24/25 outlook

[NJwvu12]

The line up next year will look very similar to last years as things stand right now .Strong possibility we ll only have 2 new starters in the line up . If Jett is planning on going 125 again then Maddox a recent transfer from buffalo will be the starter at 133 , I wouldn’t expect him to be much better then Rhodes and the only difference maker left in the portal at 133 is 2x AA Chris Cannon and he is probably both out of our N.I.L. and academic reach .

And 197 seems cleared out for top recruit Rune Lawerence to get the chance if he can make the weight for a season. Outside of these 2 weights everyone else should be familiar
125- Jett Strickenberger - I thought he would move up to 133 , seemed the weight cut was affecting him a bit late in the season but if he gets the weight under control he showed he’s good enough to AA
133- see above

141- Jordan Titus - coming off a strong year hopefully he builds more strength and keeps developing his leg attacks bc guys are looking for his duck now and he needs a little more offense if he wants to AA

149- Watters should be a title contender this year with Henson, Van Ness and Lovett . Sky is limit for Watters he can be a national champ this year . Henson is a tough match up for him but Van Ness owns Henson so Watters can win it without beating him , either way excited to watch another year of his style

157- Most likely Dowling , solid guy maybe a NQ maybe not you know what you are getting , also think it’s possible Hillegas goes 149 and Watters goes up to 157 which would definitely be our best dual lineup but I think lowers Watters ncaa title chances

165- Peyton Halls last run in a cleared out weight, carr graduated , O’Toole up to 174 , Messenbrink down to 157 , maybe Haines goes 165 maybe he RS ..Weight should be wide open and I think hall can beat anyone at the weight other then Haines hopefully he is a High AA in his last run

174- Conley should make a good jump this year someone who will be R16/R12 maybe a low AA still young had a few good wins including over an ncaa quarter finalist

184- Dennis Robin set to return for his 3rd yr as a starter , he was screwed out of a bid this year and needs to pick a few more top 30 wins this year to avoid the same fate

197- Rune Lawerence / Anthony Carmen , Carmen has been a starter and I could see him starting the year at 197 while Lawerence adjusts to college but I think Rune is a R12 at worst guy right off the bat and eventually takes the spot if he can hold the weight

285-one final year for Wolfgram , he regressed last season and seemed to have a case of HEW at times , I was surprised he came back for a 6th yr hopefully he finds that motivation he had earlier in his career and is atleast NQ level again

All in all should be a solid dual team and could move up our ncaa finish with high finishes from Peyton and Watters and Titus, Jett, Rune and Conley having solid tournaments and at least 1 getting on the podium . Much like the past few years it’s a slow build and we should be a little better again this season . Missouri may be a little down this season and with otoole moving up away from Hall we match up much better and maybe can knock them off, Iowa state and Oklahoma State will be tough hills to climb and South Dakota state is tough but they lose Sloan but Hahn and co will always be a tough match up.

Personally I’m feeling optimistic about this season how is everyone else feeling?

[Geoswaff]

I think you are probably pretty close. I really like how our team has not portaled and has stayed pretty steady. Continuity in the mat room could be a bonus that most teams don't enjoy.

I hope Jett goes 133 and 1 of the other 125 options step up.

Titus is close and I agree on developing his attacks as he is a bit predictable. Same for bottom as guys are now anticipating his next level granby

Watters is a monster, nuff said.

Dowling is a ? Seems like he is so close sometimes

Peyton should be top 3

I predict R16 for Conley

I think this spot could be Robin, Bush (Who had some nice wins last year), or maybe Taylor. If Hogan is 184 maybe he is in the mix too. I do not think that Carmen can beat them out for the spot.

197 Flex Jr. Tolley or maybe Carmen or other. I think Lawrence RS this year as he makes the move up to HW

285 - Last gasp for Wolfgram. I would think that since he is coming back for year 6 that there has to be some serious motivation there

I think this is a top 15 team this year

[NJwvu12]

I think you are probably pretty close. I really like how our team has not portaled and has stayed pretty steady. Continuity in the mat room could be a bonus that most teams don't enjoy.

