Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The 12th-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad will open the 2014-15 season this weekend, hosting a pair of events in Blacksburg. On Saturday, the Hokies will welcome Newberry College to town for a dual meet before playing host to the annual Hokie Open inside Rector Fieldhouse all day Sunday.
On Saturday, the two-time defending ACC Champions will kick off the season with a dual match against 19th-ranked Newberry of the Division II level. The Wolves feature a pair of ranked wrestlers in sixth-ranked Joe Pittman at 174 pounds and fourth-ranked Jared Holliday at 184 pounds. Both of those matches will feature a pair of ranked competitors as Chris Moon is ranked 19th at 174 pounds and Zach Epperly is ranked 12th at 184 pounds. The Hokies will counter Newberry with seven wrestlers ranked in either The Open Mat’s or InterMat’s national polls. Four Tech wrestlers: Kevin Norstrem, Nick Anderson, Epperly and Jared Haught will be making their dual meet debuts.
Admission is free to Saturday’s match, which will begin at 3 p.m. Prior to the match, the program will honor the late Darren Hankins, who passed away this past summer.
There will be no video for this event, but live stats can be found through TrackWrestling.
On Sunday, Tech will play host to the Hokie Open, which moves to Rector Fieldhouse this year. Doors will open at 9 a.m. and admission is $15 for all age groups. Tickets can be purchased in advance and printed off at home, or bought at the door, but only cash will be accepted at the door. The link to purchase tickets in advance can be found here.
The action will kick off at 10 a.m. and run throughout the day. There are two tournaments this year, the open tournament and Freshman/Sophomore tournament, which will be run separately, but at the same time. There will be no live results/brackets for the event, but @VT_Wrestling will have occasional tweets as the event rolls along.
Results will be posted when the event is over at both the tournament’s website along with hokiesports.com.
Below are the probable lineups for both squads for Saturday’s dual match, along with Sunday’s tournament.
#12 Virginia Tech (0-0)
125: #4/#5 Joey Dance (0-0)
133: NR/#18 Kevin Norstrem (0-0)
141: Nick Anderson (0-0)
149: #3/#2 Devin Carter (0-0)
157: #6/#5 Nick Brascetta (0-0)
165: #19/#17 Chris Moon (0-0)
174: #12/#13 Zach Epperly (0-0)
184: Austin Gabel (0-0)
197: Jared Haught (0-0)
285: #11/#13 Ty Walz (0-0)
#19 Newberry (0-0 [Division II])
125: Trung Duong (0-0) OR Jordan Simpson (0-0)
133: Austin Williams (0-0)
141: Nick Lankford (0-0)
149: Seiji Borja (0-0)
157: Dennis Flores (0-0)
165: Lukas Gilmore (0-0)
174: #6 Joe Pittman (0-0)
184: #4 Jared Holliday (0-0)
197: Cody Brundage (0-0)
285: Matt Colter (0-0)
The following Tech wrestlers will compete Sunday in the Hokie Open. Those wrestling unattached will not be representing Virginia Tech, thus their results and records will not count toward season or career records. Their results, however, do count toward NCAA qualification.
Hokie Open
125: Joey Dance (unattached); Open
125: Brandon Olsen (unattached); FreshSoph
133: Jackson Myers (unattached); FreshSoph
133: Kevin Norstrem (unattached); Open
141: Nick Anderson; Open
141: Solomon Chishko (unattached); Open
141: Jerry Ronnau (unattached); FreshSoph
149: Devin Carter (unattached); Open
149: Sal Mastriani; Open
157: Nick Brascetta (unattached); Open
157: Walter Carlson (unattached); FreshSoph
157: Jake Spengler (unattached); FreshSoph
165: David Bergida; Open
165: Mike Ciavarro (unattached); FreshSoph
165: Chris Moon (unattached); Open
165: Chad Strube; Open
174: Zach Epperly (unattached); Open
174: Brooks Morrison (unattached); FreshSoph
184: Austin Gabel (unattached); Open
197: Jared Haught (unattached); Open
197: David Reck; Open
285: Dan Garwood; Open
285: Brandon Taylor (unattached); FreshSoph
285: Ty Walz (unattached); Open