2008-09 Wrestling Schedule Announced
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (October 20, 2008) – WVU wrestling Head Coach Craig Turnbull has announced the 2008-09 wrestling schedule, which is highlighted by trips to major tournaments and several home meets against upper-echelon programs. The Mountaineers return eight dual starters, including 11 letterwinners from a season ago.
WVU will open its season with the WVU Open on Nov. 15 at the Coliseum. Seven days later, the team will compete in the Navy Classic, which will be held in Annapolis, Md.
For the second straight year, the Mountaineers were invited to the 2008 Journeymen/Brute Sprawl & Brawl at Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y. WVU will wrestle against Columbia and North Carolina. The Tar Heels sent six wrestlers to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
The Mountaineers will follow with the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5, a tournament comprised of some of the most elite programs in the nation. The 43-team event includes national powerhouses such as Cornell, Michigan, NC State and Ohio State.
The schedule will continue to test the Mountaineers as they will travel to Penn State on Dec. 14, and then wrestle at the Midlands Classic Dec. 29-30.
“The Las Vegas Tournament always is a test,” Turnbull said. “There are probably two to three tournaments prior to the NCAA Tournament that are national-caliber tournaments and Las Vegas is one, and the Midlands Classic is the other. Generally, if you compete well in that, then you know that you’re near the position that you want to be in to compete well in the NCAA Tournament.”
On Jan. 2, WVU will open its home campaign against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association powerhouse, Lehigh, at 6 p.m. The Mountaineers then play host to back-to-back quality Big Ten opponents, Illinois (Jan. 9) and Michigan State (Jan. 17).
“We have a nice mix of different conferences on the schedule this year and that was purposeful with the different qualifying systems,” Turnbull continued. “We wanted to get teams from different conferences so that we could have that comparison in the evaluation to qualify for nationals.”
Following a non-league meet at Duquesne on Jan. 17, WVU will commence its Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) schedule with a Jan. 23 contest at Bloomsburg. The squad then travels to Clarion (Jan. 24), Lock Haven (Jan. 31), and finally Pitt on Feb. 6 for a repeat of last year’s down-to-the-wire match.
WVU remains home for its final three matches of the season, with the first one coming against non-league opponent Ohio on Feb. 14. One of the biggest in-league tests of the season takes place on Feb. 20 when the Mountaineers play host to 2008 EWL Champion, Edinboro, at 8 p.m. On Feb. 22, the Mountaineers take on Cleveland State as the last regular-season opponent.
“It should be really an exciting home schedule for fans and alumni to come into the WVU Coliseum and see some good wrestling,” Turnbull said. “I believe that the league stays pretty competitive and we’ll prepare the best we can and be ready to wrestle.”
The EWL Championships are scheduled to take place on March 7, 2009, at Lock Haven, and the NCAA Championships will ensue from March 19-21 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
West Virginia University
Wrestling Schedule 2008-09
DATE OPPONENT TIME LOCATION
Nov. 15 WVU Open All Day AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Nov. 22 at Navy Classic All Day AT Annapolis, Md.
Nov. 23 vs. Columbia with North Carolina 9:45 a.m. AT Vestal, N.Y.
Dec. 5-6 Las Vegas Invitational All Day AT Las Vegas, Nev.
Dec. 14 at Penn State 1:00 p.m. AT University Park, Pa.
Dec. 29-30 at Midlands Classic All Day AT Chicago, Ill.
Jan. 2 Lehigh 6:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Jan. 9 Illinois 8:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Jan. 17 Michigan State 7:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Jan. 18 at Duquesne 7:00 p.m. AT Pittsburgh, Pa.
Jan. 23 at Bloomsburg 7:30 p.m. AT Bloomsburg, Pa.
Jan. 24 at Clarion 7:00 p.m. AT Clarion, Pa.
Jan. 31 at Lock Haven 7:00 p.m. AT Lock Haven, Pa.
Feb. 6 at Pitt 7:00 p.m. AT Pittsburgh, Pa.
Feb. 14 Ohio 7:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Feb. 20 Cleveland State 8:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
Feb. 22 Edinboro 1:00 p.m. AT Morgantown, W.Va.
March 7 EWL Championships All Day AT Lock Haven, Pa.
March 19-21 NCAA Championships All Day AT St. Louis, Mo.
Schedule in printer friendly .pdf format
All times Eastern and subject to change
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