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DETROIT -- Oak Glen High School graduate and West Virginia University sophomore Peyton Hall will place at the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships after action on Friday at Little Caesars Arena.
Hall (28-4) becomes the 34th Mountaineer to reach All-American status which is reserved for those who place eighth or better at the NCAA Championships.
Hall will wrestle Ohio State sophomore Carson Kharchla (24-5) for seventh place today. Kharchla, the No. 7 seed, is a two-time Ohio high school state champion from Olentangy Liberty High School. He was Intermat's National Wrestler of the Year in 2018-19.
In the blood round, the four-time West Virginia state high school champion, overwhelmed Virginia's Justin McCoy (20-4) with two takedowns in the first period and rode that to an 11-3 win to earn his All-American status. McCoy, a senior, is a graduate of Chestnut Ridge High School in Pennsylvania. McCoy was an NCAA qualifier at 157 last year and was a 2017 state high school wrestling champ in Pennsylvania.
Hall, the No. 9 seed, had a chance to move up the podium against Wisconsin freshman Dean Hamiti (28-3) but lost a 10-6 decision. Hamiti, the No. 4 seed, was a three-time Illinois state high school champ and was likely only prevented a fourth due to COVID canceling the 2021 tournament in Illinois.
In the championship quarterfinal earlier in the day, Hall suffered a 6-2 loss to Cal Poly's Evan Wick.
Wick built a 6-0 lead in the first period and cruised from there. The Cal Poly senior placed third at nationals as a freshman at 165 pounds in 2018 and fourth as a sophomore in 2019. He also qualified for the nationals in 2020 as a junior despite wrestling injured.
He was the 2016 Wisconsin high school state champion at 152 pounds.
Saturday's consolation rounds will begin at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. Championship finals will be held at 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN.
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