Strickenberger Named Student-Athlete of the Week – West Virginia University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After defeating two ranked opponents, senior Jett Strickenberger of the West Virginia University wrestling team has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week, presented by University Apartments.
 
Strickenberger increased his winning streak over ranked opponents to four after he beat No. 20 Oklahoma’s No. 23 Antonio Lorenzo by major decision, 11-2, and pinned No. 3 Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Troy Spratley for his highest-ranked win of the season on
 
Strickenberger’s victory against Lorenzo helped the Mountaineers win their first match against the Sooners since 2018. It also marked West Virginia’s first win against a ranked opponent since 2023.
 
West Virginia will face No. 24 Missouri on Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Mizzou Center in Columbia, Missouri. The match begins at 2 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass.
 
This Week in Women’s Basketball: The Mountaineers are set for two road contests this week … WVU opens play on Wednesday, Jan. 22, against Arizona State … tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN+ … the Mountaineers then take on Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 25 …tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Last Week in Women’s Basketball: The Mountaineers moved to 15-3 on the season and 5-2 in Big 12 Conference play after collecting two home wins … WVU opened the week with a 73-46 win over Colorado … Sydney Shaw and JJ Quinerly finished with a game-high 19 points as Jordan Harrison managed seven rebounds and four assists … WVU then defeated Iowa State 82-68 on Sunday… Harrison and Quinerly led WVU with 20 points … Kyah Watson finished with her sixth career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds … Harrison added a career-high seven steals and added six assists.
 
Notes: WVU returns eight student-athletes to the floor this season, including four of five starters from an NCAA Tournament team a season ago … All-Big 12 First Team and Defensive Team selection JJ Quinerly highlights the returners … she was also named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team and was named to the Naismith College Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Watchlist and the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watchlist … Jordan Harrison was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year watchlist … Quinerly has eclipsed 1,500 points in her career this season as Harrison and Zya Nugent have broken the 1,000-point mark … the Mountaineers finished the nonconference schedule a 10-1 … JJ Quinerly is fourth on the programs all-time steals list … WVU is a perfect 11-0 when playing games inside the WVU Coliseum.
 
This Week in Wrestling: No. 22 West Virginia is on the road to face No. 24 Missouri on Sunday, Jan. 26.
 
Last Week in Wrestling: The Mountaineers defeated No. 20 Oklahoma, 22-12, and lost to No. 3 Oklahoma State, 30-12 … West Virginia’s win over Oklahoma was its first against the Sooners since 2018 and the team’s first ranked win since 2023.
 
Notes: Fifth-year No. 3 Peyton Hall picked up two wins over the weekend, defeating Oklahoma State’s No. 6 Cameron Amine by decision, 5-1 … Hall leads the Mountaineers at 22-0 on the year … senior No. 13 Jett Strickenberger earned two wins for West Virginia, extending his win streak over ranked opponents to four … Strickenberger picked up his highest-ranked win of the season when he pinned Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Troy Spratley.
 
This Week in Gymnastics: West Virginia heads back on the road and prepares to open the Big 12 Conference portion of its schedule, traveling to take on No. 16 Denver on Sunday, Jan. 26 … competition inside Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado, is set for 4 p.m. ET.
 
Last Week in Gymnastics: WVU dropped its home-opening meet against Kent State, 193.775-192.325, inside the WVU Coliseum on Jan. 16 … West Virginia tallied scores of 48.2 on vault, 48.75 on the uneven bars, 46.65 on balance beam and 48.725 on floor exercise … in the final event results, senior Brook Alban and freshmen Karliegh DiCello and Sophia Rice tied for second place with matching 9.675 scores on vault … senior Anna Leigh and fifth-year senior Trinity Macy tied for first place on bars with a pair of 9.825’s … Leigh also added a second-place finish on floor (9.825).
 
Notes: The Mountaineers’ total on uneven bars marked a season-best on the event … in this week’s Road to Nationals rankings, West Virginia is ranked No. 30nationally on floor exercise and No. 53 overall … elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 59 on vault, No. 40 on bars and No. 67 on beam … individually, Leigh ranks No. 5 in the Big 12, No. 11 in the southeast region and No. 50 nationally with a 9.858 average on floor so far this season.
 
This Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia hosts Villanova and Duquesne (women only) on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 11 a.m. at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park … the meet will serve as senior day as 14 Mountaineers will be honored for their contributions to WVU swimming and diving.
 
Last Week in Swimming and Diving: West Virginia did not compete.
 
This Week in Rifle: The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team collected its ninth straight win of the season and its first in 2025 with a 4754-4720 result over No. 7 Navy on Saturday inside the WVU Shell Building at the WVU Rifle Range … it marks the sixth-ranked opponent the Mountaineers have defeated this season … West Virginia claimed both smallbore and air rifle with marks of 2363 and 2391, respectively … Navy fired marks of 2346 in smallbore and 2374 in air rifle … all three of West Virginia’s marks in the match were new season highs.
 
Last Week in Rifle: The Mountaineers have won 22 straight regular season matches … Jon Hammond collected his 200th career win against No. 5 Georgia Southern … West Virginia’s 4740.2 aggregate score is the best in the nation … the 2355.1 mark in smallbore is also the best while the 2385.1 in air rifle sits second… sophomore Griffin Lake is averaging a team-leading 1186.2 aggregate average which is the sixth best in the country… Senior Natalie Perrin averages a 596.5 in air rifle, the eighth best mark in the country … Lake’s 590.3 in smallbore is the fifth best average this season.  
 
Notes: Gavin Barnick finished first on the overall leaderboard against No. 7 Navy as his marks in smallbore and air rifle also topped the podium … he produced an aggregate score of 1191 with a 593 in smallbore and a 598 in air rifle … his score in smallbore tied a career-high while his aggregate score and air rifle mark were a season high.
 
This Week in Tennis: West Virginia hits the road for the first time this season to face Xavier on Saturday, Jan. 25, and Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 26 … both matches will take place in East Lansing, Michigan.
 
Last Week in Tennis: The Mountaineers opened the 2025 season with a doubleheader at home against Duquesne and Morgan State … WVU defeated Duquesne, 4-3, and Morgan State, 7-0 … Morgantown native, freshman Lyla Byers, earned two singles victories and two doubles victories in her Mountaineer debut … senior Mille Haagensen picked up right where she left off in the fall, winning both singles and doubles matches for WVU.
 
Notes: Byers was one of three Mountaineers to pick up wins in their Mountaineer debuts as graduate student Julie Bousseau defeated Morgan State’s Lauryn Hall, 7-6 (1), 6-3, and freshman Susannah Su beat Morgan State’s Roua Limem, 6-1, 6-4.
 
This week in Track and Field: West Virginia will remain off until Jan. 31 – Feb. 1 when they return to University Park, Pennsylvania for the Penn State National Open at the Multi-Sport Facility & Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
 
Last week in Track and Field: The Mountaineers had an impressive showing at the YSU Collegiate Invitational on Jan. 17 in Youngstown, Ohio … four of WVU’s student athletes earned first place finishes in their respect events … sophomore Izayah Everett earned the first gold medal of the day after posting a personal best time of 25.26 in the women’s 200 meters … then, graduate student Madison Trippett claimed first in the 800 meters, finishing with a time of 2:10. 25 … the next gold medal came from sophomore Kishay Rowe, who took the win in the 400 meters with a time of 56.63 … sophomore Eva Rinker rounded out West Virginia’s first place finishes as she won the mile with a career best time of 5:02.28.