Hokie ClubHAMPTON, Va. - The fifth-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling team blitzed through its opening day competition at the 37th Annual Virginia Duals on Friday at the Hampton Coliseum. The Hokies (9-1, 1-0 ACC) topped Kent State, 41-3, before defeating Lock Haven, 35-6.
With the wins, Tech advances to the semifinals where they will face North Dakota State, the winner of the York River Pool, at 2 p.m. tomorrow. The winner of that dual will face the winner of No. 19 Arizona State vs. No. 15 Oklahoma in the championship match at 8:30 p.m.
“I liked the entertainment value that we brought today, I thought our guys came out and really, really hustled,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “Obviously a lot of good things happened. We have to assess a couple of things but from a wrestling standpoint I think we’re doing pretty well. Be sure to come out and see us tomorrow if you’re in the area.”
The win over Kent State marked career-victory No. 150 for Dresser, who is in his 11th season at the helm of the Hokie wrestling program. Jerry Cheynet, who led the program for 22 years, holds the school record for career victories with 188. After recording two tech falls on Friday, senior Joey Dance is now one win shy of 100 career victories. One win tomorrow would make him only the 10th wrestler in program history to eclipse 100 wins.
Hokies 41, Kent State 3
Dance and redshirt junior Dennis Gustafson, wrestling in his first dual at 133 pounds this season, registered consecutive technical falls that set the tone early and gave the Hokies an early 10-0 lead. After the Golden Flashes picked up a decision at 141, the Hokies clinched the next three bouts by decision to extend their advantage to 19-3.
As has been the case for most of the season, the Tech upperweights dominated, starting with a pin from redshirt junior Zach Epperly with five second left in the bout at 174. Redshirt sophomore Zack Zavatasky’s 16-0 tech fall at 184 led the way for another fall from redshirt junior Jared Haught at 197 pounds. A 22-7 TF from redshirt senior heavyweight Ty Walz capped a dominating 41-3 victory.
Hokies 35, Lock Haven 6
Dance and Gustafson once again anchored the Hokies by picking up bonus points at 125 and 133, respectively, and giving the Hokies a 9-0 lead. Injury forced redshirt junior Kevin Norstrem to default at 141 but Chishko, battling through a stomach sickness, countered with a 8-3 decision at 149 that made the match score 12-6.
The Bald Eagles wouldn’t get any closer as redshirt senior Sal Mastriani, competing in his first dual since Nov. 20 at No. 5 Missouri, returned with a convincing 18-6 major decision at 157 pounds. Five-straight wins wrapped up an impressive victory for the Hokies.
Tomorrow’s duals will again be exclusively streamed on TrackWrestling.com with a subscription.
No. 5 Virginia Tech defeated Kent State 41-3
125 - Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) over Cory Simpson (Kent State) TF 22-7
133 - Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech) over Ethan McCoy (Kent State) TF 18-3
141 - Chance Driscoll (Kent State) over Kevin Norstrem (Virginia Tech) Dec 3-2
149 - Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) over Tim Rooney (Kent State) Dec 7-3
157 - Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) over Casey Sparkman (Kent State) Dec 5-2
165 - David Bergida (Virginia Tech) over Jared Walker (Kent State) Dec 10-5
174 - Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) over Jairod James (Kent State) Fall 6:55
184 - Zachary Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) over Jerald Spohn (Kent State) TF 16-0
197 - Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) over Stephen Suglio (Kent State) Fall 2:49
285 - Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) over Devin Nye (Kent State) TF 22-7
No. 5 Virginia Tech defeated Lock Haven 35-6
125 - Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) over Jake Field (Lock Haven) TF 20-4
133 - Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech) over DJ Fehlman (Lock Haven) Maj 14-3
141 - Lewis Williams (Lock Haven) over Kevin Norstrem (Virginia Tech) injry default
149 - Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) over Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) Dec 8-3
157 - Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech) over Kyle Hammond (Lock Haven) Maj 18-6
165 - David Bergida (Virginia Tech) over Jared Siegrist (Lock Haven) Dec 9-5
174 - Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) over Adam Mackie (Lock Haven) TF 23-5
184 - Zachary Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) over Corey Hazel (Lock Haven) Dec 4-2
197 - Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) over Tristan Sponseller (Lock Haven) Maj 16-5
285 - Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) over Thomas Haines (Lock Haven) Maj 24-15