Hokie ClubST. LOUIS, Mo. – After a disastrous morning session in which all five Virginia Tech wrestlers lost their quarterfinal matches, the Hokies came back strong in the evening session, with four earning All-America honors at the NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Scottrade Center.
Devin Carter (141 pounds), Nick Brascetta (157), Zach Epperly (174) and Ty Walz (heavyweight) all won their first match in the evening’s consolation round to secure All-America status. The four All-Americans tied for the most in program history at the NCAA Championships.
The Hokies are currently in 12th place in the team standings with 41 points.
“Obviously, I was pleased with tonight [Friday],” Tech coach Kevin Dresser said. “This morning was really tough. This tournament is such a roller coaster emotionally and physically. We had some lows and highs. Overall, I’m proud. We had four guys come back and were All-Americans. They get a chance to wrestle on the big stage on the last day of the nationals, and that’s what every wrestler dreams of.
“It’s a pride thing. We want to be in the top 10 [of the team standings], but more than anything, I want these guys to finish. I told them in the hotel at 5:30 before this round after our horrendous round this morning, ‘You know, we’ve got to finish what we’ve started. The only way to finish what we’ve started is to get to Saturday.’ Most of them responded.”
Carter’s chances at a national championship ended with a stunning loss to NC State’s Kevin Jack in the quarterfinals at 141 pounds. Jack, who entered the Championships unseeded, got a takedown and a near fall in the first period to lead 6-2. Carter eventually tied things at 8 in the third period, but Jack got a reversal in the final minute and held on for the 10-8 victory.
Carter, a redshirt senior from Christiansburg, Virginia, bounced back in the consolation round. Needing a win to assure himself of All-America status for a school-record third time, Carter used a barrage of takedowns against Princeton’s Jordan Laster and recorded an 18-7 major decision victory.
Carter became the program’s first three-time All-American, a small consolation for someone who wanted to get back to the national title match.
“It’s a good feeling, but obviously it’s not where I wanted to be,” Carter said of earning All-America honors. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. Right now, it’s one more match and then one more match. Just keep putting seven minutes together.
“It’s disappointing to me. It’s disappointing to everybody because everyone wanted to watch that match [a rematch of last year’s national title match at 141 pounds between him and Ohio State’s Logan Stieber]. I think it’s more disappointing that I didn’t get a chance to wrestle in the finals and knock off that guy in the semis [he would have faced Stieber in the semis]. It’s just tough. There’s nothing I can say about it.”
Carter also upset No. 3 seed Lavion Mayes of Missouri in the consolation round by a score of 10-6. He needs to win two matches on Saturday morning to secure third place in the event, starting with a match against Old Dominions Chris Mecate.
Brascetta fell in the quarterfinals at 157 pounds to Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez, who got a quick takedown in the first period and controlled the match from there. Brascetta ended up losing 10-4, as Martinez, the No. 1 seed at this weight, remained unbeaten on the season.
The unseeded Brascetta, though, responded in the consolation round. He got a first-period takedown of South Dakota State’s Cody Pack and added another one in the second period. That would be enough, as Pack mustered little in the way of offense against Brascetta, who became a two-time All-American with the 5-2 win. The redshirt junior from St. Paris, Ohio, then won again, beating Lehigh’s Mitchell Minotti 8-0.
“This is pretty cool, especially after the year I’ve had,” said Brascetta, who missed a chunk of this season with an elbow injury. “It means a lot. It’s a big deal. Sitting out and not being able to be with my brothers … this was something special, just to be able to come out and do something for the team.”
Brascetta will take on Minnesota’s Dylan Ness, the No. 3 seed, on Saturday morning. Like Carter, he needs two wins to finish in third place.
The surprising performance of the night came from Zach Epperly, Tech’s 174-pounder. Epperly and Penn State’s Matt Brown wrestled in the quarterfinals at 174 pounds, and Brown got a second-period escape to take a 1-0 lead. He then rode Epperly for much of the remainder of the match. Epperly got an escape in the third period, but Brown’s riding time advantage was too much to overcome, and the redshirt freshman from Christiansburg lost 2-1.
But Epperly came up big in the consolation round. Facing rival Virginia’s Blaise Butler – whom Epperly had lost to three times already this season – the redshirt freshman from Christiansburg rode Butler for the entire second period, refusing to let Butler escape. In the third period, Epperly got a reversal for a 2-0 lead, and then, with less than 40 seconds left in the match he pinned Butler, getting the win and All-America status.
“I’m speechless,” Epperly said after his win. “I don’t know the words to say. It’s an awesome feeling. It’s unbelievable.
“Anything can happen here. It’s the national tournament. You can tell because you’ve seen so many upsets out there. You never know what’s going to happen. It’s a clean slate. I just went in with a clean slate and didn’t think about the previous losses. I went in pretty confident.”
Epperly lost 3-1 to Minnesota’s Logan Storley in the next consolation match. He will wrestle Saturday morning in the seventh-place match against North Dakota State’s Kurtis Julson.
Walz recorded the Hokies’ lone win of the morning session, dominating action against Cornell’s Jacob Aiken-Phillips. The redshirt sophomore from Cleveland, Ohio, got a takedown and a reversal in the first period and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. He was never threatened, winning 10-4 to advance.
He then won twice more, beating Rutgers’ William Smith 5-3 to advance and stunning No. 4 seed Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State 2-1 to earn All-America honors.
“For some reason, I wrestle bigger guys better,” Walz said. “I feel like I have a little man’s syndrome for guys that are bigger than me, so whenever I wrestle a guy bigger than me, I always get excited. I knew I was going to win. I knew it was going to be in that type of fashion. I’m glad it happened that way.
