The No. 18 West Virginia University wrestling team was defeated by No. 4 Iowa State, 32-7, in a dual meet on Friday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
West Virginia’s only victories came from freshman Gunner Andrick and redshirt junior Ian Bush. Andrick, ranked No. 16, secured a 5-0 decision over Adrian Meza for his seventh win against Big 12 opponents this season. Bush, ranked No. 22, achieved a major decision with a 14-0 victory over Aiden Riggins.
Redshirt sophomore Ty Watters, who is ranked seventh nationally, suffered just his second loss of the year to No. 8 Vinny Zerban by a score of 5-2.
Graduate student Willie McDougald returned to competition for the first time since December and narrowly missed an upset against No. 8 Jacob Frost in the 149-pound match. McDougald managed a late takedown in the third period; however, Frost escaped before time expired to claim the win.
Iowa State claimed eight out of ten matches during the dual.
Full results were as follows:
At 125 pounds, Stevo Poulin (ISU) defeated Jett Strickenberger (WVU) by major decision (14-4). At 133 pounds, Gunner Andrick (WVU) beat Adrian Meza (ISU) by decision (5-0). At 141 pounds, Anthony Echemendia (ISU) won over Jordan Titus (WVU) by major decision (12-3). In the 149-pound bout, Jacob Frost (ISU) edged Willie McDougald (WVU) by decision (6-5). At 157 pounds, Vinny Zerban (ISU) bested Ty Watters (WVU) by decision (5-2). Connor Euton (ISU), competing at 165 pounds, took a technical fall over Sasha Gavronsky (WVU), finishing at 20-4 in six minutes and two seconds. At 174 pounds, MJ Gaitan (ISU) earned a narrow victory over Brody Conley (WVU), winning by decision at 5-4. Ian Bush’s major decision win for WVU came at the expense of Aiden Riggins at the 184-pound weight class with a score of 14-0. CJ Carter of ISU scored another technical fall against Cole Tolley of WVU at the 197-pound class with a final score of 22-6 in six minutes and two seconds. In heavyweight action, Yonger Bastida of ISU posted another technical fall over Brock Kehler of WVU with a result of 21-6 after two minutes and forty-four seconds.
West Virginia will face No.15 Northern Iowa on Saturday night at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa; fans can watch live coverage on FloWrestling.