MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Five members of the West Virginia University wrestling team have been seeded for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday evening.
 
Redshirt senior Christian Monserrat (149), junior Brandon Ngati (HWT), redshirt sophomore Matthew Schmitt (133), sophomore Nick Kiussis (165) and redshirt freshman Noah Adams (197) will compete at this year's tournament. Monserrat, Ngati, Schmitt and Adams each earned automatic bids based on their performances at the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championship last weekend, while Kiussis received an at-large selection on Tuesday to punch his ticket.
 
Of note, WVU will send five Mountaineers to the national tournament for the first time since 2014. Schmitt will compete on the national stage for the second time in his career, while Kiussis, Monserrat, Ngati and Adams make their first-ever appearance at nationals. The NCAA Championships will be held on March 21-23, at PPG Paints Arena, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 
As the No. 16 seed at 133 pounds, Schmitt (17-6) is slated to meet No. 17 Sean Nickell (25-8) of CSU Bakersfield in the first round. The two wrestlers went head-to-head on Jan. 25, with Nickell earning a 2-1 decision over Schmitt in a neutral-site matchup. The Platte City, Missouri, native most recently placed fourth at the Big 12 Championship. Schmitt ranks fourth on the team with 17 wins, collecting six major decisions and four technical fall victories on the year.
 
No. 17 Monserrat (23-7) will face No. 16 Davion Jeffries (23-10) of Oklahoma in the first round of the 149-pound pool for the third time this season. The Methuen, Massachusetts, native most recently dropped a 4-2 decision to Jeffries in the third-place match of the Big 12 Tournament. The two grapplers also met back on Jan. 4, with Monserrat winning by fall in the second period. Monserrat leads the team with 23 wins on the season, including an upset victory over then-No. 4 Justin Oliver of NC State for his first-ever win over a top-five opponent.
 
At 165 pounds, No. 29 Kiussis (18-10) will take on No. 4 Evan Wick (28-4) of Wisconsin in the first round. Kiussis and Wick have not met this season, though the two have a pair of common opponents, with both wrestlers defeating Jacob Thalin of CSU Bakersfield earlier this year. Wick also topped Northern Iowa's Bryce Steiert twice this season, while Kiussis dropped a 9-6 decision to Steiert in November. The Brunswick, Ohio, native has notched 18 wins on the season, tying for third on the team.
 
No. 20 Adams (18-13) will square off against No. 13 Malik McDonald (18-13) of NC State in the first round of the 197-pound pool for the second time this season. The two wrestlers went head-to-head on Jan. 13, with McDonald earning a 12-6 decision over Adams. The Coal City, West Virginia, native most recently placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship. Adams is tied for third on the team with 18 wins, claiming six major decisions and two wins by fall on the year.
 
No. 33 Ngati (14-14) drew a first-round pigtail match against No. 32 Antonio Pelusi (25-9) of Franklin & Marshall, with the winner wrestling No. 1 Derek White of Oklahoma State in the first round of the heavyweight division. Ngati finished sixth at this year's conference tournament to lock up an automatic bid to nationals for the first time in his career. The Gaithersburg, Maryland, native has collected 14 wins on the season, more than doubling his win total from last season.

The first round starts at noon ET on Thursday, March 21. Early sessions will be broadcasted on ESPNU, while second round, semifinal and championship matches will be shown live on ESPN. All six sessions also will be available on ESPN3, with live stats on TrackWrestling.
 
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