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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- West Virginia University senior and Oak Glen High School graduate Peyton Hall had to wrestle from behind in his 165-pound second-round match against Nebraska's Antrell Taylor on Thursday night at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the T-Mobile Center.
Almost immediately the eighth-seeded Taylor took a five-point lead on Hall, the ninth seed, and the Mountaineer could not find a successful path back as the Husker advanced with an 11-9 win.
Hall had a three-point takedown in the second period but still trailed 7-4 heading into the third period.
Hall (27-8) started the final period with an escape, but was quickly countered by a three-point takedown which pushed the score to 10-5. Hall had an escape and takedown to cut it to 10-9 with 45 seconds left but was not able to get any closer.
Taylor (22-7) advances to meet defending weight-class champion Missouri's Keegan O'Toole (21-0) in the quarterfinal.
O'Toole, the top seed, will likely see a significant challenge in the semifinal if he can get past Taylor. Iowa State's David Carr, the fourth seed, lurks if he can handle his quarterfinal challenge.
Carr is a four-time Ohio Division I state high school champion out of Massillon Perry High School. He had a 188-6 record in high school and also won a state title in Kentucky while in eighth grade.
Carr was an NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds last season. He also was third at 157 in 2022 and first in 2021. He also qualified for the 2020 tournament, which was wiped out by COVID.
As for Hall, he will wrestle Campbell's Domonic Baker, the 26th seed, in today's wrestlebacks.
In the first round, Hall scored a 17-2 technical fall over Purdue's Stoney Buell. Taylor advanced out of the first round by topping Pittsburgh's Holden Heller by an 11-0 major decision.
Heller and Hall had not met previously.
Notes
¯ O'Toole and Penn State's Mitchell Mesenbrink, the second seed, went to the same high school -- Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin.