The West Virginia University wrestling team, ranked No. 18 nationally, is set to compete in Iowa this weekend against two top-ranked opponents. The Mountaineers will face No. 4 Iowa State on Friday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, with the match airing on ESPN+. On Saturday, they travel to Cedar Falls to wrestle No. 15 Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center, which will be broadcast on FloWrestling.
This road trip continues a challenging schedule for West Virginia (9-4 overall, 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference), marking their seventh and eighth matches against ranked teams this season. The Mountaineers currently hold a 2-4 record against ranked opponents.
In their previous outing, West Virginia suffered only its second conference loss of the season against then-No. 20 Missouri. Despite the defeat, several wrestlers had strong performances. Graduate student Jett Strickenberger, who is ranked eighth nationally at 125 pounds, secured his sixth win over a ranked opponent this year and has only one loss within Big 12 competition. Freshman Gunner Andrick, ranked No. 16 at 133 pounds, also notched his sixth conference victory and leads the team with 19 wins overall.
Redshirt sophomore Ty Watters remains undefeated against ranked opponents with a 7-0 record and just one loss all season. He is currently ranked seventh nationally at 157 pounds.
The projected lineup for West Virginia includes: Jett Strickenberger (125), Gunner Andrick (133), Jordan Titus (141), TJ Langley or Willie McDougald (149), Ty Watters (157), Sasha Gavronsky or Cole Evans (165), Brody Conley (174), Ian Bush (184), Rune Lawrence (197), and Brock Kehler (heavyweight).
Iowa State’s probable starters feature several highly-ranked wrestlers such as Stevo Poulin at 125 pounds and Yonger Bastida at heavyweight.
Northern Iowa’s projected roster also includes multiple nationally-ranked athletes across weight classes.