I hope Jett goes 133 and 1 of the other 125 options step up.

Titus is close and I agree on developing his attacks as he is a bit predictable. Same for bottom as guys are now anticipating his next level granby

Watters is a monster, nuff said.

Dowling is a ? Seems like he is so close sometimes

Peyton should be top 3

I predict R16 for Conley

I think this spot could be Robin, Bush (Who had some nice wins last year), or maybe Taylor. If Hogan is 184 maybe he is in the mix too. I do not think that Carmen can beat them out for the spot.

197 Flex Jr. Tolley or maybe Carmen or other. I think Lawrence RS this year as he makes the move up to HW

285 - Last gasp for Wolfgram. I would think that since he is coming back for year 6 that there has to be some serious motivation there

I think this is a top 15 team this year

I’m intrigued by Taylor’s potential, I didn’t know much about him but recently have heard good things and saw Willie has him in the top 100 on the final senior big board (54 overall) giving us 3 in the top 54 (2 top 20) and 4 in the top 200 so this is a very important recruiting class for coach Flynn , if these guys work out we could be on our way to being a top 15 team every year

I really think we let Rune go if he can make 197 , 197 loses both finalists and some depth , Lawerence is the best option team wise and I think we try and put our best dual team out this year bc we lose at least 3 maybe as many as 5 starters to graduation after this season

I agree with you I wish Jett would go 133 but I think he has a much higher ceiling at 125 I just hope he gets on the podium this year

[mscoach4]

I believe Anthony Carmen is clear out of wrestling now. He went to the military last year and hung up his wrestling shoes last I heard. Unless he decided to return to wrestling room and I have not heard about it.

[JohnK73]

Cooley has eligibility left after graduating, not sure if using it here, elsewhere, or just done competing.

[NJwvu12]

Wrestlestat.com is pretty up to date with rosters and it has Carmen listed on the roster at 184 with about 7 other 184s and no Cooley at all

[mscoach4]

I don't want to argue with wrestlestat but Anthony was not on the team this past season with 0 matches
https://wvusports.com/documents/2023/11/27/WRES_-_2023-24_Season_Stats.pdf
I'll ask a friend from Moundsville who knows him.

[NJwvu12]

I don't want to argue with wrestlestat but Anthony was not on the team this past season with 0 matches
https://wvusports.com/documents/2023/11/27/WRES_-_2023-24_Season_Stats.pdf
I'll ask a friend from Moundsville who knows him.

Stumbled upon Anthonys social media this weekend and you were correct , he has West Virginia alum in his bio now, wrestlestat missed that one

[JohnK73]

Check out coach Flynn’s facebook responses about the roster next year, NIL, etc. it’s on the WVU Wrestling Facebook page, posted 3 days ago.

[mscoach4]

Kind of Big news with Brock Kehler announcing his commitment to WVU wrestling

[Jon Perkins]

WVU keeping some of the best talent in state is good news all the way around. Gunner Andrick and Brock Kehler are very solid additions for the class of 2025. They have also recently got a commitment from Casen Roark, from Tennessee, who is another Top 120 recruit.

[Letsgooo]

Mesenbrink isn’t going 157. So the weight hasn’t cleared out completely. Still have Caliendo, Teemer is moving up, Ramirez, garvin and Taylor. It’ll still be tough for him to AA.

I don’t think Hogan can hold 184 or Rune 197 for long. It’d be great if they could tho. Then everything lines up perfect now with Kehler committing at HW.

Taylor is interesting to me because I see where people have him as a 184 and I just don’t see it. He’s small enough to make the cut to 165 depending on how he feels. Ultimately he looks like a 174.

Also does Flynn take a punt year and RS everyone? It’s what the best teams do but I hope they don’t. Watters and Hall both have a RS to burn and of course all the freshman. It’d be a pretty loaded team for 2026. I’d rather see them all wrestle and I think Lawrence is a day one starter at 197.

