MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Virginia University wrestling team fell to No. 13 Iowa State, 24-18, in its Big 12 Conference home opener at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Wednesday night.
 


"I thought we wrestled pretty hard," head coach Tim Flynn said. "You know, they're a good team. I think going into the match maybe we were favored in one or two, and so we got a couple more than that. Let's stay positive, but I think we could have done better."

West Virginia (7-2, 1-2 Big 12) put up a strong fight against the Cyclones, winning five out of 10 matches, but was unable to pull off the upset.
 
The Mountaineers lost their first four matches to fall behind, 20-0. However, West Virginia quickly rallied with back-to-back wins to get on the board. WVU would go on to win five of the final six matches.
 
Fifth-year No. 3 Peyton Hall earned his 19^th win of the season with a major decision over Aiden Riggins, 16-6. Redshirt sophomore No. 29 Brody Conley followed Hall with a major decision over MJ Gaitan, 14-2.
 
One of the highlights of the night was redshirt sophomore Ian Bush earning his sixth win of the year with a major decision over Nathan Schon, 13-2.
 
To finish the match, senior Jett Strickenberger pulled off the upset in the 125-pound match, defeating No. 14 Kysen Terukina by decision, 4-1.
 
Full Results
133: No. 5 Evan Frost (ISU) tech. fall over Tommy Maddox (WVU), 20-3
141: No. 21 Jacob Frost (ISU) dec. No. 32 Jordan Titus (WVU), 9-6
149: Paniro Johnson (ISU) won by fall over Sam Hillegas (WVU) [T – 5:48]
157: No. 6 Cody Chittum (ISU) won by fall over Sasha Gavronsky (WVU) [T – 3:41]
165: No. 3 Peyton Hall (WVU) major dec. Aiden Riggins (ISU), 16-6
174: No. 29 Brody Conley (WVU) major dec. MJ Gaitan (ISU), 14-2
184: No. 16 Evan Bockman (ISU) major dec. No. 23 Dennis Robin (WVU), 9-1
197: Ian Bush (WVU) major dec. Nathan Schon (ISU), 13-2
285: Michael Wolfgram (WVU) dec. Daniel Herrera (ISU), 5-3
125: Jett Strickenberger (WVU) dec. No. 14 Kysen Terukina (ISU), 4-1

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Up next, West Virginia hosts No. 18 Pitt in the Backyard Brawl on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum. The match will be televised on ESPN+.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on X, Instagram and Facebook.