Oak Glen graduate and West Virginia University Peyton Hall, shown here in a December match at Oak Glen, became the third Mountaineer to achieve All-American status three times on Friday. (Photo by Michael Burich)

PHILADELPHIA — West Virginia University fifth-year senior and Oak Glen High School graduate Peyton Hall became the third Mountaineer to earn All-American status three times on Friday at the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center.

Unfortunately the No. 2 seed Hall missed out on a berth in the 165-pound final as he fell to Iowa’s No. 3 seed Michael Caliendo 14-10 in a semifinal.

The solidly built Caliendo (24-2) dominated the early portion of the match with a takedown and nearfall to build a 6-0 lead . A takedown with 1:02 left in the first period had Caliendo out front 9-1, but Hall closed it to 9-5 with a takedown with seven seconds left in the period. The second period was calmer with Caliendo getting one escape point.

Hall (33-2) closed to within 13-10 with 38 seconds to go in the match, but an escape by Caliendo with 26 seconds left sealed the deal.

“Everyone was telling me up until I got up on the mat to not focus on winning, don’t focus on the semis, don’t focus on losing. Focus on the match I want to wrestle,” Hall said before the semifinal. “The match I want to wrestle is a hard pace for 7 minutes.”

It was Hall’s third Big Ten opponent in the tournament and it was the first time he had met Caliendo in his career.

“I get to do this, I don’t have to do this,” Hall said. “It’s a blessing to be here. I just keep reminding myself.”

Caliendo will meet weight-class favorite Mitchell Mesenbrink (26-0) of Penn State in the final on Saturday night. Mesenbrink beat Nebraska No. 12 seed Christopher Minto with a 13-2 major decision in his semifinal. Mesenbrink beat Caliendo 4-1 in the Big Ten Championship final on March 8 and with a 19-4 technical fall on Jan. 31 in a dual.

Hall will meet the winner of Utah Valley’s No. 4 seed Terrell Barraclough (30-3) and Oklahoma State’s No. 8 Cameron Arnie (19-8) in the consolation semifinal on Saturday. Barraclough was Hall’s only regular season loss.

In the quarterfinal, Hall squeaked past Stanford No. 7 seed Hunter Garvin 6-5 to earn his place in the semifinal. Garvin, who lost to Hall 12-5 in a December match, scored an early takedown to take a 3-0 lead, but Hall came back to take a 4-3 lead heading into the second period. A reveral shot Hall’s lead up to 6-3 in the second period. Garvin added two escape points the rest of the way, but Hall was able to hold on.