Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - Members of the Virginia Tech wrestling squad will head to St. Louis to compete in the 2015 NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday and run through Saturday at the Scottrade Center. In all, Tech will send eight competitors to the event. The ACC received seven at-large bids and will send 36 wrestlers to St. Louis for Nationals.
The eight wrestlers representing Virginia Tech are: Joey Dance at 125 pounds, Kevin Norstrem at 133 pounds, Devin Carter at 141 pounds, Sal Mastriani at 149 pounds, Nick Brascetta at 157 pounds, Zach Epperly at 174 pounds, Jared Haught at 197 pounds and Ty Walz at heavyweight.
Dance is seeded third at 125 pounds while Carter grabbed the No. 4 seed at 141 pounds. Mastriani and Epperly are seeded seventh and Walz is seeded 10th.
Below are the initial matchups for all eight competitors, barring no changes between now and Thursday, and their potential second match.
125: #3 seed Joey Dance
First Round: vs. Dom Forys (Pittsburgh)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Dominic Parisi (App St)/Josh Martinez (Air Force) vs. #14 seed Josh Rodriguez (NDSU)
133: Kevin Norstrem
First Round: vs. #12 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Jack Hathaway (Oregon St) vs. #5 seed Zane Richards (Illinois)
141: #4 seed Devin Carter
First Round: vs. Tyler Small (Kent State)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Dante Rodriguez (ISU) vs. #13 seed Randy Cruz (Lehigh)
149: #7 seed Sal Mastriani
First Round: vs. Matthew Cimato (Drexel)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Kenneth Theobold (Rutgers) vs. #10 seed Christian Pagdilao (Ariz St)
157: Nick Brascetta
First Round: vs. #9 seed Joseph LaVallee (Missouri)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Steven Hernandez (Boise St) vs. #8 seed John Boyle (American)
174: #7 seed Zach Epperly
First Round: vs. Sean Mappes (Chattanooga)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Kurtis Julson (NDSU) vs. #10 seed Mark Martin (Ohio State)
197: Jared Haught
First Round: vs. #13 seed Shane Woods (Wyoming)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Brenden Atwood (Purdue) vs. #4 seed Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)
285: #10 seed Ty Walz
First Round: vs. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State)
Second Match: vs. winner/loser of Brooks Black (Illinois) vs. #7 seed Blaise Cabell (Northern Illinois)
Action will begin on Thursday at noon Eastern time (11 a.m. local) with the first session. Tech’s eight wrestlers (and all 330 total wrestlers) will take to the eight mats as their journey begins to a possible national title or All-America honors. The second session begins Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. local) with the second round and consolation bouts. On Friday, Session III begins at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. local) with wrestlebacks and quarterfinal bouts and Session IV starts at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. local) on six mats with semifinal bouts and wrestlebacks. On Saturday, Session V features wrestleback semifinals and medal matches on three mats starting at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. local) and the final session will feature the 10 championship bouts live at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. local).
ESPN’s family of networks will broadcast every round. You can find a complete list of where and when here.