Wrestling

Three Hokies place at Las Vegas Invitational

PRIMM, Nev. - Three Hokie wrestlers placed at the always-tough Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday, highlighted by Jesse Dong winning four matches in a row and six overall to take third place at 157 pounds. Chris Diaz took seventh place at 141 pounds and Pete Yates placed eighth at 149 pounds. The event took place at the Starr of the Desert Arena in Primm, Nev. Seven Hokies participated in the event, but the three mentioned were the only ones to place. Below are the results for all seven wrestlers who made the trip out west.

133: Erik Spjut (0-2)
Pigtails : lost to #8 seed Ben Ashmore (Arizona State), 1-0
Consolations: lost to Pat McCaffrey (Navy) by injury default

141: #3 seed Chris Diaz (4-2; Seventh Place)
First Round: defeated Shane Fenningham (Drexel), Fall (2:05)
Second Round: defeated Adin Duenas (CS Fullerton), 2-1
Quarterfinals: lost to #6 seed Fil Novachkov (Cal Poly), 8-6
Consolations: defeated Mike Koehnlein (Nebraska), 8-2
Consolations: lost to #2 seed Chris Drouin (Arizona State), 5-1
Seventh-Place Match: defeated #8 seed Kenny Hashimoto (Northern Colorado) by medical forfeit

149: #9 seed Pete Yates (3-3; Eighth Place)
First Round: defeated Levi Jutila (CSU-Pueblo), tech fall, 16-0 (3:11)
Second Round: defeated #8 seed Steve Santos (Columbia), 6-4
Quarterfinals: lost to #1 Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin), 1-0
Consolations: defeated #7 seed Desi Green (Buffalo), 13-6
Consolations: lost to #4 seed Kevin LeValley (Bucknell), 6-2
Seventh-Place Match: lost to #12 seed RJ Pena (Oregon State), Fall (6:34)

157: #6 seed Jesse Dong (6-1; Third Place)
First Round: defeated Nick Jordan (CS Fullerton), MD 14-3
Second Round: defeated Andrew Balch (CS Bakersfield), 7-2
Quarterfinals: lost to #3 seed J.P. O’Connor (Harvard), 5-4
Consolations: defeated Robert Ward (NC State), MD 11-2
Consolations: defeated #7 seed Shane Vernon (Oklahoma), 7-2
Consolations: defeated #8 seed Bryce Saddoris (Navy), 4-2
Third-Place Match: defeated Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado), MD 8-0

174: Anthony Trongone (0-2)
Pigtails: lost to Justin Zeerip (Michigan), 5-0
Consolations: lost to #13 seed Enock Francois (Cal Baptist), 4-2

184: #7 seed Tommy Spellman (0-2)
First Round: lost to Charlie Pipher (Western State), 8-2
Consolations: lost to Erich Schmidtke (Oklahoma), 7-5

197: Tim Miller (0-2)
First Round: lost to #9 seed Riley Orozco (CS Bakersfield), 12-4 MD
Consolations: lost Chad Hanke (Oregon State), Fall (4:12)

Four Hokies competed in the Davidson Open Saturday in North Carolina with Jared Jones (133) and John Dickson (174) taking third place in their respective weight class.

133: Jared Jones (3-1; Third Place)
Quarterfinals: defeated Andrew Tillman (Spartanburg Methodist), Fall (3:40)
Semifinals: lost to Alex Radsky (Davidson), 6-1
Consolations: defeated Weston Loxely (Limestone), 3-1
Third-Place Match: defeated Scott Ray (Davidson), 9-2

141: Cameron Hurd (1-2; UNATTACHED)
First Round: defeated Matt Sharp (Pembroke), Fall (3:58)
Second Round: lost to Vitaly Radsky (Davidson), 7-5
Consolations: lost to Chris Francis (Anderson), 10-5

141: Cole Louks (4-2; UNATTACHED)
First Round: defeated Josh Ford (Spartanburg Methodist), Fall (2:12)
Second Round: lost to Melchisedac LaVerone (Anderson), 2-0
Consolations: defeated Chad Beck (Rock Hill HS), 4-3
Consolations: defeated Vitaly Radsky (Davidson), 7-2
Consolations: defeated Kyle Benson (Appalachian State), 7-1
Consolations: lost to Melchisedac LaVerone (Anderson), 4-2 (SV)

174: John Dickson (4-1; Third Place)
First Round: defeated Scott Edelson (Citadel), tech fall 15-0 (7:00)
Quarterfinals: defeated Jordan Ford (Pembroke), Fall (2:26)
Semifinals: lost to Derek Lucas (Anderson), 8-3
Consolations: defeated Blake Salyer (Gardner-Webb), 5-0
Third-Place Match: defeated David Sweeney (Gardner-Webb), 5-4

Five wrestlers will participate in Sunday’s Nittany Lion Open on the campus of Penn State. They are: ninth-ranked Jarrod Garnett at 125 pounds, Nick Murray at 141 pounds, Brian Stephens (unattached) and Matt Rosen (unattached) at 149 pounds and Taylor Knapp at 157 pounds.