Oak Glen Alum Becomes Big 12 Champion, All-Time WVU Wins Leader
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TULSA, OK - For the first time in program history, two Mountaineers won gold at the same Big 12 Wrestling Championships as fifth-year Peyton Hall and senior Jett Strickenberger won in their respective weight classes at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sunday night.
Hall, the No. 2 seed, conquered another career milestone as he won his first Big 12 title at 165 pounds.
In a tight match with Missouri's No. 5 seed Cam Steed, Hall rode it out to win by decision, 2-0.
This accomplishment comes on the heels of the fifth-year senior becoming the program's all-time wins leader in the semifinals on Saturday night, surpassing the mark of Greg Jones. Hall now stands at 130-28. Jones had 128 victories.
He was a four-time West Virginia Class A/AA state champion and has qualified for the NCAA National Tournament every year he's been in Morgantown. He is a two-time All-American, finishing eighth as a sophomore and 7th last season.
In the 125-pound match, No. 3 seed Strickenberger needed overtime to defeat Oklahoma State's No. 4 seed Troy Spratley.
West Virginia finished with six Mountaineers on the podium.
Redshirt sophomore Ian Bush, a Cameron graduate, placed fourth in the 197-pound weight class. Redshirt junior Jordan Titus placed sixth in the 141-pound match, marking the second consecutive season that he finished sixth at the conference championships.
Bush, Hall, Strickenberger and Titus each punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships.
As a team, West Virginia placed sixth with 77.5 points. This is the second consecutive season that West Virginia has placed sixth at the conference championships. It ties the program's best finish at the championships since the conference expanded.