Thursday, March 19
Cleveland, Ohio
Noon/7 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
NCAA Championships
Watters Advances to Quarterfinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 19, 2026 10:54 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Redshirt sophomore Ty Watters of the West Virginia University wrestling team advanced to his second career quarterfinals at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Thursday.
Watters, the No. 11 seed at 157 pounds, earned two wins on the day to advance to the quarterfinals in his return to the NCAA Championships. In the opening round, Watters rolled past Virginia's No. 22 seed Colton Washleski, winning by fall.
Watters faced Penn's No. 6 seed Jude Swisher with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Watters never faltered, scoring two takedowns to easily win the match by decision, 7-1.
With Watters advancing, West Virginia has sent at least one wrestler to the quarterfinals for five consecutive seasons.
In total, three Mountaineers won their first matches on the day. Graduate student No. 17 seed Jett Strickenberger avenged two losses to North Dakota State's Ezekiel Witt at the Big 12 Championships in the first round. Strickenberger scored a takedown and a four-point nearfall in the third period to win by major decision, 13-5.
Strickenberger lost to Penn State's No. 1 seed Luke Lilledahl by decision, 4-2, in the following round.
In his NCAA Championships debut, redshirt freshman No. 21 seed Rune Lawrence picked up one of the most impressive victories of the afternoon.
Matched up with Ohio State's No. 12 seed Luke Geog, Lawrence needed overtime to pull off the upset. Lawrence scored a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to tie the match at six points. In the overtime period, Lawrence scored a takedown in less than a minute to earn his first career victory at the NCAA Championships.
Lawrence went on to lose in the next round to Wyoming's No. 5 seed Joey Novak.
Out of six qualifiers, five will compete on Friday. Redshirt junior Ian Bush is the only Mountaineer to be eliminated, as he went 0-2.
Round One Results
125: No. 17 Jett Strickenberger over No. 16 Ezekiel Witt (NDSU) (MD 13-5)
133: No. 15 Tyler Knox (Stanford) over No. 18 Gunner Andrick (Dec 10-3)
141: No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (ISU) over No. 29 Jordan Titus (Dec 5-1)
157: No. 11 Ty Watters over No. 22 Colton Washleski (UVA) (Fall 2:30)
184: No. 16 Rylan Rogers (LEH) over No. 17 Ian Bush (Dec 8-7)
197: No. 21 Rune Lawrence over No. 12 Luke Geog (OSU) (Dec 9-6 SV-1)
Round Two Results
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) over No. 17 Jett Strickenberger (Dec 4-2)
157: No. 11 Ty Watters over No. 6 Jude Swisher (Penn) (Dec 7-1)
197: No. 5 Joey Novak (WYO) over No. 21 Rune Lawrence (Fall 4:56)
Round One Consolation Results
133: No. 18 Gunner Andrick over No. 31 Gabe Strickland (Lock Haven) (Dec 6-1)
141: No. 29 Jordan Titus takes over No. 20 Julian Tagg (SDSU) (Dec 9-4)
184: No. 32 Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley) over No. 17 Ian Bush (Dec 4-1 SV-1)
Schedule
Friday, March 20
Watters, the No. 11 seed at 157 pounds, earned two wins on the day to advance to the quarterfinals in his return to the NCAA Championships. In the opening round, Watters rolled past Virginia's No. 22 seed Colton Washleski, winning by fall.
Watters faced Penn's No. 6 seed Jude Swisher with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line. Watters never faltered, scoring two takedowns to easily win the match by decision, 7-1.
With Watters advancing, West Virginia has sent at least one wrestler to the quarterfinals for five consecutive seasons.
Strickenberger lost to Penn State's No. 1 seed Luke Lilledahl by decision, 4-2, in the following round.
In his NCAA Championships debut, redshirt freshman No. 21 seed Rune Lawrence picked up one of the most impressive victories of the afternoon.
Matched up with Ohio State's No. 12 seed Luke Geog, Lawrence needed overtime to pull off the upset. Lawrence scored a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to tie the match at six points. In the overtime period, Lawrence scored a takedown in less than a minute to earn his first career victory at the NCAA Championships.
Lawrence went on to lose in the next round to Wyoming's No. 5 seed Joey Novak.
Out of six qualifiers, five will compete on Friday. Redshirt junior Ian Bush is the only Mountaineer to be eliminated, as he went 0-2.
Round One Results
125: No. 17 Jett Strickenberger over No. 16 Ezekiel Witt (NDSU) (MD 13-5)
133: No. 15 Tyler Knox (Stanford) over No. 18 Gunner Andrick (Dec 10-3)
141: No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (ISU) over No. 29 Jordan Titus (Dec 5-1)
157: No. 11 Ty Watters over No. 22 Colton Washleski (UVA) (Fall 2:30)
184: No. 16 Rylan Rogers (LEH) over No. 17 Ian Bush (Dec 8-7)
197: No. 21 Rune Lawrence over No. 12 Luke Geog (OSU) (Dec 9-6 SV-1)
Round Two Results
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) over No. 17 Jett Strickenberger (Dec 4-2)
157: No. 11 Ty Watters over No. 6 Jude Swisher (Penn) (Dec 7-1)
197: No. 5 Joey Novak (WYO) over No. 21 Rune Lawrence (Fall 4:56)
Round One Consolation Results
133: No. 18 Gunner Andrick over No. 31 Gabe Strickland (Lock Haven) (Dec 6-1)
141: No. 29 Jordan Titus takes over No. 20 Julian Tagg (SDSU) (Dec 9-4)
184: No. 32 Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley) over No. 17 Ian Bush (Dec 4-1 SV-1)
Schedule
Friday, March 20
- Noon ET: Session III (Quarterfinals, Consolation Matches) - ESPNU
- 8:00 p.m. ET: Session IV (Semifinals, Consolation Matches) - ESPN2
- 11:00 a.m. ET: Session V (Medal Matches) - ESPNU
- 6:30 p.m. ET: Session VI (Finals) - ESPN
Players Mentioned
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