MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - After knocking off the No. 3 wrestler in the country at 165 pounds, senior Peyton Hall of the West Virginia University wrestling team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
 
With the match tied at 1-1 midway through the second period, Hall took down Oklahoma State's No. 3 Izzak Olejnik moments before time expired to hold a 4-1 lead entering the third. He added an escape as well as limited Olejnik to one point on his way to sealing the 5-1 victory.
 
The Chester, West Virginia, native improved to 21-3 overall (team leader) and 4-1 against ranked opponents.
 
WVU returns to action against No. 2 Missouri in Morgantown on Friday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. ET.
 
This Week in Women's Basketball: The Mountaineers open the week on Wednesday, Jan. 17, against Houston at the WVU Coliseum … tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET … West Virginia closes out the week on the road, traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on the Bearcats … tipoff is set for 4 p.m. inside Fifth Thirds Arena.
 
Last Week in Women's Basketball: West Virginia opened the week with a 74-64 loss to Iowa State on Jan. 10, at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa … sophomore guard Jordan Harrison finished with 17 points and added seven assists, five steals and four rebounds … the Mountaineers got back in the win column on Jan. 13, with a 76-59 result over UCF in Orlando … junior guard JJ Quinerly finished with 21 points and four assists as Harrison added 19 points, three steals and three assists.
 
Notes: Quinerly became the 40th player in program history to notch 1,000 career points in the Mountaineers' win over UCF … West Virginia was the only road team in the Big 12 to win last week as home teams went 13-1 … West Virginia leads the nation in steals per game (14.7) and turnover margin (9.75) … the Mountaineers finished the nonconference schedule with a perfect 11-0 mark … it is just the sixth time in program history a team has finished with a perfect nonconference record.
 
This Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers open the spring schedule on Saturday, Jan. 20, inside the WVU Rifle Range at 10 a.m. ET, when they welcome Army to Morgantown ... the contest will be a Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) match.
 
Last Week in Rifle: West Virginia did not compete.
 
Notes: After the fall season, WVU has defeated nine teams ranked inside the top 11 of the CRCA Poll and are a perfect 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the GARC … the Mountaineers hold the highest aggregate (4743) and smallbore (2361.8) average in the nation and sit second in air rifle (2381.1).
 
This Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia is off until it hosts Villanova and Iowa State (women's only) on Jan. 27, at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown.
 
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia was defeated by Pitt in the Backyard Brawl ... the men's swimming and diving team (1-2, 1-0 Big 12) was defeated 165-135 ... the women's swimming and diving team (0-3, 0-1 Big 12) lost 196-104.
 
Notes: In his first meet as a Mountaineer, senior Ivan Puskovitch won two events ... Puskovitch finished with a 9:20.20 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and a 4:33.52 in the 500-yard freestyle to win both events ... West Virginia had the top three swimmers in the men's 1,000-yard freestyle as senior William Mullen placed second (9:21.99) behind Puskovitch, while freshman Trevor Hudson finished third (9:39.87) ... senior Danny Berlitz continued his dominant season with three individual victories against Pitt ... Berlitz won the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.53), the 200-yard breaststroke (1:59.58) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:48.09) ... sophomore Mia Cheatwood had a strong performance, winning two individual events ... Cheatwood won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.92) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.00) ... she also placed second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.01) ... freshman Maddie Smutny also won the 500-yard freestyle event (5:05.93).
 
This Week in Tennis: West Virginia begins the spring season by playing host to Duquesne and Morgan State at the Summit Tennis Academy on Jan. 20, in Morgantown ... the Mountaineers will face Duquesne at 10 a.m., before facing Morgan State at 3 p.m.
 
Last Week in Tennis: WVU did not compete ... the Mountaineers return to action for the first time since the conclusion of their fall slate on Oct. 22.
 
Notes: West Virginia returns three players who won 30 or more matches during the 2022-23 season ... Nagato finished 37-31 overall ... she went 15-17 in singles play and 22-14 in doubles play ... Chang finished 35-31 overall, going 19-18 in singles play and 16-13 in doubles play ... Kucharova led the team, finishing 38-34 overall ... she went 15-21 in singles play and 23-13 in doubles play ... the Mountaineers return to action this spring after having their best start to a spring campaign since 2010, starting 11-4, in 2022-23 ... West Virginia also earned its first Big 12 victory since 2018 with a win against Kansas State ... three players finished the season with 30 or more wins, including Ting-Pei Chang, Michaela Kucharova and Momoko Nagato ... all three student-athletes return for the 2023-24 season ... the team was named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team for the 10th consecutive year in the spring, and five members of the team were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the 2023 season, including Nagato, Kucharova, Chang, Pei-Ju Hsieh and Maja Dodik.
 
