Lawrence Earns Late Fall, No. 22 West Virginia Defeats No. 16 Oklahoma

Sunday, January 18

Morgantown, W.Va.

1 p.m.

West Virginia University

No. 16 Oklahoma

Lawrence Earns Late Fall, No. 22 West Virginia Defeats No. 16 Oklahoma

January 18, 2026 03:35 PM | Wrestling

Score Sheet

By: Charles Montgomery

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 22 West Virginia University wrestling team defeated the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners, 19-17, at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown on Sunday.

West Virginia (8-3, 3-1 Big 12) has defeated Oklahoma in back-to-back meetings for the first time since joining the Big 12 Conference. This also marks the highest-ranked Oklahoma team West Virginia has beaten since joining the conference.

The back-and-forth affair was sealed in the penultimate bout with redshirt freshman No. 20 Rune Lawrence upsetting No. 11 DJ Parker at 197 pounds.

Parker got on the board first with a reversal in the second period. However, Lawrence quickly responded with a reversal to tie it. In the closing seconds of the period, Lawrence utilized the reversal to gain position and earn the fall to seal the victory for the Mountaineers.

This marked Lawrence's third fall of the season and his fourth win over a ranked opponent.

Despite the late theatrics, West Virginia began the match by winning the first two bouts. Graduate student No. 9 Jett Strickenberger (125) picked up his fifth ranked win of the season, defeating No. 27 Conrad Hendriksen by decision, 8-2.

Freshman No. 17 Gunner Andrick followed Strickenberger with a narrow win at 133 pounds, beating Carter Schmidt 6-5, due to securing the riding time point.

The Sooners rebounded with consecutive wins at 141 and 149 pounds.

In the 157-pound bout, redshirt sophomore No. 4 Ty Watters earned the first bonus points for West Virginia, as he defeated Layton Schnieder by major decision, 14-3. This result put the Mountaineers back in front, 10-6.

Victories in the following bouts gave the Sooners their first lead of the match, 12-10.

Redshirt junior No. 22 Ian Bush retook the lead for West Virginia as he defeated No. 11 Brian Soldano, 4-1. That marked Bush's 16^th win of the year.

Oklahoma finished the match with a win by technical fall in the heavyweight bout.

Full Results
125: No. 9 Jett Strickenberger (WVU) over No. 27 Conrad Hendriksen (OU) (Dec 8-2)
133: No. 17 Gunner Andrick (WVU) over Carter Schmidt (OU) (Dec 6-5)
141: No. 29 Tyler Wells (OU) over Luke Satriano (WVU) (Dec 7-5)
149: Hunter Hollingsworth (OU) over TJ Langley (WVU) (Dec 6-3)
157: No. 4 Ty Watters (WVU) over Layton Schneider (OU) (MD 14-3)
165: Peyten Kellar (OU) over Leo Contino (WVU) (Dec 4-0)
174: No. 8 Carter Schubert (OU) over No. 21 Brody Conley (WVU) (Dec 2-0)
184: No. 22 Ian Bush (WVU) over No. 11 Brian Soldano (OU) (Dec 4-1)
197: No. 20 Rune Lawrence (WVU) over No. 11 DJ Parker (OU) (Fall 4:56)
HWT: No. 21 Juan Mora (OU) over Brock Kehler (WVU) (TF 19-4 6:19)

*Rankings from FloWrestling

West Virginia returns to Hope Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. against Wyoming. The match is the Beauty and the Beast meet as gymnastics will also face Denver simultaneously.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on X, Instagram and Facebook.