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Peyton Hall is going dancing. Well, sort of.
The Oak Glen graduate and West Virginia University true freshman is headed to college wrestling's version of March Madness.
By virtue of his fourth-place finish at 165 pounds in the recent Big 12 Championships held in Tulsa, Ok., Hall punched his ticket to the NCAA Division I Championships at the Enterprise Arena in St. Louis on March 18-20.
Hall is 13-4 entering the tournament, with half of those reversals coming last weekend.
"I'm excited," Hall admitted during a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon from Morgantown. "I don't like to lose at all, but to be able to qualify for the nationals as a freshman is a big accomplishment."
When the seeds and pairings were announced Wednesday night, Hall, seeded 21st, found himself opposite Virginia's 12th-seeded Jake Keating who sports a 10-3 mark.
A 4-time West Virginia state champion and 3-time Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Ron Mauck Tournament titlist during his Golden Bears days, Hall established a new Oak Glen record for career wins with 179, with 133 of them coming by pin. His four state titles came at four different weights (120, 132, 138 and 152), and he became the first Golden Bear in the program's storied history to win four state crowns, along with being the 19th individual to claim four Mountain State championships. He was a 2-time National High School Coaches Association champ, earning titles in 2017 and 2019.
He's been on big stages before and has no worries.
However, it does have three teammates heading west with him, including Noah Adams (197) who will be making his third trip to nationals. He received the No. 2 seed last season but is ninth this year.
"He has helped me a lot. He's kind of been a mentor to me," Hall said of Adams. "He's been there before, but I've wrestled in some big tournaments before. That will give me a sense of comfort."
Also qualifying was redshirt junior Killian Cardinale (125) while redshirt freshman Ryan Sullivan (133) received an at-large bid earlier this week. Cardinale, making his second trip, finished third in the Big 12. He is the 17th seed. Sullivan, the 20th seed, is 7-3.
Hall Makes Two
With Hall advancing, the Ohio Valley now has two former standouts headed to St. Louis.
Former Steubenville 4-time all-Ohioan and current North Carolina State redshirt senior, Tariq Wilson, won the 141-pound at the ACC Championships a couple of weeks ago. Wilson will be making his fourth trip to nationals, earning All-American status as an unseeded freshman when he stunned the 133-pound field with a couple of major upsets en route to the semifinals and an eventual third-place finish.
Wilson is 9-0 and seeded fourth at 141. He meets Wyoming's 29th-seeded Chase Zollman (12-6).
Buckeyes Represented
Ohio State, which finished well back in the pack at the Big 10 Championships, are sending a -member delegation to St. Louis.
Leading the pack is Big 10 champion and top-seeded Sammy Sasso. The redshirt sophomore is a spotless 12-0 at 149 pounds and became the Buckeyes' 35th all-time Big 10 champion and the program's 56th overall.
Malik Heinselman (125), Dylan D'Emilio (141), Ethan Smith (165), Kaleb Romero (174), Rocky Jordan (184) and Tate Orndorff (285) round out the contingent. D'Emilio and Jordan received at-large berths.
Pasiuk Entered
Ben Pasiuk, a Carrollton alum, is entered in the 174-pound field as a member of the Army squad. He is 5-0 and seeded 17th.
Ben's father Ken was a standout athlete at the former Springfield High School near East Liverpool. Ben's older brother Aidan, is a member of the Ashland University team and is competing at 184 pounds this weekend at the NCAA Division II championships in St. Louis. Aidan was an All-American two years ago at Wheeling Jesuit.
Good Luck
I would like to wish good luck to all 14 wrestlers from The Times Leader's coverage area this weekend at their respective state tournaments.
Not to apply any more pressure on those young athletes, along with the numerous other individuals from OVAC schools, I've never covered a state champion in the Buckeye State! Hopefully, that changes, and real soon!