This Week in Track & Field: The Mountaineers return to action on Friday, Jan. 19, at the YSU Collegiate Invitational … Friday's meet will begin at noon and will take place at the Watson and Tressel Training Site in Youngstown, Ohio.
 
Last Week in Track & Field: West Virginia opened the 2024 indoor season at the PSU Nittany Lion Challenge in University Park, Pa., on Jan. 13 … redshirt freshman Annishka McDonald had an impressive collegiate debut, finishing second in the women's high jump at 1.74 meters … freshman Kishay Rowe finished second in the women's 600-meter with a 1:32.13, good enough for third on the all-time indoor performance list … redshirt sophomore Emily Bryce claimed victory in her heat during the women's mile run, with a time of 5:05.69.
 
Notes: West Virginia returns 20 student-athletes to the track this season, including standout runners redshirt junior Ceili McCabe, redshirt senior Mikenna Vanderheyden and redshirt senior Charlotte Wood … WVU added 14 freshmen and one transfer to the 2024 track and field roster ... the first indoor track rankings will be released on Jan. 22, by the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
 
This Week in Gymnastics: The Mountaineers return home for their second dual meet of the season when they welcome Penn to Morgantown on Sunday, Jan. 21 … it's 70's Disco Day, and competition inside the WVU Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. ET.
 
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU earned a season high in a third-place finish at its first quad meet of the year against Illinois, UW-Oshkosh and Western Michigan inside Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill., on Jan. 13 … the host Fighting Illini took first place with a 196.5, while Western Michigan followed in second with a 196.0 … the Mountaineers were third with a 195.05, followed by UW-Oshkosh in fourth place with a 192.475 … West Virginia tallied event scores of 48.675 on vault, 48.85 on the uneven bars, 48.625 on the balance beam and 48.9 on floor exercise … fifth-year senior Abbie Pierson paced the team on vault (9.85), while sophomore Emma Wehry led the way on bars and beam with a pair of career-high 9.875's … freshman Jurnee Lane earned her first career score of 9.8 or higher with a 9.85 to lead the floor lineup.
 
Notes: West Virginia earned its first score of 195.0+ last week at Illinois … eight different Mountaineers earned a season or career high during the quad meet … the 2024 campaign marks the 50-year anniversary of the Mountaineer gymnastics program, as West Virginia will celebrate 50 years of varsity status, dating back to 1974 … WVU sits at No. 46 overall in the second week of the Road to Nationals rankings … Pierson returns for her fifth season of competition at West Virginia, as she leads the team with 50 meets competed in her career.
 
This Week in Wrestling: West Virginia does not compete this week.
 
Last Week in Wrestling: No. 20 West Virginia fell to No. 5 Oklahoma State, 29-9, on inside the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 14 … senior Peyton Hall, ranked No. 11 in the country at 165 pounds, scored a 5-1 decision over No. 3 Izzak Olejnik  … Hall claimed the tie-breaking (1-1) takedown as time ran out  in the second period and tacked on an escape in the third to seal the victory … two matches prior, true freshman Ty Watters outlasted Oklahoma State's Sammy Alvarez by a 4-2 decision to get WVU on the board … Watters improved to 17-3 overall and 9-1 in duals … redshirt junior Austin Cooley added a 5-0 shutout over OSU's Kyle Haas at 197 pounds to close out the day.
 
Notes: WVU stands at 8-2 overall and 2-2 against Big 12 competition … it marks the first time West Virginia started the season 8-2 since 2014 … Sunday's top-20 matchup had 1,884 fans pack the WVU Coliseum to witness No. 20 WVU vs. No. 5 OSU … this showing surpassed last season's best attendance of 1,494 against No. 3 Iowa State for the fifth spot in program history … five members of the squad remain ranked in the 14th edition of this season's FloWrestling rankings, including No. 14 Jordan Titus (141), No. 9 Ty Watters (149), No. 9 Peyton Hall (165), No. 23 Brody Conley (174) and No. 28 Dennis Robin (184).