Six members of the West Virginia University wrestling team are set to compete at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will take place from March 19 to March 21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
This marks the largest group of Mountaineers qualifying for the national tournament since 2023. Under head coach Tim Flynn, West Virginia has consistently produced All-Americans, with at least one wrestler earning that honor in six of his seven seasons leading the program.
The Mountaineers are aiming for their third consecutive top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships after placing 18th in 2025 and 17th in 2024. The last time West Virginia achieved three straight top-20 finishes was from 2002 to 2005, when it placed in the top-20 four years in a row.
First-round matchups for West Virginia include Jett Strickenberger (No. 17 seed) facing Ezekiel Witt (No. 16, North Dakota State) at 125 pounds; Gunner Andrick (No. 18) against Tyler Knox (No. 15, Stanford) at 133 pounds; Jordan Titus (No. 29) versus Anthony Echemendia (No. 4, Iowa State) at 141 pounds; Ty Watters (No.11) meeting Colton Washleski (No.22, Virginia) at 157 pounds; Ian Bush (No.17) taking on Rylan Rogers (No.16, Lehigh) at 184 pounds; and Rune Lawrence (No.21) matched up with Luke Geog (No.12, Ohio State) at 197 pounds.
Redshirt senior Jordan Titus is making his fourth career appearance at the NCAA Championships and becomes just the sixteenth Mountaineer in program history to do so. Redshirt sophomore Ty Watters returns after earning All-America honors as a freshman by placing fourth at the championships in his weight class two years ago.
Graduate student Jett Strickenberger and redshirt junior Ian Bush are also returning qualifiers, while freshman Gunner Andrick and redshirt freshman Rune Lawrence will make their debuts on the national stage this year.
All sessions of the championships will be streamed on ESPN+, with select sessions airing on ESPN networks including ESPN2 and ESPNU.