How Mountaineer Wrestlers Fared at Day One of the NCAA Championships

Day One of wrestling for the 2024 NCAA Championships has concluded on Thursday in Kansas City.

West Virginia was represented by five wrestlers, Jett Strickenberger (125), Jordan Titus (141), Ty Watters (149), Peyton Hall (165) and Brody Conley (174).

In the first round, the No. 19-seeded Strickenberger would be bested by the No. 14 seed Nico Provo of Stanford by a 13-4 major decision. Strickenberger took injury time during the match and could not out-wrestle Provo after securing a takedown to keep the match close, early. Then, the No. 13-seeded Titus would suffer an upset loss to No. 20 seed Tom Crook from Virginia Tech by a 4-1 decision. Titus was not able to manufacture a takedown as Crook maintained the redshirt sophomore.

The No. 5-seeded Ty Watters would win by Technical Fall (19-4, 5:21) over the No. 28 seed Logan Gioffre from Missouri. Watters defeated Gioffre earlier in the season 6-1, when the Tigers took the trip to Morgantown to wrestle WVU in a Big 12 Dual in January. Hall, the No. 9 seed also earned a TF (17-2, 6:29) against Prudue’s No. 24-seeded Stoney Buell. Hall, a former All-American held the experience advantage, making his fourth appearance at the championships compared to Buell making his first.

Lastly in the first round, No. 20-seeded Conley was defeated by No. 13 seed Justin McCoy of Virginia by an 8-4 decision. Conley trailed by a takedown entering the third period but allowed a reversal early and was ultimately unable to cut the deficit against the 2023 ACC champion at 165 pounds.

In the second round, Watters notched an 8-0 MD over No. 21-seeded Willie McDougald of Oklahoma, who upset the No. 12 seed from Maryland Ethan Miller. Watters will face No.4-seeded Caleb Henson from Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals on Friday. Hall lost by a narrow 11-9 decision to No.8-seeded Antrell Taylor of Nebraska. Hall will wrestle the No. 26-seeded Dom Baker of Campbell in the second round of wrestlebacks (consolations).

Strickenberger would lose in the first round of consolations to the No. 30-seeded Elijah Griffin of California Baptist by fall (1:41). Titus advances in the consolation bracket after defeating the No. 29 Clay Carlson of South Dakota State by a 5-3 decision. On Friday, Titus will match up against No. 14-seeded Jesse Vasquez, who lost in the second round of the championship bracket. Conley lost in the first round of consolations by a 4-3 decision to the No. 29-seeded Alex Faison of NC State.

Wrestling will begin at Noon EST with session III (Quarterfinals and Consolations) which can be televised on ESPNU and will conclude with session IV (Semifinals and Blood Round) which will be televised on ESPN. Individual mats will be streamed to ESPN+.

Photo courtesy of WVU Athletics