West Virginia Wrestling

WVU Caps Season at NCAA Championships

NEW YORK (March 18, 2016) – Dylan Cottrell dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 6 seed Oklahoma State in the consolation round as the West Virginia University wrestling team’s season came to an end at the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Cottrell went 2-1 on the day and 3-2 in the tournament, missing All-America honors by one round. The Mountaineers are in 47th place with 4.0 team points midway through Friday evening’s semifinal session.

The Spencer, West Virginia native, found himself in an early 2-0 hole against Smith, who is the son of OSU’s head wrestling coach John Smith. Cottrell escaped to cut the deficit and trail 2-1 after one period before starting on top in the second and riding Smith for the first 30 seconds. Smith escape to claim a 3-1 advantage, which he took into the third period. Starting in the defensive position, Cottrell escape to cut the deficit to one, down 3-2 before Smith registered another takedown. Cottrell escaped again to put the score at 5-3, but couldn’t generate any offense and dropped the bout to end his run.

Cottrell started the session with a 4-0 decision against Richie Lewis of Rutgers in the second round of wrestle-backs. After a scoreless first period, Lewis chose the defensive position for the second and Cottrell was solid on top, riding Lewis through the period. Going down to start the third, Cottrell quickly took a 1-0 lead on an escape and scored a takedown with 45 seconds remaining to push his lead to 3-0. He tacked on the riding time point to make it a 4-0 victory.

Against No. 16 Markus Scheidel of Columbia, Cottrell struck two minutes into the first with a takedown but lost out on riding time after the official determined he locked hands. Scheidel was awarded a point to make the bout 2-1 in favor of Cottrell. He covered Scheidel and was warned for stalling to start the second before Scheidel escaped to tie the score 2-2. Cottrell struck with another takedown in the closing seconds of the third for a 4-2 advantage. Starting on bottom, he escaped early to make it 5-2 in the third but was called for stalling again, giving a point to Scheidel. Leading 5-3, Cottrell scored his third takedown of the match with ten seconds to go and tacked on riding time for the 8-3 win to advance to the blood round.

Bubba Scheffel dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 12 seed Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State in the second round of the 184 wrestle-backs on Friday morning, while No. 13 seed Jacob A. Smith suffered a 4-0 setback to Oklahoma State’s Preston Weigel as both of their tournament runs came to an end.

Results

Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: Dylan Cottrell (WVU) dec. Richie Lewis (RUT), 4-0
Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 184: No. 12 Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 5-0
Second Rd. Wrestle-backs – 197: Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 4-0
Third Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: Dylan Cottrell (WVU) dec. No. 16 Markus Scheidel (COL), 8-3
Fourth Rd. Wrestle-backs – 157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) dec. Dylan Cottrell (WVU), 5-3




Mountaineers Complete Day One at NCAAs

NEW YORK (March 17, 2016) – All three West Virginia University wrestlers are alive in the consolation bracket of the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champions after two sessions at Madison Square Garden in New York on Thursday.

No. 13 Jacob A. Smith won a 3-2 decision in his first round match up against Cornell’s Owen Scott to advance to the championship second round at 197. However, a loss Thursday evening to No. 4 seed Nathan Burak of Iowa pushed him into Saturday morning’s wrestle-backs, where he will face Big 12 foe Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State. Dylan Cottrell (157) and Bubba Scheffel (184) each dropped their first round bouts, but bounced back with wins in the first round of wrestle-backs. Cottrell will face Richie Lewis of Rutgers and Scheffel is slated to meet North Dakota State’s Hayden Zillmer.

The third session, which consists of two rounds of wrestle-backs and the third championship round, will start at 11 a.m. EST Friday. Coverage is available on ESPNU, ESPN3 and TrackWrestling.com. Wrestlers in the consolation brackets remain in contention for third place and All-America honors.

“We showed a lot of fight this round,” said head coach Sammie Henson. “That was a huge win from Bubba this round. You have to commit to riding tough and grinding it out in this tournament. Our men our fighting and leaving it all on the mat. We need to keep it going one match at a time and be ready to come out and attack in tomorrow morning’s session.”

Neither Smith nor Scott scored in the first period, with Smith scoring first on a quick escape in the second period. Scott returned the favor at the start of the third to knot the score 1-1. Smith scored a takedown midway through the period, making it 3-1. Scott escaped soon after, but Smith held on to win the 3-2 decision.

In his second match of the day against Burak, Smith found himself down 1-0 after Burak took bottom and escaped in the second period. Burak then registered a takedown to make it a 3-0 lead as the two entered the third. Smith started in the defensive position and escaped, but Burak took him down twice and earned the riding time point. Smith dropped the 8-2 decision and will move to Friday morning’s consolation bracket, where he will face either

Cottrell dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 10 John Boyle of American in the first round. Neither wrestler scored in the first period, with Cottrell opting to go to the defensive position to start the second. A quick escape put him up 1-0 and took that lead into the third period. Starting on bottom, Boyle evened the score early in the period. He then used a takedown and a pair of near fall points in a taking a 5-1 advantage. Cottrell escaped and earn a penalty point as Boyle was hit for stalling in the closing seconds of the period. However, it wasn’t enough as he dropped the bout to move to wrestle-backs.

He then bounced back to win a 9-1 major decision over VMI’s Neal Richards in his first consolation bout. Cottrell used a first-period takedown and a pair of near fall points to take a 4-0 lead. Richards opted for a neutral start and Cottrell capitalized with another takedown for a 6-0 advantage midway through. Cottrell also went for a neutral start in the third, scoring his third takedown of the match for an 8-0 lead. Richards escaped, but Cottrell tacked on the point for riding time in scoring the major decision. He will face Richie Lewis of Rutgers in his second wrestle-back bout on Friday morning.

Scheffel will also move to wrestle-backs after dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 11 Lorenzo Thomas of Penn. After a scoreless first period, Scheffel started the second on bottom and couldn’t escape as Thomas accrued 2:00 of riding time. Scheffel covered Thomas to start the third, with Thomas escaping early on for a 1-0 lead. He then added a takedown as Scheffel found himself in a 3-0 hole. A late reversal put Scheffel on the board down 3-2, before Thomas claimed the riding time point and the 4-2 decision.

Scheffel also rebounded with a win in the consolation bracket, taking down Ohio State’s Kenny Courts in his first wrestle-back match. Courts used an early takedown for a 2-1 lead in the first after Scheffel escaped. Scheffel chose bottom the start the second, and escaped to tie the score 2-2 before Courts added another takedown for a 4-2 advantage. Scheffel escaped again and struck with a takedown of his own, taking a 5-4 advantage into the third. Courts chose third in the final period and Scheffel rode him out, adding the riding time points for the 6-4 decision.

Results

Championship Round 1 - 157: No. 10 John Boyle (AU) dec. Dylan Cottrell (WVU), 5-3
Championship Round 1 - 184: No. 11 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) dec. Bubba Scheffel (WVU), 4-2
Championship Round 1 - 197: No. 13 Jacob A. Smith (WVU) dec. Owen Scott (Corn), 3-2
Championship Round 2 - 197: No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. No. 13 Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 8-2
First Round Wrestle-backs – 157: Dylan Cottrell (WVU) major dec. Neal Richards (VMI), 9-1
First Round Wrestle-backs – 184: Bubba Scheffel (WVU dec. Kenny Courts (OSU), 6-4

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