They got a transfer for 133 but was hoping for more. Huge hole in the lineup.

[NJwvu12]

Mesenbrink isn’t going 157. So the weight hasn’t cleared out completely. Still have Caliendo, Teemer is moving up, Ramirez, garvin and Taylor. It’ll still be tough for him to AA.

I don’t think Hogan can hold 184 or Rune 197 for long. It’d be great if they could tho. Then everything lines up perfect now with Kehler committing at HW.

Taylor is interesting to me because I see where people have him as a 184 and I just don’t see it. He’s small enough to make the cut to 165 depending on how he feels. Ultimately he looks like a 174.

Also does Flynn take a punt year and RS everyone? It’s what the best teams do but I hope they don’t. Watters and Hall both have a RS to burn and of course all the freshman. It’d be a pretty loaded team for 2026. I’d rather see them all wrestle and I think Lawrence is a day one starter at 197.

They got a transfer for 133 but was hoping for more. Huge hole in the lineup.

Very real chance Caliendo goes 157 (Iowa really needs this to happen) and last year out of Caliendo, Frankek and Kennedy he was the lightest guy .he could have gone 157 the past 2 years but had Frankek in the way …Plan has been for Taylor to drop to 157 now that Robb is gone and Garvin may be going 174, and I don’t think Penn state knows what the plan is yet but Messenbrink can 100 percent make 157 he weighed for ncaa the last day at 162 , and was 163 without cutting for trials . It would also make the most sense for penn state to redshirt Kasak and have Messenbrink 157 and Haines 165 for a year … My point is who knows where these guys end up but if they all stick to the original plan then the weight will clear out nicely for Peyton

I don’t think redshirting everyone is the move , in fact I think the opposite , I think Flynn puts out the absolute best dual team because we lose Jett, Peyton , Wolf , Dowling and maybe another starter or 2 after this season so I figure WVU goes all in , start the freshman ready to go and maybe pull back reload and redshirt some guys next season after we lose those guys

Great news keeping Kehler in state but it worries me that Hogan, Rune and Kehler could all end up heavyweights in the long run we need to bring in some lightweights that are on that level

133 is a concern but Flynn seemed to suggest it could be Jett up at 133 so we will see …I know it’s highly unlikely but 2x AA Cannon is still in the portal without a home maybe we could take a swing at him late in the process

[Jon Perkins]

I agree with NJWVU, you put the best possible team on the mat. Flynn just got the ball rolling last year and if you regress this year that will hurt recruitment for the next year or so. You have to show future recruits that WVU is a place you can win and the only way to do that is to put the best team on the mat.

I agree that taking a punt year is a good idea for some teams to reload and rebuild, but those are teams that have a proven reputation for winning and up to this point WVU has been hit and miss at best. With the rules the way they are, red-shirting athletes is kind of a risky business these days. If you have an athlete that is ready to go and can compete then you better get what you can out of that athlete because they may decide to hit the transfer portal next year.

[Pottstd]

Punt years can work for certain teams, Penn State did one in 2014/2015 and I know Ohio State has done it previously as well. However, even when "punting" these teams are very competitive. (Penn State still finished 6th overall). The question would be, if WVU were to try a punt year would it set the up to be in serious contention for a team trophy in 2025/2026. I would say no. I love WVU but putting this year would not set them up to be serious considered as a "unquestionable" trophy team. Certainly if everything went well they could be contenders with multiple wrestlers within striking distance of AA honors and maybe a kids or two in talks for title threats (Watters for example). But it wouldnt be certain by any means. Further, if things went poorly it would really be detrimental. I think as WVU you put your best team forward, do the best you can as a team and get several of these kids to AA. That proves to everyone you can be successful and AA at WVU. It will make those bigger recruits look harder at them. And that in the long run is going to be far more valuable than punting or the possibility of a slightly better 2025/2026 season that might not work out.