West Virginia University Athletics

West Virginia University is proud to have one of the most successful coaches in college wrestling leading the Mountaineer wrestling program, as coach Tim Flynn, owner of 274 career victories over 29 seasons in coaching, enters his eighth season at the helm after being named the ninth head coach in April 2018.
 
Under his guidance, West Virginia has seen 29 Mountaineers qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and seven earn All-America status. WVU has also enjoyed great success off the mat, earning 74 Academic All-Big 12 and 24 NWCA Scholar All-America honors.
 
The 2024-25 season was arguably one of the best for Flynn since taking over the Mountaineer program.
 
West Virginia finished 10-7 overall, marking the third consecutive double-digit win season. This is the first time WVU has accomplished this feat since 1985-88.
 
West Virginia also tied for 18^th at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, marking the program’s second consecutive top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2004-05. A sixth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships tied the program’s best placement at the conference championships.
 
Fifth-year Peyton Hall had one of the best individual seasons in program history, becoming the winningest Mountaineer with 135 career wins. Hall capped his stellar season with his first career Big 12 title and a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Hall’s finish at the NCAA Championships earned him his third career All-America honor, as he is just one of three Mountaineers to accomplish that feat.
 
Senior Jett Strickenberger won a Big 12 title at 125 pounds as he paired with Hall to become the first Mountaineers to win titles at the same Big 12 Championships in program history.
 
Overall, six Mountaineers earned a spot on the podium at the conference championship and five Mountaineers qualified for the NCAA Championships.
 
Off the mat, West Virginia set a program record with eight wrestlers earning Scholar All-American status from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). WVU was named a Scholar All-America Team by the NWCA for the first time since 2021. Five Mountaineers also earned a spot on the 2025 Winter Academic All-Big 12 Team.
 
Redshirt sophomore Ian Bush was the lone Mountaineer to earn a spot on the College Sports Communicators 2024-25 Academic All-District Team.
 
Flynn’s squad continued rewriting the record books during its 2024 campaign, eclipsing the double-digit win mark for the 18th time in program history and first in back-to-back seasons since 1990 and 1991. The Mountaineers were featured in the NWCA rankings throughout the season, opening the year at No. 24 and reaching as high as No. 17 to end the month of January before concluding the regular season ranked for the first time since 2005 (No. 19).
 
The Mountaineers’ success carried into the postseason, as the squad scored a 97.5 team total at the Big 12 Championship for their highest point total since joining the Big 12 while matching the program’s best finish at the postseason spectacle since the conference expanded from four schools to 10 in 2016 (6th – 65.5 team points). Flynn’s group wrapped up the postseason with a 17th-place finish after scoring 31.5 team points at the NCAA Championships - turning in the highest finish for the program since 2004 (16th – 31.0)
 
WVU experienced great individual success as well. The squad saw five Mountaineers earn a spot to compete on the national stage, which marked the fifth consecutive year in which four or more grapplers qualified for the NCAA Championships since the Flynn era began in 2019.
 
Senior Peyton Hall (165) and true freshman Ty Watters (149) led the way by becoming the first Mountaineer duo to reach All-America status in the same season since 2005. Hall secured the second All-America honor of his college career to become the ninth WVU grappler to earn the recognition multiple times, while Watters joined elite company as the third-ever true freshman in program history to claim All-America status and first Mountaineer to take home the honor at 149 pounds. Additionally, the true freshman became the first grappler in school history to win a Big 12 Championship and earn a top-8 finish on the mat at nationals, as well as the 13th wrestler in program history to win a conference title and reach All-America status in the same season.
 
In 2023, West Virginia hit the double-digit win mark for the 17th time in program history and the first time since 2014. The team also made its first appearance in the NWCA Top 25 since January 2016, ranking as high as No. 23 after capturing a pair of wins over Ohio and No. 21 Pitt. Stellar individual performances in those duals saw eight Mountaineers break into the national rankings for the first time since 2003, with six earning a spot to compete on the national stage for the first time since 2012.
 
Fifth-year senior Killian Cardinale (125) capped off the season by capturing his second All-America honor with an eighth-place finish at nationals and extending the program’s streak to four straight seasons with at least one All-American. Cardinale joined Mark Banks, Whitey Chlebove, Mike Mason, Greg Jones, Vertus Jones, Brandon Rader and Zeke Moisey as the eighth WVU wrestler to be named an All-American multiple times sporting the Gold and Blue.
 
In 2022, West Virginia claimed four NCAA qualifiers for the second straight season, in addition to its third Big 12 Champion and third All-American in as many years. The team also eclipsed its record for most wrestlers on the Academic All-Big 12 team with nine, including a record-breaking seven on the first team.
 
The Mountaineers scored 62 points to place seventh in the Big 12 Championship while landing seven wrestlers on the podium to match a program-best set by the 2015-16 squad.
 
Redshirt senior Killian Cardinale (125) and sophomore Peyton Hall (165) became the first Mountaineer duo to reach the Big 12 finals in their respective weight classes since Zeke Moisey (125) and Jake Smith (197) in 2018. Top-seeded Cardinale recorded an 8-3 decision over 2021 Big 12 Champion and third-seeded Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) to become just the third Mountaineer to reach the top of the Big 12 Conference since West Virginia joined the conference in 2012.
 
