Hall and WVU wrestling cruise in Bearcat Open with solid perfomances | Wrestling

No. 7 ranked Peyton Hall cruised through his 165 lbs bracket on Sunday, as the WVU wrestling team took on the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open at Binghamton University.

Hall started his tournament off to a hot start, pinning his first two opponents. During the quarter finals, Hall defeated Jon Park of Navy 6-0. Hall advanced to the semifinals where he kept the momentum going, facing Dimitri Gamkrielidze of Binghamton, where Hall won the match 11-2.

Hall’s final match of the tournament would be his hardest challenge facing No. 10 ranked Julian Ramirez of Cornell. Hall went up 2-0 in the first period and pinned Ramirez in just under two minutes.

197 pound redshirt Sophomore Austin Cooley had another great tournament this weekend. Cooley placed second in two consecutive tournaments and kept his momentum going throughout the tournament.

He started off slow with a 7-2 win then proceeded to major his opponent in the quarterfinals winning 13-3. Cooley knocked off Jacob Lukas of Navy with an 8-2 win before falling in his finals match to Jacob Kozar of Navy, 11-5.

The Mountaineers had another runner-up finisher this weekend, senior Alex Hornfeck.

Hornfeck placed second in the 157 pound bracket and won his quarters match 3-1. Hornfeck would advance to the finals because of a medical forfeit in his semi finals match, pitting him against No. 1 seed Andrew Cerneglia of Navy in the finals. Cerniglia would defeat Hornfeck, 4-3.

Both juniors Sam Hillegas and Michael Wolfgram placed third in their respective brackets. Hillegas lost his semi finals match 8-3 to Shapiro but he would wrestle back and win his next match with a pin to place third at 149 pounds.

Wolfgram pinned his first opponent, then had a demanding victory in the quarter finals winning 11-2. Wolfgram lost in the semifinals and won his third place match over Evan Anderson.

West Virginia had three wrestlers take fourth place at the tournament as well. Sophomore Michael Dolan of 149 pounds, junior Jack Blumer of 165 pounds, and lastly junior Anthony Carmen of 184 pounds.

The Mountaineers had one wrestler who wrestled unattached. It was last season’s national qualifier, Denis Robin, who placed third at 184 pounds.

West Virginia will return to Morgantown for the season’s home opener on Sunday, Nov. 20. Glenville State, Edinboro, and Northern Colorado will compete in the Mountaineer Quad dual.