MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nine members of the West Virginia University wrestling team rank among the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the second coaches ranking and/or RPI heading into this year's postseason tournament.

The coaches ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.

Wrestlers' RPI consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked.

2021 All-American and defending Big 12 Champion Killian Cardinale leads the way in the top eight at 125 pounds. The fifth-year senior ranks No. 6, which places him a top the Big 12 in the division. Cardinale is currently 10-0 overall and 7-0 in duals, with three more events to go, before defending his crown at the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Returning All-American Peyton Hall checks in at No. 11 at 165 pounds. Hall has posted a 19-3 record, including five wins over ranked opponents, to earn No. 12 in the RPI. The junior is second on the team in pins (7) and dual takedowns (26), as well as the third-highest grappler out of the Big 12 in the division behind Missouri's Keegan O'Toole and Iowa State's David Carr.

Redshirt junior Michael Wolfgram returns to the rankings at No. 23 and sits at No. 16 in the latest RPI among heavyweights. Wolfgram earned his first trip to nationals last year after recording a 20-9 record, including five wins over ranked opponents. He has registered a 16-8 record thus far, including three ranked wins.

Also holding a spot in their respective rankings are redshirt freshman Jordan Titus (No. 31 – 32 RPI) at 141 pounds, junior Sam Hillegas (No. 26 – 20 RPI) at 149 pounds, redshirt senior Alex Hornfeck (No. 29) at 157 pounds, redshirt junior Anthony Carman (No. 29 – 18 RPI) at 184 pounds and redshirt sophomore Austin Cooley (No. 28 – 21 RPI) at 197 pounds. Senior Scott Joll rounds out the group at No. 33 within the RPI at 174.

As the field stands, this would mark the first time since 1999 that eight Mountaineers qualified for the NCAA Championships. If Joll eventually seals a place on the 174-pound list, then West Virginia would send nine competitors to match the 2003 squad as the only other team in program history to achieve the feat.

Of note, the third ranking will be the one used by the NCAA Wrestling Committee to assist in determining the advance allocations to each qualifying tournament, while the final ranking following conference tournaments will be used to provide the most accurate and up-to-date rankings to the committee as an important element of the selection criteria during the in-person selection meeting.

The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will feature 330 wrestlers across 10 weight classes clashing for a spot on the podium from March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa plays host to the NCAA Championships for the first time in NCAA history, which marks the 12th time the NCAA Championships will be held in the state of Oklahoma and the first since 2014 in Oklahoma City.

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