MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rising senior Brandon Ngati led the way for the West Virginia University wrestling team, as he advanced to the consolation round of eight in the 125-kilogram (kg) division at the U23 National Freestyle Tournament, held June 1-2, at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio.
 
Ngati, who notched a 4-2 record on the weekend, fell just two wins shy of a podium finish and a chance to represent the United States at the 2019 UWW World Championships.
 
Ngati, a 2019 NCAA Qualifier, advanced to the round of 16 in the championship bracket before dropping a 10-0 match to Daniel Kerkvliet of Titan Mercury Wrestling Club and falling into the consolation bracket at 125 kg. He then defeated Ali Wahab of Virginia Beach Regional Training Center (4-0), followed by Vincenzo Pelusi of Lancaster Alliance Wrestling (2-1) to advance to the consolation round of eight. However, he later suffered a 10-2 setback to Youssif Hemida of Terrapin Wrestling Club to end his run at the U23 National Freestyle Tournament.
 
In addition to Ngati, eight other Mountaineer grapplers represented the West Virginia Regional Training Center at the two-day event.
 
"We wrestled in a lot of matches last weekend, and we competed hard," said first-year coach Tim Flynn. "We are getting better, but there's still a lot of work left to be done."
 
Rising sophomore Tucker Nadeau recorded a 2-2 mark at 79 kg, advancing to the round of 32 in the championship bracket with a win over Michael Kordek of Panther Wrestling Club Regional Training Center (4-0). His run later came to an end when he dropped a 10-0 contest to Cael McCormick of West Point Regional Training Center in the consolation round of 16.
 
Additionally, rising senior Seth Hogue and rising junior Kyler Rea each advanced to the consolation round of 16 in the 70-kg division, notching a 3-2 record at the event.
 
Of note, rising sophomores Caleb Rea and Luke Martin each wrestled at 65 kg, while classmate Alex Hornfeck competed at 70 kg. Teammate Luke Sorboro took on the 74-kg division, while Sean Mullican squared off at 97 kg. Martin and Hornfeck each collected one win apiece at the two-day tournament.
 
Full results can be found at FloWrestling.com.
 
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