Wrestling Welcomes West Virginia Sunday

Sunday, January 19

Norman, Okla.

1:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

West Virginia

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Photo by: TBD

Wrestling Welcomes West Virginia Sunday

January 18, 2020 | Wrestling

Buy Tickets Live Stats Dual Notes

By: Athletics Communications

²³ Oklahoma

West Virginia

Sunday, Jan. 19 / 1 p.m. CT / Norman

Tickets / FSOK / Live Stats / Dual Notes

Projected Starters with FloWrestling Rankings
Weight	Wrestler	Record
Oklahoma
125	Christian Moody	4-10
133	No. 18 Anthony Madrigal	13-6
141	No. 6 Dom Demas	16-2
149	No. 24 Jacob Butler	11-8
157	No. 20 Justin Thomas	13-5
165	Sam Dover	1-5
174	No. 10 Anthony Mantanona	12-4
184	Darrien Roberts	8-6
197	No. 13 Jake Woodley	12-5
HWT	Josiah Jones	5-11
West Virginia
125	Joey Thomas	11-10
133	Lucas Seibert	7-13
141	Caleb Rea	11-10
149	Seth Hogue	13-9
157	Alex Hornfeck	12-11
165	No. 25 Nick Kiussis	9-7
174	Scott Joll	9-12
184	Jackson Moomau	9-12
197	No. 5 Noah Adams	23-0
HWT	Brandon Ngati	13-9

NORMAN - The No. 23/29 (FloWrestling/Trackwrestling) Oklahoma wrestling squad welcomes No. NR/23 West Virginia to McCasland Field House for a Big 12 showdown at 1 p.m. CT Sunday, Jan. 19.

The Sooners (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big 12) return home with momentum, coming off an impressive 35-6 victory at Ohio University on Jan. 5 that was their most dominant dual victory since Nov. 2011. The Mountaineers (3-7 overall, 0-2 Big 12) are looking to rebound from a 37-9 loss at the hands of No. 15/11 Oklahoma State in Stillwater Friday night.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma rolled past the Ohio Bobcats (2-4, 0-1 MAC), 35-6, in its final non-conference dual on Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The 26-point margin of victory was OU's largest since a 53-0 win over Sacred Heart on Nov. 11, 2017.

Dom Demas (141), Justin Thomas (157) and Anthony Mantanona (174) tallied six team points each with pins. Mantanona's 24-second pin of Ohio's Logan Stanley was his team-leading seventh of the season and the fastest of his 13 career pins. Anthony Madrigal (133) also recorded bonus points for the Sooners with his 19-4 tech fall victory.

Four other Sooners claimed victories in the dual. At 149, Jacob Butler topped then-No. 23 Alec Hagan for the second time on the season with an 8-4 decision. Christian Moody (125), Darrien Roberts (184) and Jake Woodley (197) also won by decision.

SOONERS IN THE RANKINGS

As a team, the Sooners are ranked No. 23 and No. 29 by FloWrestling and Trackwrestling, respectively. OU enters the weekend with six Sooners ranked in at least two of three major ranking services: FloWrestling, InterMat and Trackwrestling.

Dom Demas is ranked fourth at 141 by InterMat, sixth by Flo and seventh by Trackwrestling. Jake Woodley (197) is 13th, according to Flo and InterMat, and 11th in Track's rankings. Justin Thomas (157) sits at 17 in the InterMat and Track rankings and 20 in FloWrestling's list. Anthony Madrigal is ranked No. 18/17/23.

Anthony Mantanona (174) and Jacob Butler (149) find themselves in two polls each. Mantanona is ranked No. 10 by Flo and No. 16 by Track. After defeating then-No. 23 Alec Hagan of Ohio on Jan. 5, Butler made his first career appearance in the rankings, and he now sits at No. 24 in Flo's rankings and No. 19 in the InterMat list.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION

For Oklahoma head coach Lou Rosselli and West Virginia head coach Tim Flynn, Sunday's dual is a personal one. Flynn served as an assistant coach at Edinboro during Rosselli's final two years as a wrestler for the Fighting Scots, and Rosselli spent 11 years as an assistant at his alma mater, including a stint under Flynn at the head coaching reins.

Rosselli is in his fourth season as the Sooners' head coach, while Flynn is in his second with the Mountaineers. Sunday will be the second time the friends have squared off in a Big 12 battle, with Rosselli's squad coming out on top in the 2018-19 matchup, 26-17.

BACK FOUR MORE

The Sooners return four of five 2018-19 NCAA qualifiers to this season's starting lineup: Christian Moody (125), Dom Demas (141), Justin Thomas (157) and Jake Woodley (197).

OU's returning qualifiers have combined for an impressive 45-23 combined record on the season. In the Sooners' first four duals this season, Demas, Moody, Thomas and Woodley are a combined 12-2, collecting a total of 45 team points.

In addition to the four returning qualifiers, Anthony Madrigal (133) and Anthony Mantanona (174) have both been solid veterans for the Oklahoma squad. Madrigal (13-6) has gone 8-1 against ranked opponents, defeating then-Nos. 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 25. Mantanona (12-4) leads the team in victories via fall with seven pins, all in 3:16 or less.

DEMAS DOMINATING

Redshirt sophomore Dom Demas (141) has carried the momentum from his All-American redshirt freshman season into the 2019-20 campaign. The reigning Big 12 champion is 4-0 in OU's first duals and has earned top-three finishes at all three tournaments: second place at the Michigan State Open, first place at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic and third place at the Cliff Keen Invitational.

The Columbus, Ohio, native leads the team in wins (16) and technical falls (5) and is second in pins (4).

MATCH INFO

Sunday's contest with West Virginia will be at McCasland Field House at 1 p.m. Doors will open at 12 p.m., and fans can pick up free takedown signs, posters and schedule cards. In honor of National Popcorn Day, fans have access to a free popcorn bar in the lobby of McCasland Field House during the dual.

Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424.

The match will be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma, and live stats can be found here.

OU Athletics utilizes a clear bag policy and walk-through metal detectors at all home events. More information on the policy and procedures can be found here.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter, or like Sooner Wrestling on Facebook.