MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (February 29, 2024) – Eight members of the West Virginia University wrestling team remain ranked in the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the third coaches ranking and/or second RPI rating looking forward to this year’s postseason tournament.
In addition, the Big 12 Conference claimed 57 qualifying spots heading into this year’s postseason tournament for the second-most bids out of the seven wrestling conferences. The Big Ten Conference collected a conference-high 85 spots. A breakdown by conference and weight class is shown below:
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 26. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards: win percentage, coaches’ rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches’ ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
The coaches’ ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
Following the completion of all seven conference tournaments, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 47 at-large qualifiers and release them on Tuesday, March 12. Final brackets and seeding are set to be announced on Wednesday, March 13, via NCAA.com at 8 p.m. ET.
True freshman Ty Watters (No. 7 – 19 RPI) at 149 pounds and 2022 All-American Peyton Hall (No. 8 – 21 RPI) at 165 pounds continue to lead the way for the Mountaineers in the top 10 of their respective weight classes. Watters (21-4) ranks as one of the top two wrestlers out of the Big 12 Conference in the division behind Casey Swiderski of Iowa State (No. 6), while Hall (24-5) stays fourth in the conference behind No.1 Keegan O`Toole (Missouri), No. 2 David Carr (Iowa State) and No. 7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), whom the Chester, West Virginia, native defeated 5-1 in dual action earlier this season.
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Titus (21-2) carries on in the rankings at No. 11 and sits at No. 18 in the latest RPI at 141 pounds. The 2023 NCAA qualifier joins Watters and Hall as WVU grapplers with 20 or more wins during the regular season.
Joining the trio in the rankings are junior Jett Strickenberger (No. 30 – 20 RPI) at 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Brody Conley (No. 25 – 24 RPI) at 174 pounds and redshirt junior Dennis Robin (No. 30 – 21 RPI) at 184 pounds. Redshirt junior Austin Cooley (29 RPI) at 197 pounds and redshirt senior Michael Wolfgram (20 RPI) at heavyweight round out the group in contention by earning spots in the RPI.
As the field stands, coach Tim Flynn’s 2024 squad would match the 1990 (eight), 1999 (eight) and 2003 (nine) squads as the only other teams in program history to send eight or more competitors to the national tournament. No team in school history has reached the threshold of all 10 starters qualifying for the event.
West Virginia begins postseason action at the 2024 Big 12 Championship from March 9-10. The two-day event returns to the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the eighth straight year.
Two weeks later, the Mountaineers travel to Kansas City, Missouri, to take part in the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will feature 330 wrestlers across 10 weight classes clashing for a spot on the podium inside the T-Mobile Center from March 21-23. Kansas City plays host to the event for the first time since 2003 and second time in history, marking the 11th time the postseason tournament has been held in Missouri.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
In addition, the Big 12 Conference claimed 57 qualifying spots heading into this year’s postseason tournament for the second-most bids out of the seven wrestling conferences. The Big Ten Conference collected a conference-high 85 spots. A breakdown by conference and weight class is shown below:
Conference | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | Total |
Big Ten Conference | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 85 |
Big 12 Conference | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 57 |
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 53 |
Atlantic Coast Conference | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
Pacific-12 Conference | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
Mid-American Conference | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
Southern Conference | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
Pre-Allocations | 27 | 28 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 283 |
At-Large | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 47 |
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 26. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards: win percentage, coaches’ rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches’ ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
The coaches’ ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
Following the completion of all seven conference tournaments, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 47 at-large qualifiers and release them on Tuesday, March 12. Final brackets and seeding are set to be announced on Wednesday, March 13, via NCAA.com at 8 p.m. ET.
True freshman Ty Watters (No. 7 – 19 RPI) at 149 pounds and 2022 All-American Peyton Hall (No. 8 – 21 RPI) at 165 pounds continue to lead the way for the Mountaineers in the top 10 of their respective weight classes. Watters (21-4) ranks as one of the top two wrestlers out of the Big 12 Conference in the division behind Casey Swiderski of Iowa State (No. 6), while Hall (24-5) stays fourth in the conference behind No.1 Keegan O`Toole (Missouri), No. 2 David Carr (Iowa State) and No. 7 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State), whom the Chester, West Virginia, native defeated 5-1 in dual action earlier this season.
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Titus (21-2) carries on in the rankings at No. 11 and sits at No. 18 in the latest RPI at 141 pounds. The 2023 NCAA qualifier joins Watters and Hall as WVU grapplers with 20 or more wins during the regular season.
Joining the trio in the rankings are junior Jett Strickenberger (No. 30 – 20 RPI) at 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Brody Conley (No. 25 – 24 RPI) at 174 pounds and redshirt junior Dennis Robin (No. 30 – 21 RPI) at 184 pounds. Redshirt junior Austin Cooley (29 RPI) at 197 pounds and redshirt senior Michael Wolfgram (20 RPI) at heavyweight round out the group in contention by earning spots in the RPI.
As the field stands, coach Tim Flynn’s 2024 squad would match the 1990 (eight), 1999 (eight) and 2003 (nine) squads as the only other teams in program history to send eight or more competitors to the national tournament. No team in school history has reached the threshold of all 10 starters qualifying for the event.
West Virginia begins postseason action at the 2024 Big 12 Championship from March 9-10. The two-day event returns to the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the eighth straight year.
Two weeks later, the Mountaineers travel to Kansas City, Missouri, to take part in the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will feature 330 wrestlers across 10 weight classes clashing for a spot on the podium inside the T-Mobile Center from March 21-23. Kansas City plays host to the event for the first time since 2003 and second time in history, marking the 11th time the postseason tournament has been held in Missouri.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
