Six West Virginia University wrestlers have received seeds for the 2026 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, according to information released by the Big 12 Conference on Monday. The event will take place March 6-7 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Graduate student Jett Strickenberger leads the Mountaineers as the No. 3 seed in the 125-pound weight class. Other seeded wrestlers from WVU include Gunner Andrick (No. 5 at 133 pounds), Ty Watters (No. 4 at 157 pounds), Brody Conley (No. 7 at 174 pounds), Ian Bush (No. 4 at 184 pounds), and Rune Lawrence (No. 7 at 197 pounds). Both Bush and Lawrence earned first-round byes.
Graduate student Willie McDougald (149 pounds) and freshman Brock Kehler (heavyweight) did not receive seeds and are set to face the top-seeded opponents in their respective classes.
The first-round matchups for WVU are as follows: Strickenberger will face Bryson Valdez of Northern Colorado; Andrick will compete against Carter Schmidt from Oklahoma State; Jordan Titus is matched with No. 8 Jesse Vasquez of California Baptist; McDougald faces No.1 Casey Swiderski from Oklahoma State; Watters takes on Drayden Morton of California Baptist; Sasha Gavronsky is paired with No.2 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa; Conley meets Max Magayna from North Dakota State University; Bush is set to wrestle either No.5 Nick Fox of UNI or Mahroni Rushton from Northern Colorado; Lawrence will face either No.2 Joey Novak of Wyoming or Eli Sheeren from CBU; and Kehler squares off against No.1 Yonger Bastida of Iowa State.
For additional details about West Virginia wrestling, fans can visit WVUsports.com or follow WVUWrestling on X, Instagram, and Facebook.