MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Feb. 10, 2018) – After a month on the road, the West Virginia University wrestling team welcomes No. 12 South Dakota State to Morgantown on Sunday in a 2 p.m. dual at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) will host its annual Cradles for Cancer event against the Jack Rabbits (12-2, 6-0 Big 12) for the second straight year. The match was started by fourth-year coach Sammie Henson in 2015 in honor of his wife, Stephanie, a breast cancer survivor, as a way to raise awareness for cancer. WVU Medicine will be sponsoring the match and collecting donations for the breast cancer program at the WVU Cancer Institute. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and can get the WVU Athletics official "pink" t-shirt with a donation of $10 or more to WVU Medicine.
“My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer right before I got here, so we started this event my first year here, and it has been a great event ever since,” Henson said. “We have some people that are going to be honorary captains this week. They will be sitting on the bench. We’re excited to have them. It’s a great cause and a horrible disease. Whatever we can do to help fight it, we want to do that.”
Mountaineer fans also can bring their valentine to the meet and get two tickets for the price of one. Tickets are available at a cost of $5 for general admission and $3 for youth and seniors. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $2 each. Tickets are available by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU-GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia returns to the Coliseum on Sunday for the first time since Jan. 7, when the squad took down its third ranked foe of the season in then-No. 25 North Dakota State. The Mountaineers have been victorious in their last three matchups at home, boasting a 3-1 record at the WVU Coliseum this season. In fact, all three victories have been against teams ranked inside the USA TODAY/NWCA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
South Dakota State marks West Virginia’s seventh ranked opponent of the year, as both squads are scheduled to meet in dual action for the third time on Sunday. SDSU has won each of the first two meetings, posting an 18-15 victory at Frost Arena in the initial meeting on Feb. 12, 2016, before recording a 32-9 win in Morgantown last season.
“This is a big one,” Henson said. “They are tough. They are ranked 12th in the country, and they have some hammers on their team. They are a senior squad, too, where we are a little bit younger. Bottom line is that it is a Big 12 match-up. This match means a lot heading into the championships, and we want to get some wins here to help get more guys into the national tournament.”
West Virginia came back to Morgantown with a pair of Big 12 wins over Air Force (Feb. 2) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 3) last weekend. The Mountaineers overcame an 18-12 deficit to defeat the Falcons, 19-18, on the third tiebreaker criteria to pick up their first-ever conference road win at Clune Arena in USAF Academy, Colorado. West Virginia then completed its five-day road trip with a 24-16 victory over Northern Colorado, at the Bank of Colorado Arena, in Greeley, Colorado.
“It was great as a team,” Henson said. “We had different individuals that stepped up in each dual. We didn’t expect them to do it. We knew they could do it, but we didn’t expect them to do it, and they did. Leading into this match, hopefully, the altitude out in Denver helped us out a little bit. Then getting a boost from our home crowd will be great.”
Redshirt junior Zeke Moisey, ranked 14th nationally, sports a team-high 18-7 record on the year, winning seven of his last eight duals. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native also paces the Mountaineers with 32 match points and 23 takedowns. Freshman Nick Kiussis, who wrestles at 165 pounds for the Mountaineers, has a team-best five pins on the year.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will cap their regular season slate with a pair of nonconference duals. First up, West Virginia travels to Edinboro, Pennsylvania, for a match with the Fighting Scots on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. The Mountaineers then return home three days later for their final regular-season match of the year, as they take on Clarion in a 2 p.m. ET dual on Sunday, Feb. 18.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram andFacebook.
West Virginia (5-5, 4-3 Big 12) will host its annual Cradles for Cancer event against the Jack Rabbits (12-2, 6-0 Big 12) for the second straight year. The match was started by fourth-year coach Sammie Henson in 2015 in honor of his wife, Stephanie, a breast cancer survivor, as a way to raise awareness for cancer. WVU Medicine will be sponsoring the match and collecting donations for the breast cancer program at the WVU Cancer Institute. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and can get the WVU Athletics official "pink" t-shirt with a donation of $10 or more to WVU Medicine.
“My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer right before I got here, so we started this event my first year here, and it has been a great event ever since,” Henson said. “We have some people that are going to be honorary captains this week. They will be sitting on the bench. We’re excited to have them. It’s a great cause and a horrible disease. Whatever we can do to help fight it, we want to do that.”
Mountaineer fans also can bring their valentine to the meet and get two tickets for the price of one. Tickets are available at a cost of $5 for general admission and $3 for youth and seniors. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $2 each. Tickets are available by visiting WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU-GAME or at the Mountaineer Ticket Office, located at the Gold Gate of the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia returns to the Coliseum on Sunday for the first time since Jan. 7, when the squad took down its third ranked foe of the season in then-No. 25 North Dakota State. The Mountaineers have been victorious in their last three matchups at home, boasting a 3-1 record at the WVU Coliseum this season. In fact, all three victories have been against teams ranked inside the USA TODAY/NWCA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
South Dakota State marks West Virginia’s seventh ranked opponent of the year, as both squads are scheduled to meet in dual action for the third time on Sunday. SDSU has won each of the first two meetings, posting an 18-15 victory at Frost Arena in the initial meeting on Feb. 12, 2016, before recording a 32-9 win in Morgantown last season.
“This is a big one,” Henson said. “They are tough. They are ranked 12th in the country, and they have some hammers on their team. They are a senior squad, too, where we are a little bit younger. Bottom line is that it is a Big 12 match-up. This match means a lot heading into the championships, and we want to get some wins here to help get more guys into the national tournament.”
West Virginia came back to Morgantown with a pair of Big 12 wins over Air Force (Feb. 2) and Northern Colorado (Feb. 3) last weekend. The Mountaineers overcame an 18-12 deficit to defeat the Falcons, 19-18, on the third tiebreaker criteria to pick up their first-ever conference road win at Clune Arena in USAF Academy, Colorado. West Virginia then completed its five-day road trip with a 24-16 victory over Northern Colorado, at the Bank of Colorado Arena, in Greeley, Colorado.
“It was great as a team,” Henson said. “We had different individuals that stepped up in each dual. We didn’t expect them to do it. We knew they could do it, but we didn’t expect them to do it, and they did. Leading into this match, hopefully, the altitude out in Denver helped us out a little bit. Then getting a boost from our home crowd will be great.”
Redshirt junior Zeke Moisey, ranked 14th nationally, sports a team-high 18-7 record on the year, winning seven of his last eight duals. The Northampton, Pennsylvania, native also paces the Mountaineers with 32 match points and 23 takedowns. Freshman Nick Kiussis, who wrestles at 165 pounds for the Mountaineers, has a team-best five pins on the year.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will cap their regular season slate with a pair of nonconference duals. First up, West Virginia travels to Edinboro, Pennsylvania, for a match with the Fighting Scots on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. The Mountaineers then return home three days later for their final regular-season match of the year, as they take on Clarion in a 2 p.m. ET dual on Sunday, Feb. 18.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram andFacebook.