Hokie ClubST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Virginia Tech wrestling team got off to a very good start on the opening day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Scottrade Center, as five wrestlers won their opening two matches and advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday.
All eight of the Hokies who qualified won at least a match, as Tech is tied for ninth place in the team competition after two rounds. Tech was one of just five teams (Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State and Oklahoma State) have five wrestlers make it to the quarterfinal round.
“Overall, I’m fairly happy,” Tech coach Kevin Dresser said. “We did a good job, but the important thing for us to understand is that tomorrow [Friday] is an incredibly tough day. It’s probably tougher mentally than physically. If we’re not ready mentally, it’ll be a short day for us – and you don’t want a short day on Friday. You want a long day. So we’ve got to be ready to go. The stars come out on Friday and Saturday. It’s on tomorrow morning.”
Joey Dance (125 pounds), Devin Carter (141), Sal Mastriani (149), Nick Brascetta (157) and Zach Epperly (174) all advanced to the quarterfinals. The five quarterfinalists are the most at one NCAA event in school history.
Dance, the sophomore from Christiansburg, Virginia, won his opening match in grand fashion, pinning Pittsburgh’s Dom Forys. In the second round, the No. 3 seed found things a little tougher, with the match tied at 3 heading into the third period. But a reversal and a huge advantage in riding time enabled him to walk away with an 8-4 win over Air Force’s Josh Martinez.
“It feels good,” Dance said of his day. “Last year, I won one match and then lost the second one. This [the win over the unseeded Martinez] was a good one to get by. Going into the second day undefeated, that’s what it’s all about and then hopefully getting that national title at the end.”
Dance will take on No. 6 seed Thomas Gilman of Iowa on Friday. He beat Gilman in a tournament earlier this season.
Carter, the redshirt senior from Christiansburg, also got off to a great start, recording a technical fall of Kent State’s Tyler Small. In the second round, he found things a tad tougher against No. 13 Randy Cruz of Lehigh. Cruz got a takedown at the end of the first period to grab a 3-2 lead, but Carter got two takedowns in the second period and held off Cruz in an 8-5 win.
“It was not a picture-perfect match,” said Carter, the No. 4 seed. “It’s not one that I’m proud of, but it got me to the next round, and I’m ready to go.
“Whenever you’re going forward in the national tournament, it’s a good sign. I’ve got an ACC matchup the next round and then I’ve got the one everybody is coming here to watch.”
Carter will take on unseeded Kevin Jack of NC State on Friday. A win sets up a probable semifinal matchup with top seed Logan Stieber of Ohio State – the wrestler who beat Carter in the national championship match a year ago.
At 149 pounds, Mastriani, the No. 7 seed, found himself down 9-2 heading into the third period against unseeded Matthew Cimato of Drexel. But the redshirt sophomore from Towaco, New Jersey, stormed back and tied it at 11. In sudden victory, he got a takedown for an improbable 13-11 win.
In his second round match, he broke open a close match with a takedown and back points to go up 10-6 and used riding time to win 11-6 over Rutgers’ Kenneth Theobold.
“It was what I expected,” Mastriani said of his first NCAA event. “There were some things I could have done differently, but I’ll take my wins and take my advances and learn from each match. Right now, I think this tournament is all about finding a way. Sometimes it might be ugly. Sometimes it might be pretty. For the most part, it went the way I expected.
Mastriani will face No. 2 seed Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern on Friday. Tsirtsis won the national title in this weight class last year.
Brascetta, who went into the NCAA Championships unseeded at 157 pounds because his elbow injury caused him to miss much of the season, knocked off No. 9 seed Joseph LaVallee of Missouri 5-2 in the first round. Then the redshirt junior from St. Paris, Ohio, used a third-period takedown to beat American’s John Boyle 3-2 in the second round. Boyle was the No. 8 seed.
“Unseeded, seeded, it doesn’t matter at this point,” Brascetta said. “It’s all about beating good guys in this tournament. If you’ve got to do it right out of the gate, so be it. I knew coming in that it would be a dogfight. You’ve just got to come out and wrestle your best. It’s March. It’s all about who’s wrestling the best.
“I’m wrestling good and feeling good. You take it one match at a time and go from there. I try not to think about things too much. If you’re feeling good and wrestling good … just let it fly from there.”
