A pair of West Virginia wrestlerscaptured All-American honorsand talliedtop-seven finishesto close out their week at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
WVU true freshman Ty Watters claimed the top finish for the Mountaineers at the event, as he finished 5-2 over the course of the week en route to a fourth-place finish in the 149-pound bracket. Watters advanced to the championship bracket quarterfinals, where he fell to Virginia Tech's No. 4-seed Caleb Henson, who has since advanced to the 149-pound bracket championship match.
Watters would recover strong, reeling off three consecutive victories in the Blood Round and the consolation bracket quarterfinals and semifinals -- in the latter round, he earned a pinfall victory over four-time All-American and No. 2-seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State. Watters would finish up competition in the third-place match in the 149-pound class, dropping a 3-2 decision against Tyler Kasak of Penn State
Watters is just the third-ever wrestler in program history to secure a fourth-place finish at the NCAA meet, and the first to earn the accomplishment since Dominick Black in 1991. He became the third-ever true freshman in WVU history to claim All-American honors with his finish, joining former Mountaineer grapplers Brandon Rader (2006) and Zeke Moisey (2015).
He is also the first Mountaineer to secure both a Big 12 Championship as well as a top-8 finish on the mat at nationals and just the 13th in program history to manage a conference title and All-American honors in the same season.
Meanwhile, senior Peyton Hall nabbed a win in the seventh-place bout against No. 8-seed Antrell Taylor of Nebraska. He was able to secure All-American honors with his performance, capping his fourth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships.
The pair of All-American selections marks the first time since 2005 that a duo from WVU has earned that accolade in the same season, and is the fifth-consecutive season for the program producing at least one All-American. It also marks the eighth occurrence -- and first since 2005 -- that multiple wrestlers landed on the podium at the event for WVU.
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