As many of the weekends this spring have been, it was a busy one for WVU Athletics. Baseball and basketball dominate the headlines, but WVU Wrestling and WVU Tennis picked up the biggest wins this weekend. Read more: Weekend round-up: wrestling and tennis come out on top.Â
Other teams that saw action include gymnastics and rifle, as well as track & field.
Related: Waiting for our moment: what Team USA’s Gold means for WVU fans
No. 17 WVU Wrestling takes down Lock Haven in regular season finale
It took a come-from-behind effort for WVU to pull off the 21-15 victory.
LH took the first three bouts of the meet, forcing the Mountaineers’ backs to the wall. Freshman heavyweight Brock Kehler rallied in overtime against Kade Sottolano to get WVU back into it.
The young guns continued to carry their weight in the following bouts.
Redshirt sophomore Louie Gill (125) picked up an 11-6 decision win. Freshman no. 15 Gunner Andrick picked up his third fall victory of the season in under two minutes.
Andrick’s win gave WVU its first lead of the meet, one the Mountaineers clung to the rest of the way. It served as Andrick’s eighth consecutive win.
Ty Watters won outside his typical weight class, getting a tech fall at 165. Watters tallied one of WVU’s five individual victories on the way to the 21-15 triumph.
The 11th win on the season solidifies the campaign as the most successful regular season for WVU since 2014.
WVU Tennis blanks in-state foe Marshall
The Mountaineers (6-1) controlled the meet, wire-to-wire. WVU blanked the Thundering Herd (5-4), 4-0, in Huntington.
All three doubles matches went the distance, since Marshall collected a victory on court two. It took a 6-4 victory from Julie Bousseau/Zuzana Kudlackova and a 7-5 advantage courtesy of Lucia Tognoni/Laura Villanueva Morillo to get the doubles point.
WVU picked up singles points thanks to Audrey Moutama, Kudlackova, and Lyla Byers.
The Mountaineers open Big 12 Conference play against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. WVU and OSU battle it out on February 27.
WVU Rifle shoots for NCAA qualifying
The rifle team (18-1, 5-0) is ranked no. 4 and wrapped up another dominant regular season. The Mountaineers secured their third consecutive GARC title the weekend prior.
Shooting with VMI, WVU shot a score of 4737 in the qualifier. All qualifying scores get tallied up to determine NCAA participants.
The top eight scoring teams make the field, with WVU aiming for a chance at going back-to-back.
WVU Gymnastics tumbles in Tucson
Gymnastics continues to stumble as the schedule enters its epilogue. The team dropped its third straight meet, falling to Arizona in Tucson.
On the bright side, it was the first meet of the season that WVU participated in all 24 events. That is something worth celebrating for coach Butts and company.
The program as a whole is on the rise, despite skidding down the stretch. Senior Night is slated for February 27 against BYU in Morgantown.
What’s next?
It’s championship season.
Wrestling is heading to the Big 12 Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The title is on the line between March 6-7.
Track and Field, while not featured above, nabbed two first place finishes in the team’s regular season finale. They participate in the Big 12 Indoor Championships on February 27-28. The program put out a national champion not too long ago, too.
Swimming and Diving is set to participate in the conference championships in the middle of the week as well.
These Olympic sports outings pair well with incoming conference tournament appearances for both basketball teams. Tennis falls more in line with baseball, with both showing early season success.
Stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WVU Athletics coverage.
