Hokie ClubEVANSTON, Ill. - Three Virginia Tech wrestlers advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals and four others remain alive in the consolation brackets after one day of competition at the 52nd Ken Craft Midlands Championships, being held inside Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University.
Joey Dance, Devin Carter and Ty Walz all advanced to the semifinals after going undefeated Monday. Carter was dominant on the day, going 4-0 with four bonus-point victories at 141 pounds. The senior picked up his 100th career win with his second victory of the day and eventually moved into Tuesday’s semifinals, where he’ll take on sixth-seeded Steven Rodrigues of Illinois. Carter now sits with 102 career wins, the eighth-most in program history and his 36 pins are the third-most in school history.
Dance, the No. 2 seed at 125 pounds, went 3-0 with a technical fall and a major decision. He’ll face third-seeded Josh Rodriguez of North Dakota State in the semifinals. Dance has beaten Rodriguez twice this year thus far, 6-3 in a dual meet and 4-2 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Walz, the fourth seed at heavyweight, went 3-0 to advance to the semifinals. After two easy wins, he gutted out a 4-3 win over fifth-seeded Evan Knutson in the first tiebreaker. The two were tied at 1-1 after regulation and neither scored in sudden victory. In the first half of the tiebreaker, Walz got an escape to go up 2-1 and then Knutson escaped early in the second half of the tiebreaker. Walz quickly jumped in on Knutson’s legs and got the takedown to pick up his third win of the season over NDSU wrestler. He beat him 3-2 in the dual meet and 3-2 in Las Vegas.
Kevin Norstrem (133), Sal Mastriani (149), Austin Gabel (184) and Jared Haught (197) will all wrestle in the consolations.
As a team, Tech sits in fifth place with 54.5 points behind Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern and Edinboro.
Competition resumes Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern (noon Central) moving through the afternoon with the finals slated to be televised live by the Big Ten Network Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 Central).
125: #2 seed Joey Dance
First Round: def. Mark Jolcover (UNI), TF 21-6
Second Round: def. Derek Elmore (N. Illinois), 9-2
Quarterfinals: #10 seed Lucas Malmberg (Messiah), MD 16-6
Semifinals: vs. #3 seed Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) - TUESDAY
133: #10 seed Kevin Norstrem
First Round: def. Hunter Weber (NDSU), 7-0
Second Round: def. #7 seed Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers), 4-4 (TB-2; RT)
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 seed Jarrod Garnett (Lehigh Valley AC), 3-1 *
Consolations: vs. #8 seed Robert Deutsch (Rider) - TUESDAY
141: #2 seed Devin Carter
First Round: def. Jason Bing (F&M), Fall 4:23
Second Round: def. Brock Irvin (Illinois), TF 25-10 (7:00)
Third Round: def. Tyler Argue (N. Illinois), MD 18-8
Quarterfinals: def. #7 seed Shyheim Brown (Maryland), MD 17-9
Semifinals: vs. #6 seed Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) - TUESDAY
149: #10 seed Sal Mastriani
First Round: def. Joe Randazzo (Indiana), MD 16-5
Second Round: def. #7 seed Alexander Richardson (ODU), 3-1
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 seed David Habat (Edinboro), MD 14-4
Consolations: vs. #14 seed Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) - TUESDAY
157: David Wesley (1-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #4 seed Chad Walsh (Rider), Fall 3:33
Consolations: def. Connor Hedash (Air Force), 8-3
Consolations: lost to Benjamin Sullivan (NW), MD 15-5
165: Chad Strube (1-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: def. Patrick Robinson (Purdue), 9-2
Second Round: lost to #8 seed Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton), 4-3
Consolations: lost to Tyrel White (Columbia), 7-5
165: David Bergida (0-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: lost to #10 seed Connor McMahon (SIUE), 4-2
Consolations: lost to Matt Nora (Illinois), 3-1
184: #7 seed Austin Gabel
First Round: def. #10 seed Clint Morrison (Rider), 5-2
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 seed Jack Dechow (ODU), 3-1 (TB-1)
Consolations: vs. #12 seed Brett Harner (Princeton) - TUESDAY
197: #8 seed Jared Haught
First Round: def. Matt Williams (CSUB), MD 10-1
Second Round: def. #9 seed Luke Sheridan (Indiana), 4-2 (TB-1)
Quarterfinals: lost to #1 seed Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-1
Consolations: vs. #2 seed Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) - TUESDAY
285: #4 seed Ty Walz
First Round: def. Marcus Malecek (Air Force), 11-4
Second Round: def. Gage Hutchison (Eastern Mich), 4-2
Quarterfinals: def. #5 seed Evan Knutson (NDSU), 4-3 (TB-1)
Semifinals: vs. #1 seed Michael McMullan (Northwestern) - TUESDAY
285: Dan Garwood (2-2; ELIMINATED)
First Round: def. Tyler Kral (Purdue), 5-3
Second Round: lost to #2 seed Bobby Telford (Iowa), 6-1
Consolations: def. #12 seed Chris Lopez (Illinois), 3-2
Consolations: lost to #7 seed Jake Henderson (ODU), 3-1
* - non-NCAA competitor; result does not count toward season/career record, or NCAA qualification status
Additionally, five Tech wrestlers competed in the Wilkes Open on Sunday in Pennsylvania. Freshman Zack Zavatsky went 4-0 at 184 pounds to take a title and Jerry Ronnau went 5-1 to place third at 141 pounds.
141: Jerry Ronnau (5-1, THIRD PLACE)
First Round: def. Cory Fleming (Wilkes), MD 10-1
Quarterfinals: lost to Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh), 8-4
Consolations: def. Matt Leshinger (Columbia), 7-3
Consolations: def. Jacob Trybus (Maryland), 3-2
Consolations: def. John Muldoon (SIUE), 10-9
Third-Place Match: def. Pankil Chander (Wilkes), 9-6
149: Chad Saunders (unattached; 2-2)
First Round: lost to Danny Reed (Columbia), 5-3
Consolations: def. Gene Kobilansky (NYU), MD 18-5
Consolations: def. Richard Cruz (NYU), 8-1
Consolations: lost to Josh Evans (unattached), 3-2
157: Cameron Bowen (1-2)
First Round: lost to Josh Ortman (Bloomsburg), TF 15-0 (4:40)
Consolations: def. Samuel Friedfeld (NYU), 3-1
Consolations: lost to Dylon Painton (Rutgers), Fall 2:30
157: Carter Page (unattached; 3-2)
First Round: def. Howard Kilpatrick (Kings), 6-2
Second Round: def. Samuel Friedfeld (NYU), MD 13-4
Quarterfinals: def. Tyler Herzog (Roger Williams), MD 20-10
Semifinals: lost to Sam Schwartzapfel (Nassau CC), 6-1
Consolations: lost to Casey Mitchell (Sacred Heart), 6-5
174: Brooks Morrison (2-2)
First Round: def. Auston Hummel (Bloomsburg), Fall 3:44
Second Round: def. Joey Gonzales (Millersville), MD 10-2
Quarterfinals: lost to Dominic Scalise (Virginia), MD 13-4
Consolations: lost to Curt Delia (Rutgers), 6-2
184: Zack Zavatsky (unattached; 4-0, CHAMPION)
First Round: def. Elliott Antler (Sacred Heart), 11-4
Second Round: def. Levi Veppert (Wilkes), 6-1
Semifinals: def. Anthony Messner (Rutgers), 3-1
Finals: def. Tony Pafumi (Rutgers), 6-1