UNI wrestling was defeated by West Virginia, 23-13, in a Big 12 dual meet at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls on Saturday night. The Panthers secured four individual match victories but were unable to overcome the Mountaineers, who are ranked No. 19 nationally.
The evening included the retirement of two-time NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist Bill Smith’s jersey and the unveiling of a new competition mat named in his honor.
The dual began at 141 pounds, where Max Brady took an early lead with a takedown against Jordan Titus but ultimately lost 8-5. At 149 pounds, Ethan Basile fell to Willie McDougland, 7-3. Cael Rahnavardi suffered a major decision loss at 157 pounds to Ty Watters of West Virginia.
Ryder Downey put UNI on the scoreboard with a dominant performance at 165 pounds, earning a major decision victory over Sasha Gavronsky. Downey built more than two minutes of riding time and finished with a final score of 12-1 for his 60th career win.
Jared Simma delivered another highlight for UNI at 174 pounds by defeating Brody Conley, ranked No. 14 nationally, with an 8-5 decision—Simma’s fourth win this season against a ranked opponent. Nick Fox lost to Ian Bush at 184 pounds, while Carson Babcock was disqualified during his bout against Rune Lawrence at 197 pounds due to an illegal slam.
Heavyweight Adam Ahrendsen brought energy back to the crowd by defeating Brock Kehler with an 8-3 decision after scoring key points late in the match.
At 125 pounds, Trever Anderson staged a comeback from four points down in the third period to upset Jett Strickenberger—ranked eighth nationally—with an 8-7 victory. Julian Farber closed out the dual for UNI with a loss by major decision to Gunner Andrick at 133 pounds.
“West Virginia has a solid team and they had our legs tired tonight,” said UNI head coach Doug Schwab. “They controlled the space too well and scored a ton. I thought we competed well in situations, but we chased them a lot and got stunned when chasing, so we have to be better in our pursuit. We’ll get our guys ready for tomorrow night to wrestle Iowa State.”
UNI now holds an all-time record of eight wins and one loss against West Virginia following this result.
The Panthers will face No. 4 Iowa State next on February 15 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames; coverage will be available live on ESPN+.
Fans can follow UNI wrestling throughout the season via social media platforms including Facebook (University of Northern Iowa Wrestling), X (@UNI_wrestling), Instagram (@uni_panther_wrestling), or visit their official website at https://unipanthers.com/.