Success continued as Cardinale and Hall reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit. Both finished in the top 12, while Hall secured his spot on the podium as an All-American after scoring an 11-3 major decision over No. 19-seed Justin McCoy of Virginia. The Chester, West Virginia, became the sixth WVU wrestler to be named an All-American as a representative of their home state and the first since Noah Adams in 2020. In addition, Hall became the first WVU grappler to take home the All-American honor at 165 pounds since the weight classes realigned in 1999.
 
In 2021, Flynn guided the Mountaineers to a 7-3 record for their first winning season since 2014 and a 31st-place finish at the NCAA Championships to close out the abbreviated campaign. He coached Cardinale to All-American status at 125 pounds, as the Old Dominion transfer became the second All-American during Flynn’s tenure, with Noah Adams earning the honor at 197 pounds in 2020. The Bristow, Virginia, native was also the first to earn the honor at 125 pounds since Zeke Moisey in 2018.
 
WVU placed 10th at the 2020 Big 12 Championship before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Noah Adams capped off his undefeated 32-0 season by earning the 197-pound title at the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Adams, a two-time NCAA qualifier, was the nation’s second-seeded wrestler heading into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The 197-pound grappler earned All-America First Team and Scholar All-American honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), becoming WVU’s first All-American since 2018. For his performance, the Coal City, W. Va., native received the 2020 Hardman Award, an honor given by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association to West Virginia’s top amateur athlete. Adams was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the prestigious Southern Scuffle after going 5-0 and winning the 197-pound bracket. He also became the first wrestler in program history to be named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Year and the second to be picked as a finalist for the Dan Hodge Trophy, college wrestling’s equivalent to football’s Heisman Trophy.
 
In his first season at the helm, Flynn led the program to a four-win dual season in the 2018-19 season, highlighted by a 19-17 victory over No. 20 North Dakota State at the South Beach Duals on Dec. 30, 2018. The squad finished with five wrestlers on the podium and a ninth overall finish at the 2019 Big 12 Championships, allowing West Virginia to send five grapplers to nationals for the first time since 2014.
 
WVU also produced five podium finishers at the conference tournament and sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Four Mountaineers earned automatic bids, while one grappler received an at-large selection to punch his ticket. Adams was one of the five wrestlers to make an appearance, competing on the national stage for the first time in his career.
 
Flynn came to West Virginia from Edinboro, where he spent 21 years building the Fighting Scots into a wrestling powerhouse. He compiled a 223-95-5 career record to become the school’s all-time winningest coach and a member of its Hall of Fame.
 
His accomplishments at Edinboro include 150 national qualifiers, 38 All-Americans, 64 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) champions and 97 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champions. He led the Fighting Scots to five top-10 finishes at the NCAA Tournament, 14 top-20 finishes and 18 top-25 finishes.
 
Flynn engineered two of the best seasons in Edinboro wrestling history, with his 2014-15 squad placing third at nationals – the program’s highest-ever finish – and earning four All-America honors. His 2013-14 squad went 11-3 and won 10 of their last 11 duals on their way to a fifth-place finish at the national tournament, led by three wrestlers earning All-American honors at season’s end. He received NWCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year honors, shared InterMat Coach of the Year honors with Minnesota’s J Robinson and was selected as WIN’s Dan Gable Coach of the Year.
 
He was the EWL Coach of the Year seven times and the PSAC Coach of the Year 13 times. Flynn also coached three national champions (John Koscheck at 174 in 2001, Gregor Gillespie at 149 in 2007 and Jarrod King at 165 in 2009) and eight NCAA runners-up.
 
Under the former Penn State All-American, Edinboro dominated eastern wrestling circles, winning the EWL Championships 15 times, including eight straight from 2003-10, along with 16 PSAC tournament titles in his 21 campaigns. At one point, Edinboro won 34 of 35 EWL dual matches, which included a 29-match winning streak.
 
Before taking over the head coaching duties, Flynn was an assistant at Edinboro under legendary coach and Olympian Bruce Baumgartner from 1992-97. Flynn assisted Baumgartner to a 56-21 record, including a 14-0 dual-match mark and a sixth-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
 
Following three standout seasons at Vista High in Vista, California, Flynn moved east to finish his prep career at Annapolis Senior High in Annapolis, Maryland. He enjoyed a stellar career at Penn State, captaining the 1986-87 squad, while earning All-America honors at 134 pounds. He went 30-10-1 as a senior, winning the EWL title and finishing seventh at nationals. The Nittany Lions enjoyed one of their greatest seasons ever, with an 18-1-1 record and a third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament.
 
Flynn finished with a 105-32-2 collegiate record, still ranking among the all-time career leaders in victories at Penn State. He also won the EWL 126-pound title as a junior in 1986, finishing with a 30-7-1 mark, and qualified for nationals as a sophomore after finishing second at the EWL Championships. He was a four-time Midlands Championships place winner, a two-time Mat-Town USA champion and was an Espoir National freestyle runner-up in 1984.
 
For all his efforts as a coach and wrestler in the Keystone State, Flynn was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association (PWCA) Hall of Fame on Oct. 7, 2021.
 
Flynn, who is currently a member of the NWCA Leadership Group, graduated from Penn State in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He later earned his master’s degree in business administration from Penn State with a concentration in finance in 1990. He and his wife, Tanya, have two children - Logan and Riley.

Career Record