OKLAHOMA CITY — West Virginia wrestler Noah Adams became just the second-ever Mountaineer to win a Big 12 title, defeating South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan in the 197-pound weight class Sunday night.
The Coal City native moved to 32-0 and tied the program-record for the most wins in a sophomore season with the win. He has now defeated 13 ranked opponents this year.
“Noah’s win is big for the program, but more importantly, it’s big for him,” said WVU coach Tim Flynn. “He didn’t win this tournament last year, so I know he was pretty hungry to win it this year. We’re going to enjoy this one for a little bit and then focus on the national tournament, but it was a huge accomplishment.”
Including Adams, the Mountaineers ended with five podium finishers as redshirt sophomore Joey Thomas (125), sophomore Caleb Rea (141), sophomore Lucas Seibert (133) and redshirt freshman Alex Hornfeck (157) placed in the top eight of their respective weight brackets.
Adams qualified for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Wrestlers who did not earn a bid at their qualifying tournament may still be eligible for one of 47 at-large bids, which will be announced on March 10, followed by brackets and seeding on March 11 at 6 p.m. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches’ panel rankings, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage.