand on Sunday, Dec. 5, against Buffalo. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.

Sunday's contest is Family Day, as families can purchase four tickets and receive a $15 concession voucher for $25. Additionally, the match is Mountaineer Kids Club Day, with all members receiving a special giveaway item and food. The Mountaineers will sign autographs following the match.

No. 10 Pitt 29, West Virginia 6
125: Louis Newell (Pitt) MD Joey Thomas (WVU), 11-1
133: No. 5/5/4 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) TF Lucas Seibert (WVU), 20-5 (4:31)
141: No. 9/15/18 Cole Mathews (Pitt) dec Caleb Rea (WVU), 4-0
149: Luke Kemerer (Pitt) DEC Liam Lusher (WVU), 11-9
157: No. 12/11/6 Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) dec. Alex Hornfeck (WVU), 7-6
165: No. 11/10/- Jake Wentzel (Pitt) MD Brock Godzin (WVU), 11-0
174: Gregg Harvey (Pitt) dec. Scott Joll (WVU), 6-2
184: No. 8/12/8 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) MD Jackson Moomau (WVU), 13-3
197: No. 11/18/19 Noah Adams (WVU) dec. 8-6 No. -/25/- Kellan Stout (Pitt)
HWT: Brandon Ngati (WVU) dec. Cole Rickert (Pitt), 10-3
*FloWrestling Ranking | Rankings listed Intermat/TrackWrestling/OpenMat

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.