WVU Falls Short at No. 9 Cornell

From the WVU Website

By Amy Salvatore
November 17, 2018

By Amy Salvatore

Despite taking a 9-0 lead after three matches and holding a 15-11 edge with two bouts remaining, the West Virginia University wrestling team fell to No. 9 Cornell, 20-15, on Saturday afternoon, at Newman Arena, in Ithaca, New York.

The Mountaineers (1-1, 1-0) collected five wins by decision to split the 10 duals with the Big Red (2-0). However, it was the bonus victories that made the difference, as Cornell earned a pair of major decisions and one pin in the match.

"Our guys competed hard and put us in position to beat a good team," first-year coach Tim Flynn said. "I can't wait for another opportunity against Northern Iowa at home tomorrow."

Starting at 197 pounds, redshirt freshman Noah Adams picked up his first dual victory of the season with a 13-7 decision over No. 18 Ben Honis. Adams used a first-period takedown and four nearfall points for the 6-0 lead to start the second. He later earned a pair of escapes before racking up two more takedowns in the final frame to put the Mountaineers on the board first.

Redshirt junior David Smith notched a huge 10-6 decision over Brenden Furman at heavyweight, while redshirt freshman KJ Fenstermacher increased the Mountaineers' lead to nine with a 7-3 decision over Dominic LaJoie at 125 pounds.

Holding a 9-0 match lead, true freshman Caleb Rea earned the nod in a Gold and Blue singlet for the first time in his young career. However, Cornell's Vito Arujau came out on top with a 17-3 major decision at 133 pounds. Freshman Luke Martin also received the opportunity at 141, but fell short in a 6-2 decision to No. 15 Chas Tucker, as Cornell cut its deficit to two, down 9-7.

Redshirt senior Christian Monserrat got the Mountaineers back on track with a hard-fought 8-7 decision over Hunter Richard at 149 pounds. Monserrat took a slim 7-6 lead into the final period, as Richard started on bottom, earning the escape to knot the match at 7-7. However, the riding time was in favor of Monserrat, putting him on top, 8-7, at the end of regulation.

The Mountaineers held a 12-7 lead into the final four bouts, but West Virginia's momentum began to shift in Cornell's favor, as redshirt sophomore Hunter Jones dropped an 11-1 major decision to Fredy Stroker at 157 pounds.

Sophomore Nick Kiussis dominated from the opening whistle for a 7-1 decision over Milik Dawkins at 165 pounds to put the Mountaineers up by four in team scoring, but the Big Red prevailed and won the final two bouts at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, for the 20-15 team win.

WVU returns to the WVU Coliseum on Sunday, rounding out the month of November with a 1 p.m. match against No. 14 Northern Iowa.

Prior to Sunday's match, the Mountaineers will host a free youth clinic, open to any and all entrants in eighth grade and below. All youth clinic participants will be admitted free to the match, with the match set to begin at 1 p.m. To pre-register, email WVUSportsMarketing@mail.wvu.edu.

Additionally, the first 250 youth fans in attendance will receive a free WVU wrestling mask. Autographs also will take place following the match. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVUGAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum. All tickets are general admission.

Sunday's match against the Panthers will be streamed live for free on WVUsports.com/Watch and the WVU Gameday App. Fans also can watch the stream live via Roku and Apple TV by searching for the "West Virginia Mountaineers" channel. Tony Onarato and Joe Mitchin will have the call.

Additionally, Sunday's match will be broadcasted live on FloWrestling.com, with live stats provided on TrackWrestling. Direct links to the video stream and live stats can be found on the wrestling schedule page on WVUsports.com.

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

No. 9 Cornell 20, West Virginia 15
197: Noah Adams (WVU) dec. No. -/-/18 Ben Honis (Cornell), 13-7
285: David Smith (WVU) dec. Brendan Furman (Cornell), 10-6 125: KJ Fenstermacher (WVU) dec. Dominic LaJoie (Cornell), 7-3
133: Vito Arujau (Cornell) major dec. Caleb Rea (WVU), 17-3
141: No. 12/-/15 Chas Tucker (Cornell) dec. Luke Martin (WVU), 6-2
149: Christian Monserrat (WVU) dec. Hunter Richard (Cornell), 8-7
157: Fredy Stroker (Cornell) major dec. Hunter Jones (WVU), 11-1
165: Nick Kiussis (WVU) dec. Milik Dawkins (Cornell), 7-1
174: No. 16/16/16 Brandon Womack (Cornell) dec. Josh Ramirez (WVU), 6-4
184: No. 8/8/9 Max Dean (Cornell) wins by fall over Jackson Moomau (WVU), F 2:46



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