Hokie ClubBy Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG - To get an indication of the quality of talent in the Virginia Tech wrestling program, one needs only to consider what transpired over the course of the past few months.
A Virginia Tech wrestler won a gold medal at an international event. He accomplished this by wrestling a style unfamiliar to him (freestyle). And the kicker: he hasn't even wrestled in a dual match for the Hokies yet.
Mekhi Lewis, a redshirt freshman, dominated the competition at the Junior World Championships held in Slovakia in late September en route to a gold medal, giving the program its first international gold, and perhaps more importantly, serving as an example of the types of wrestlers that Tony Robie and his staff continue to develop.
A longtime assistant, Robie took over the keys to the program in March of 2017 after Kevin Dresser left for Iowa State. Last year, he, along with top assistants Jared Frayer and Frank Molinaro and several others, molded a lineup that featured just two seniors and five first-time starters and won the ACC title – again. Then, the group went on to finish eighth at the NCAA Championships, which marked the program's sixth consecutive top-10 finish.
"Going into the season, we had so many new faces," Robie said. "There was a little bit of uncertainty because we had five new guys stepping into the lineup. I knew what we had with David McFadden and Zack Zavatsky and Jared Haught. In a lot of other places, I didn't know what we had, and then we had some changes in some places, some guys that didn't return to the team.
"I would say we probably exceeded my expectations overall, with some of the young guys developing well, and they were very consistent, which was nice."
With this season's first match approaching, Robie – recently awarded a contract extension through 2022-23 – and his staff continue to take on a new set of challenges, albeit with a talented and more experienced team. He spent the offseason tackling the biggest challenge – replacing departed seniors Dennis Gustafson and Jared Haught, two ACC champions, and in the case of Haught, a three-time All-American and only the program's second NCAA finalist.
Haught, in particular, will be difficult to replace. He not only won, but he set the standard for work ethic and for a desire to improve.
"Jared is the second NCAA finalist that we've ever had at Virginia Tech, so he's not an easy guy to replace," Robie admitted. "We knew what we were getting every time that Jared stepped on the mat. There are some points that we have to fill in there from the NCAA tournament. Whenever you get a guy to the NCAA finals, he's scoring a heckuva lot of points for you.
"Obviously with Mekhi coming into the lineup, we anticipate big things coming from Mekhi, and I think that a lot of our younger guys have matured a year, with Kyle Norstrem at 125 [pounds] and Ryan Blees at 149 and B.C. LaPrade at 157 … I think they've improved, and then we were able to secure some transfers that are really going to help us."
With that said, here is a closer look at each weight class, as the Hokies get set to open the season:
125 pounds – Redshirt sophomore Kyle Norstrem returns after a difficult redshirt freshman campaign in which he went 12-16. Yet Norstrem earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, and he won a match there. He will be challenged by Joey Prata, another redshirt sophomore.
"On paper, Kyle is the frontrunner," Robie said. "I think Joey Prata would be a guy that could challenge Kyle. He's coming off two years of injuries, so it's hard to gauge where he is exactly. But I've seen some improvement in Kyle. I've seen a lot of things that I've liked out of Kyle Norstrem in the offseason. I do feel like he's committed himself to getting better from a technical standpoint, and you can see that. Watching him in the wrestling room, he's definitely made improvements. I expect to see Kyle have a better year and have more success than he had last year."
133 pounds – Gustafson closed his career last season by going 24-9, winning the ACC title for the second time in his career and qualifying for the NCAA Championships, where he won a match. Now, the Hokies need to find his replacement, and Robie likes what he sees from Korbin Myers, a redshirt junior who transferred from Edinboro over the summer. Myers was a two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion and a two-time NCAA qualifier while at Edinboro.
"Korbin has established himself at this weight class," Robie said. "He is the clear-cut favorite. I think he's going to turn a lot of heads this year. I'm excited to watch him wrestle. He's really athletic. He's good in every single position, and he can score points a lot of different ways. He's a more athletic guy than I anticipated, which I'm pleased about. He and Dennis were similar wrestlers, but they wrestled twice last year and they were both very close matches [Myers won both], so he's going to step in nicely and pick up where Dennis left off."
141 pounds – At the ACC Championships, Brent Moore pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament, knocking off top seed and two-time ACC champion Kevin Jack of NC State to win the title. The redshirt sophomore went 17-10 on the year, but he will not be wrestling this year because of a neck injury that required surgery. The injury thus left Robie scrambling for a replacement.
Mitch Moore, a true freshman and Brent's brother, went into fall workouts as the favorite. Others in the mix include redshirt freshmen Josh Baier and Caden Darber and sophomore Josh Wyland.
"That weight is pretty wide open," Robie said. "I think Mitch is a little ahead of those other guys, but there is going to be some competition there."
149 pounds – Ryan Blees returns after an outstanding season in 2017-18. The redshirt senior started the year at 157 pounds, but Robie and the staff convinced him to drop down a weight class. It worked out well, as Blees went 14-2 in the regular season after the move. He finished second at the ACC Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships, where he won a match.
"He had some really good moments last year," Robie said. "He didn't finish the season the way he was capable of. He didn't have a great NCAA tournament, but he had some great wins over the course of the season, beat a few guys that were All-Americans. I think Ryan continues to improve, and if we get him to peak at the end of the year, I think he's a guy that can definitely be in contention to finish high on the stand at the NCAA tournament and certainly can win an ACC title for us."