“It’s amazing. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and now I can focus on being as good as I can be for the rest of my career at Virginia Tech.”
Walz’s fourth match of the day ended in defeat, as he fell 3-1 in sudden victory to Penn State’s James Lawson. Walz will take on Michael Kroelis of Minnesota in the seventh-place match on Saturday morning.
Joey Dance suffered a bitter loss to Iowa’s Thomas Gilman in the quarterfinals at 125 pounds. He dominated the match and led 5-2 going into the third period. But Gilman got an escape for a point and then a takedown with 10 seconds left to tie the match at 5. In sudden victory, he caught Dance in a bear hug and took him down for two points, winning 7-5.
Dance’s season came to a bitter end in the consolation round when he lost to unseeded Conor Youtsey of Michigan. Youtsey got a takedown in sudden victory to win 3-1, and Dance finished his season with a 30-5 record.
“Joey’s the only guy in the building that did not place that should be in the finals right now,” Dresser said. “That’s how close he was. He’s got to learn from it. He stopped wrestling this morning [against Gilman] with 30 seconds to go, and it bit him in the butt. Then he wasn’t ready to go tonight here in the wrestlebacks. You have to be ready every time you step out there, especially in the national tournament. You throw all the records out. He’s got to figure that out.”
Sal Mastriani lost in the quarterfinals at 149 pounds to defending national champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern. Tsirtsis got an escape in the second period and then rode Mastriani for pretty much the remainder of the match. The escape and the riding time advantage enabled Tsirtsis to beat Mastriani 2-0.
Mastriani’s season came to an end in the consolation round. He lost 9-1 to Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen and finished his season with a 27-13 record.
Kevin Norstrem’s season came to an end after a 1-0 loss in the consolation round at 133 pounds to Purdue’s Danny Sabatello. Neither wrester scored, but Sabatello rode Norstrem for the entire second period and that was the difference, as Norstrem fell 1-0. Norstrem, a redshirt freshman from Brandon, Florida, finished the Championships with a 1-2 record and ended his season with a 19-16 overall record.
Jared Haught also saw his season come to an end in his first match in the consolation round at 197 pounds. Haught, a redshirt freshman from Parkersburg, West Virginia, took on Eastern Michigan’s Anthony Abro and trailed much of the match until tying things at 8 with a takedown late in the third period. But Abro got an escape for a point in the waning moments and that was the difference, as Haught lost 9-8. Haught finished his season with a 17-19 overall record.
Ohio State leads the team competition with 86.5 points. Iowa is in second followed by Cornell, Edinboro and Missouri.
125: #3 seed Joey Dance (2-2)
First Round: def. Dom Forys (Pittsburgh), Fall (5:36)
Second Match: def. Josh Martinez (Air Force), 8-4
Quarterfinals: lost to #6 seed Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 7-5 (SV)
Consolations: lost to Conor Youtsey (Michigan), 3-1 (SV)
133: Kevin Norstrem (1-2)
First Round: lost to #12 seed George DiCamillo (Virginia), MD 8-0
Consolations: def. Jack Hathaway (Oregon St), 3-1
Consolations: lost to #11 seed Danny Sabatello (Purdue), 1-0
141: #4 seed Devin Carter (ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. Tyler Small (Kent State), TF-4, 23-7 (6:59)
Second Match: def. #13 seed Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 8-6
Quarterfinals: lost to Kevin Jack (NC State), 10-8
Consolations: def. Jordan Laster (Princeton), MD 18-7
Consolations: def. #3 seed Levion Mayes (Missouri), 10-6
Consolations: vs. #11 seed Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) - SATURDAY
149: #7 seed Sal Mastriani (2-2)
First Round: def. Matthew Cimato (Drexel), 13-11 (SV)
Second Match: def. Kenneth Theobold (Rutgers), 11-6
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 seed Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern), 2-0
Consolations: lost to #4 seed Brandon Sorensen (Iowa), MD 9-1
157: Nick Brascetta (ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. #9 seed Joseph LaVallee (Missouri), 5-2
Second Match: def. #8 seed John Boyle (American), 3-2
Quarterfinals: lost to #1 seed Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), 10-4
Consolations: def. #5 Cody Pack (SDSU), 5-2
Consolations: def. #12 seed Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh), MD 8-0
Consolations: vs. #3 seed Dylan Ness (Minnesota) - SATURDAY
174: #7 seed Zach Epperly (All-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. Sean Mappes (Chattanooga), 8-3
Second Match: def. Kurtis Julson (NDSU), 5-3
Quarterfinals: lost to #2 seed Matt Brown (Penn State), 2-1
Consolations: def. #5 seed Blaise Butler (Virginia), Fall (6:25)
Consolations: lost to #6 seed Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-1
SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH: Kurtis Julson (NDSU) - SATURDAY
197: Jared Haught (1-2)
First Round: lost to #13 seed Shane Woods (Wyoming), 4-2 (SV)
Consolations: def. Braden Atwood (Purdue), 5-2
Consolations: lost to Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan), 9-8
285: #10 seed Ty Walz (ALL-AMERICAN)
First Round: def. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), 5-3
Second Match: lost to #7 seed Blaise Cabell (Northern Illinois), 3-1 (SV)
Consolations: def. Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell), 10-4
Consolations: def. William Smith (Rutgers), 5-3
Consolations: def. #4 seed Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State), 2-1
Consolations: lost to #8 seed Jimmy Lawson (Penn State), 3-1 (SV)
SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH: vs. Michael Kroells (Minnesota) - SATURDAY