Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
2021 Preseason Notebook
January 08, 2021 05:58 PM | Wrestling
At last, wrestling season is here.
The West Virginia University wrestling team is preparing to begin its 2021 campaign on Sunday, Jan. 10, after coming off a season last year that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 took away the Mountaineers opportunity, including two-time NCAA Qualifier Noah Adams, to compete at the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, and there was a very good chance the Coal City, West Virginia, native could have gone through the entire season undefeated and been standing at the top of the podium at NCAAs. The offseason challenges that followed were certainly different than what the squad is accustomed to, but the Mountaineers are happy to be back on the mats competing.
Following a couple of four-win dual seasons, third-year coach Tim Flynn can see some light at the end of the tunnel for his squad.
"It has been a long two years as far as winning, and we want to get more wins," Flynn said. "We know we are in a competitive conference. We know we are going to run into some storied, top-10 programs, but there is a difference. In college wrestling, you can lose a dual meet 30-0 and have every single bout down to the wire. The score looks bad, but man, that was a tight match.
"We've had some losses where it wasn't like that, so we need to be more and more competitive. We want to win. Being young is not an excuse for losing. There are plenty of young kids that win. Why can't Peyton Hall be that guy. Why can't Peyton Hall win the national tournament. Other kids have won it as a freshman. That's how we try to approach it. We want to get more wins, and we want to start to put some kids on that stand at the NCAA Tournament."
Here's what you need to know heading into the new campaign:
The West Virginia University wrestling team is preparing to begin its 2021 campaign on Sunday, Jan. 10, after coming off a season last year that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 took away the Mountaineers opportunity, including two-time NCAA Qualifier Noah Adams, to compete at the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, and there was a very good chance the Coal City, West Virginia, native could have gone through the entire season undefeated and been standing at the top of the podium at NCAAs. The offseason challenges that followed were certainly different than what the squad is accustomed to, but the Mountaineers are happy to be back on the mats competing.
Following a couple of four-win dual seasons, third-year coach Tim Flynn can see some light at the end of the tunnel for his squad.
"It has been a long two years as far as winning, and we want to get more wins," Flynn said. "We know we are in a competitive conference. We know we are going to run into some storied, top-10 programs, but there is a difference. In college wrestling, you can lose a dual meet 30-0 and have every single bout down to the wire. The score looks bad, but man, that was a tight match.
"We've had some losses where it wasn't like that, so we need to be more and more competitive. We want to win. Being young is not an excuse for losing. There are plenty of young kids that win. Why can't Peyton Hall be that guy. Why can't Peyton Hall win the national tournament. Other kids have won it as a freshman. That's how we try to approach it. We want to get more wins, and we want to start to put some kids on that stand at the NCAA Tournament."
Here's what you need to know heading into the new campaign:
- West Virginia returns eight starters from its young squad a season ago and will begin the 2021 season with a trio of wrestlers ranked nationally at their respective weight classes, including Adams in the top spot at 197 pounds according to a trio of media outlets.
- The redshirt junior ranks No. 1 by Intermat, FloWrestling and The Open Mat. He was crowned a Big 12 champion a year ago, defeating South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan in a 5-1 decision to earn WVU's first individual conference title since 2017.
- Adams became the second Mountaineer in school history and the first since Greg Jones (2005) to boast an undefeated record, carrying 32 wins into the NCAA Championships.
- In an impressive sophomore campaign, Adams was the first wrestler in program history to be named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and the second to be picked as a finalist for the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy.
- Adams also earned All-America First Team honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) for the first time in his career and received the 2020 Hardman Award, an honor given to West Virginia's amateur athlete of the year, as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
- At 125 pounds, redshirt junior Killian Cardinale is ranked by a trio of media outlets. The Bristow, Virginia, native appears at No. 12, according to Intermat and FloWrestling, and is ranked No. 13 by The Open Mat.
- Cardinale comes to Morgantown after spending the previous two seasons at Old Dominion. A qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Tournament, Cardinale finished the 2019-20 campaign with 25 wins, defeating six ranked opponents in the process. He also earned NWCA Division I All-America Honorable Mention honors last season.
- Junior Caleb Rea comes in at No. 20 in FloWresting's latest top-25 poll. The Weirton, West Virginia, native also ranks No. 23 in The Open Mat poll at his weight class of 141 pounds. Rea posted 17 wins last season, including six victories against conference foes.
- West Virginia welcomed a 10-man freshmen class to Morgantown this fall. The class, which ranked as high as No. 12 in the national recruiting rankings, combined for 13 high school state titles and includes four wrestlers listed among the top 100 national recruits by at least one wrestling outlet, including No. 31 Hall, No. 48 Brayden Roberts, No. 71 Caleb Dowling and No. 83 Anthony D'Alesio. Hall and Roberts are listed on the Mountaineers' probable starters for opening weekend and will look to make their collegiate debut in one of the three dual competitions this weekend.
- This year's slate will accommodate for a shortened season, with most dates featuring multiple contests. The home schedule consists of one quad and one tri-meet, as well as duals against Big 12 foes Northern Colorado and Iowa State.
- West Virginia will face four teams ranked in the most recent NWCA Coaches' Top-25 Poll, including Big 12 foe Iowa State who sits inside the top 10 at No. 9.
- The Mountaineers rank as high as No. 21 in the latest tournament top-25 poll by Intermat and The Open Mat. Tournament rankings are associated with individual wrestler's rankings and predicts how teams could finish at the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
- The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are currently scheduled for March 18-20, in St. Louis, Missouri, with bracket sizes and qualification criteria to be determined based on season participation. The NCAA also ruled that all athletes competing this year will receive an extra year of eligibility.
- Additionally, the Big 12 Championship will return to the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the fifth consecutive year on March 6-7.
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