157 pounds – B.C. LaPrade and true freshman Jake Hart will be battling it out for the job at this weight class, but LaPrade probably holds the edge. The redshirt sophomore started for much of last season and finished 12-12, but injuries prevented him from amassing a better mark.
"B.C. battled injuries all last year, and he's finally healthy for the first time," Robie said. "He's a competitive guy. He wants to do well. B.C. is one of those young guys who had some really good moments, and like a lot of freshmen, had some moments where he didn't wrestle great. We're looking for B.C. to be more consistent. I think if he consistently wrestles at his highest level, then he's going to have a great year for us."
165 pounds – Lewis moves into this spot, and Hokie Nation is ready to watch the gold medalist in action. He competed in open tournaments while redshirting last year and went 28-2, with 19 bonus point victories. He went 6-2 against wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA Championships.
"He's ridiculously athletic, which is a good starting point, but he also has a tremendous competitive nature to him and a tremendous work ethic," Robie said. "He has a lot of pride. The sport of wrestling is incredibly important to him. For us, he's the package deal. He not only has elite level talent, but he also has elite level commitment, elite level work ethic, and he's a tough guy. He competes very hard. I think when you factor in all those things together, you've got a special kid."
174 pounds – McFadden, a two-time All-American, moves up a weight class after spending his redshirt sophomore season at 165 pounds. The ACC champion is a national championship contender after going 35-2 last season – 29-0 during the regular season – with one of those losses coming to eventual national champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State. He went 4-2 and finished fifth in his weight class at the NCAA Championships in March.
"We know what we're getting with Dave, and I think the move to 174 is going to be good for Dave," Robie said. "He competed and made the world team at 79 kilos, which is 174 pounds. He wrestled some good guys and had some success. He was a huge 165-pounder last year, so I think not having to worry so much about his weight during the course of the season will help Dave. He really is an elite level wrestler."
McFadden's move allows Hunter Bolen, last year's ACC Rookie of the Year, to take a redshirt season before he makes the move to 184 pounds.
184 pounds – Zavatsky enjoyed his best season as a Hokie last year when he earned All-America honors for the first time. He went 27-4 during the regular season and 3-3 at the NCAA Championships, where he finished sixth in his weight class. Robie expects more of the same from the redshirt senior this season.
"Last year was a big deal for him to get over that hump and become an All-American," Robie said. "He's had a great summer training. He's a sponge. He has the ability to learn wrestling, and he's a student of the sport. He has a very high wrestling IQ. He spent a lot of time with Coach Molinaro, and that has helped him a lot improving his skill set. I expect very big things from Zack this year … I'm excited because I think if he wrestles well, he'll be in the mix to be wrestling Saturday night at the NCAA tournament."
197 pounds – Haught's departure leaves a massive void in Tech's lineup – after all, he became just the fourth three-time All-American in program history in addition to being just the second national runner-up. To replace Haught, Robie is taking a look at a graduate transfer in Tom Sleigh, who came to Tech this summer after spending four years at Bucknell. In three seasons with the Bison, he qualified for the NCAA Championships on three occasions, and he won 89 matches. Also, Brooks Wilding and Cody Howard figure to be in the mix.
"Tom Sleigh is a proven winner at this level," Robie said. "He's a three-time NCAA qualifier. He's a very mature, hard-working guy, and we feel good about Tom and what he's capable of. He's more than capable of stepping in. I'm not saying he'll have the success that Jared had, but on his best day, he's pretty good."
Heavyweight – Last year's heavyweight, Andrew Dunn, decided to leave the program, so Robie and his staff are looking at two wrestlers as replacements in John Borst and Billy Miller. Borst wrestled mostly at 197 pounds last year and is bulking up, but while wrestling unattached as a freshman, he went 21-5, with eight bonus point victories. Miller transferred from Edinboro and certainly brings impressive credentials, having twice won the Eastern Wrestling League title, and on three occasions, qualified for the NCAA Championships. The redshirt senior won 79 matches in his time there, but he has been injured so far this fall and probably won't wrestle until December.
"John had a pretty solid redshirt season," Robie said. "He's building himself into a heavyweight. He weighs about 220 now, so he's not a huge heavyweight, but he's getting there. When Billy comes back, there will be a wrestle-off there, a competition to see who ends up at that spot. I would expect Billy to be back and wrestling at some time in December."
Tech opened the season Nov. 4 at the Hokie Open in Roanoke, Virginia, and that marked the start of the typical grueling slate put together by Robie and his staff. The Hokies take on perennial powers in Missouri, Cornell and Lehigh, along with quality non-conference foes in West Virginia and Northwestern.
The league schedule also figures to be brutal, as the ACC continues to get better in the sport. The Hokies and NC State battled it out last year, but North Carolina, Pitt, Duke and Virginia are making strides.
But Tech's staff and wrestlers worry more about themselves, just their daily work ethic and getting better each day. If they do that, they know they'll be in the hunt for the ACC title and a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships – again.
"I like where our team is at right now," Robie said. "I feel really good about our team and how we've progressed through the offseason and the work ethic and commitment. I'm cautiously optimistic about the season. That's the best way for me to put it."