WVU Drops Contest at No. 5 Oklahoma State


By Amy Salvatore
January 19, 2018

STILLWATER, Okla. – Freshman Nick Kiussis notched his fourth pin of the season at 165 pounds, as the West Virginia University wrestling team fell in Big 12 action to No. 5 Oklahoma State, 29-6, inside Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Friday evening.

The Mountaineers (3-4, 2-2 Big 12) have now faced six opponents ranked inside the USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Top 25 Poll this season, with the Cowboys (7-1, 4-0 Big 12) marking WVU's first opponent ranked inside the top five. Despite today's loss, WVU has topped three opponents ranked in this year's top 25.

At 125 pounds, redshirt junior Zeke Moisey wrestled through two scoreless periods before No. 7 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State used an escape in the third frame to gain the 1-0 advantage. Piccininni later notched a takedown and added on the riding point at the end of the bout for the 4-0 decision, putting the Cowboys up 3-0 on the scoreboard to start the match.

Redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt suffered a 6-1 setback to Kaid Brock, who is ranked as high as No. 3 nationally at 133 pounds. Junior Christian Monserrat scored a pair of escapes and a reversal in the final period, but dropped an 11-5 decision to No. 5 Dean Heil at 141 pounds to give OSU a 9-0 lead after three bouts.

The Cowboys then used a pair of major decisions to push their lead to 17-0 before Kiussis won by fall over Dalton Moran in 2:04 to give the Mountaineers six points on the scoreboard.

Trailing 20-6 in the match, the Mountaineers continued to put up a fight against the No. 5 ranked Cowboys. Redshirt senior Parker VonEgidy dropped a hard-fought 9-4 decision to No. 14 Jacobe Smith at 174 pounds. Freshman Brenden McRill then took OSU's Keegan Moore to sudden victory at 184 pounds, but ended up dropping the match with 20 seconds remaining following a takedown from Moore.

At 197 pounds, redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith squared off against No. 3 Preston Weigel in a 2017 Big 12 Championship rematch. Smith notched an early takedown in the first period before Weigel used an escape late in the frame to cut his deficit to one at 2-1. Smith deferred his choice to start the second, which allowed Weigel to escape and tie the match at 2-2. He then added a takedown to go up 4-2 entering the final frame. Smith could not rally in the third, though, as Weigel walked away with the riding point for the 5-2 decision.

No. 10 Derek White won a 10-4 decision over sophomore Brandon Ngati at heavyweight, as the Cowboys took the 29-6 team win over the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers will continue their Big 12 road trip with a match at Iowa State on Sunday, Jan. 21. Sunday's match with the Cyclones will begin at 3 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on CyclonesTV. Live stats can be found on TrackWrestling.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

No. 5 Oklahoma State 26, West Virginia 6
125: No. 7/7/10 Nick Piccininni (OSU) dec. No. 16/14/13 Zeke Moisey (WVU), 4-0
133: No. 3/3/9 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. Matthew Schmitt (WVU), 6-1
141: No. 4/5/5 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Christian Monserrat (WVU), 11-5
149: No. 15/15/15 Boo Lewallen (OSU) major dec. Kyler Rea (WVU), 12-4
157: Jonce Blaylock (OSU) major dec. Zachary Moore (WVU), 13-5
165: Nick Kiussis (WVU) wins by fall Dalton Moran (OSU), F 2:04
174: No. 12/14/10 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. Parker VonEgidy (WVU), 9-4
184: Keegan Moore (OSU) dec. Brenden McRill (WVU), 3-1 [SV-1]
197: No. 3/3/3 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. No. 12/13/15 Jacob A. Smith (WVU), 5-2
285: No. 11/10/11 Derek White (OSU) dec. Brandon Ngati (WVU), 10-4

*Rankings are listed as followed: FloWrestling/Intermat/The Open Mat*

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