Brascetta will face top seed Isaiah Martinez of Illinois on Friday. Martinez is 30-0 on the season.
Epperly advanced to the quarters at 174 pounds. The redshirt freshman from Christiansburg knocked off unseeded Sean Mappes of Tennessee-Chattanooga 8-3 in the first round, and then he got a quick, first-period takedown of North Dakota State’s Kurtis Julson en route to a 5-3 win in the second round.
“I’m one match away from being an All-American,” Epperly said. “It’s awesome. As a freshman as well, so hopefully we can get that done. It’s been a good day, but a long day.
“The first match, I had some jitters. But once I got out there and got the takedown, I started wrestling and felt better. I’ve wrestled in front of big crowds before, but not this big. This is pretty neat. I wrestled great in my last match, so I don’t think the atmosphere has affected me that much. I’m just going out there and keep wrestling.”
Epperly will take on No. 2 seed Matt Brown of Penn State on Friday. He beat Brown in sudden victory in a dual meet with the Nittany Lions earlier this season.
Kevin Norstrem (133 pounds), Jared Haught and Ty Walz (heavyweight) all went 1-1 on the day, with Norstrem and Haught recorded their first NCAA Championships victory.
Norstrem, a redshirt freshman from Brandon, Florida, and Haught, a redshirt freshman from Parkersburg, West Virginia, both lost their first-round match, but came back to win in the consolation round. The unseeded Norstrem lost 8-0 to Virginia’s George DiCamillo in the first round, but bounced back, using a late takedown to beat Jack Hathaway of Oregon State 3-1. Haught, unseeded at 197 pounds, lost a tough one to Shane Woods of Wyoming, falling 4-2 in sudden victory. But against Purdue’s Braden Atwood in the consolation round, he recorded two takedowns en route to a 5-2 win.
Walz, a redshirt sophomore from Cleveland, Ohio, won his first-round matchup, beating Ohio State’s Nick Tavanello 5-3, but he lost in sudden victory to Northern Iowa’s Blaize Cabell, who took down Walz with two seconds left.
Norstrem, Haught and Walz all will wrestle in the consolation rounds on Friday. A loss ends their seasons.
Ohio State leads the team competition, with Iowa in second, Oklahoma State in third, Penn State in fourth and Missouri in fifth.
THURSDAY’S RESULTS AND FRIDAY’S OPPONENTS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
125: #3 seed Joey Dance
First Round: def. Dom Forys (Pittsburgh), Fall (5:36)
Second Match: def. Josh Martinez (Air Force), 8-4
Quarterfinals: vs. #6 seed Thomas Gilman (Iowa) - FRIDAY
133: Kevin Norstrem
First Round: lost to #12 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia), MD 8-0
Consolations: def. Jack Hathaway (Oregon St), 3-1
Consolations: vs. #11 seed Danny Sabatello (Purdue) - FRIDAY
141: #4 seed Devin Carter
First Round: def. Tyler Small (Kent State), TF-4, 23-7 (6:59)
Second Match: def. #13 seed Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 8-6
Quarterfinals: vs. Kevin Jack (NC State) - FRIDAY
149: #7 seed Sal Mastriani
First Round: def. Matthew Cimato (Drexel), 13-11 (SV)
Second Match: def. Kenneth Theobold (Rutgers), 11-6
Quarterfinals: vs. #2 seed Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) - FRIDAY
157: Nick Brascetta
First Round: def. #9 seed Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 5-2
Second Match: def. #8 seed John Boyle (American), 3-2
Quarterfinals: vs. #1 seed Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) - FRIDAY
174: #7 seed Zach Epperly
First Round: def. Sean Mappes (Chattanooga), 8-3
Second Match: def. Kurtis Julson (NDSU), 5-3
Quarterfinals: vs. #2 seed Matt Brown (Penn State) - FRIDAY
197: Jared Haught
First Round: lost to #13 seed Shane Woods (Wyoming), 4-2 (SV)
Consolations: def. Braden Atwood (Purdue), 5-2
Consolations: vs. Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan) - FRIDAY
285: #10 seed Ty Walz
First Round: def. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), 5-3
Second Match: lost to #7 seed Blaise Cabell (Northern Illinois), 3-1 (SV)
Consolations: vs. Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell)