University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
West Virginia
UNI wrestling falls to West Virginia, 23-13
2/14/2026 10:09:00 PM | Wrestling
Panthers fall to Mountaineers in Saturday night dual. UNI visits No. 4 Iowa State on Sunday.
OFFICIALS - John Briscoe, Eric Eckerman
ATTENDANCE - 3,463
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI wrestling grabbed victories in four matches, including a thrilling come-from-behind win at 125 pounds on Saturday night but would fall short as the 15th ranked Panthers fell to No. 19 West Virginia in Big 12 dual action inside the McLeod Center, 23-13.
Trever Anderson (125 pounds) rallied from down four points in the third period, while Jared Simma picked up a top-15 ranked win at 174 pounds, but Northern Iowa struggled out of the gate in the early bout to fall to 8-1 all-time against the Mountaineers.
Saturday's dual also featured the pregame jersey retirement of two-time NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist Bill Smith, as well as the debut of the Panthers' new competition mat, also named in Smith's memory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Opening the dual at 141 pounds, Max Brady scored the first takedown of the match against Jordan Titus, but saw his opponent tie the match at 4-4 with his own takedown and score once again in the third in an 8-5 loss. Ethan Basile struggled to establish his offense at 149 pounds against Willie McDougland, scoring on a pair of escapes and stalling point in a 7-3 loss.
After a 10-1 major decision loss for Cael Rahnavardi against No. 5 Ty Watters at 157 pounds, Ryder Downey got the Panthers on the board with a strong performance at 165 pounds vs. Sasha Gavronsky. Building over two minutes of riding time with a 3-0 lead, Downey added a late takedown in the second frame and scored again with Gavronsky stalling before a final takedown in the final seconds plus riding time for a 12-1 major decision victory, his 60th overall win of his career.
At 174 pounds, Simma scored a pair of takedowns, including his second as time expired in the first period for a 6-1 lead on No. 14 Brody Conley. Conley would close the gap in the third period to two points, but Simma would hold on for a narrow 8-5 win, his fourth against a ranked opponent this season. Nick Fox would fall short at 184 pounds in an 8-2 loss to No. 17 Ian Bush, while Carson Babcock's 197-pound bout against No. 14 Rune Lawrence ended in a disqualifying loss on an illegal slam.
Adam Ahrensen brought the Panther crowd back to life with a thrilling heavyweight win against Brock Kehler. After giving up a second period escape, Ahrendsen scored a key takedown to jump ahead 3-2, while adding a reverse and two nearfall along with riding time for an 8-3 win.
At 125 pounds facing No. 8 Jett Strickenberger, Anderson would fall behind early with his opponent scoring an early takedown and riding him for much of the match. With Strickenberger ahead by a 6-2 score, Anderson took control in the final period with a takedown, followed by three nearfall points to hold on for an 8-7 upset win, his second against a ranked opponent this year. Julian Farber would close out the match at 133 pounds with a tough loss to No. 16 Gunner Andrick in a 15-1 major decision.
West Virginia has a solid team and they had our legs tired tonight, said UNI head coach Doug Schwab. They controlled the space too well and scored a ton. I thought we competed well in situations, but we chased them a lot and got stunned when chasing, so we have to be better in our pursuit. We'll get our guys ready for tomorrow night to wrestle Iowa State.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to dual action tomorrow night, Feb. 15 at No. 4 Iowa State. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT at Hilton Coliseum in Ames with live coverage of the event available on ESPN+.
FINAL RESULTS [NCAA Coaches ranking] (#Intermat/Flowrestling rankings listed)
No. 18 WEST VIRGINIA 23, No. 15 UNI 13
- 141 | Jordan Titus (WVU) dec. #NR/26 Max Brady (UNI), 8-5
- 149 | Willie McDougland (WVU) dec. Ethan Basile, 7-3
- 157 | [5] #6/7 Ty Watters (WVU) maj. dec. Cael Rahnavardi (UNI), 14-2 MD
- 165 | [6] #6/6 Ryder Downey (UNI) maj. dec. Sasha Gavronsky (WVU), 12-1 MD
- 174 | [13] #12/14 Jared Simma (UNI) dec. [14] #14/17 Brody Conley (WVU), 8-5
- 184 | [17] #17/22 Ian Bush (WVU) dec. [18] #22/21 Nick Fox (UNI), 8-2
- 197 | [14] #18/14 Rune Lawrence (WVU) def. Carson Babcock (UNI), DQ
- HWT | Adam Ahrendsen (UNI) dec. Brock Kehler (WVU), 8-3
- 125 | [30] #31/23 Trever Anderson (UNI) dec. [8] #8/8 Jett Strickenberger (WVU), 8-7
- 133 | [18] #19/16 Gunner Andrick (WVU) maj. dec. [21] #22/17 Julian Farber (UNI), 15-1 MD
UNI wrestling action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (University of Northern Iowa Wrestling), X (@UNI_wrestling) and on Instagram (@uni_panther_wrestling). Check out the latest Panther news and information online at UNIpanthers.com.
Players Mentioned
