Mountaineers Stumble vs. No. 8 Wolfpack
RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 5, 2016) – Three Mountaineers claimed wins as the West Virginia wrestling team dropped a 30-9 dual at No. 8 NC State on Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
Devin Brown (125), Joe Wheeling (141) and No. 5 Jacob A. Smith (197) won by decision for the Mountaineers (2-11, 0-2).
“We had some good performances today,” WVU coach Sammie Henson said. “It was good to see Jake, Joe and Devin get some wins. But we still have a lot of work to do, especially with some Big 12 duals coming up.”
Brown started the Mountaineers off with a win by decision at 125. After yielding a takedown to Tommy Cox late in the first, Brown started on top and got the tilt for a pair of nearfall points to start the second. Cox escaped, but Brown added another takedown. Another Cox escape tied the bout 4-4 heading into the third. Starting on bottom, Brown scored an escape in the third and added another takedown. He tacked on the point for riding time to take an 8-4 win and give WVU a 3-0 lead over NC State.
Cory Stainbrook dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 14 Jamal Morris at 133 pounds as the Wolfpack tied the score 3-3 after two bouts. Joe Wheeling then earned a win at 141 to put the Mountaineers back on top. After giving up a takedown to Robbie Rizzolino, Wheeling used a reversal to tie the score 2-2 after three minutes of action. A second-period escape put Wheeling up 2-1 before he started the third on top. Wheeling rode Rizzolino through the period, adding a point for riding time to take the 4-2 decision and put the Mountaineers on top, 6-3.
Christian Monserrat dropped a hard-fought, 4-2 decision to No. 11 Sam Speno on riding time at 149 to tie the team score, 6-6. The Wolfpack took bonus-point victories in the next four bouts, including a pair of pins and a pair of major decisions, for a 26-6 advantage with two bouts remaining.
Smith added three more to the Mountaineers’ tally with a win by decision over Malik McDonald at 197. Striking early with a takedown, Smith took a 2-1 lead into the second period. He started on bottom and scored a reversal, putting his lead at 4-1 after five minutes of action. Smith started on top in the third, yielding an escape and a takedown to McDonald to tie the score at 4-4. Smith escape, tying the score at 5-5 before adding another takedown in the closing seconds of regulation. He added the point for riding time in winning the 8-5 decision.
NC State capped the dual with a 10-2 major decision at heavyweight for the 30-9 win.
West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Thursday to host No. 19 South Dakota State on Thursday in a 7 p.m. Big 12 dual at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers will then welcome Iowa State on Sunday.
No. 8 NC State 30 West Virginia 9
125: Devin Brown (WVU) dec. Tommy Cox (NCSU), 8-4
133: No. 14 Jamal Morris (NCSU) dec. Cory Stainbrook (WVU), 8-4
141: Joe Wheeling (WVU) dec. Robbie Rizzolino (NCSU), 4-2
149: No. 11 Sam Speno (NCSU) dec. Christian Monserrat, 4-2
157: Thomas Bullard (NCSU) pins Dayton Garrett (WVU), 4:41
165: Brian Hamann (NCSU) major dec. Ryan Lopez (WVU), 8-0
174: Nick Reenan (NCSU) pins Ty Millward (WVU), 2:25
184: No.10 Michael Macchiavello (NCSU) major dec. Parker VonEgidy (WVU), 12-4
197: No. 5 Jacob A. Smith (WVU) dec. Malik McDonald (NCSU), 8-5
HWT: Mike Kosoy (NCSU) major dec. Brandon Ngati (WVU), 10-2
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