Hokie ClubST. LOUIS, Mo. – All four of Virginia Tech’s wrestlers competing in the medal round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships won at least a match Saturday morning, as the Hokies wrapped up their season at the NCAA Championships held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Tech’s four All-Americans – Devin Carter (141 pounds), Nick Brascetta (157), Zach Epperly (174) and Ty Walz (heavyweight) – were the ones competing and all improved at least one place in their respective weight classes from where they were entering the medal round. Carter claimed third place and Brascetta finished in fourth place. Epperly and Walz both ended in seventh place.
Tech finished in 10th place in the team competition with 56 points. It marked their third straight top-10 performance.
“This was really satisfying considering we had such a tough morning yesterday [Friday],” Tech coach Kevin Dresser said. “To come back in the consolation round takes a lot of guts, a lot of heart and a lot of fight because you’re done if you lose. We lost some tough matches yesterday on paper, a couple we were favored in and a lot we weren’t favored. But for these guys to come back and fight they way they fought … it was really a great finish.
“I’m proud of us. We’ve got a chance to stay in the top 10 and if we do that’s great. It’s a testament to these guys.”
Carter got the Hokies off to a quick start on the final day. The 141-pounder took on Old Dominion’s Chris Mecate, whom he had beaten earlier this season at the Virginia Duals, in his first match and got a couple of first-period takedowns to grab a 4-1 lead. Then in the second period, Carter pinned Mecate, advancing to the third-place match.
In the third-place match, he faced Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil and went on the attack right from the start. He got two first-period takedowns and another takedown early in the second period. That started a barrage of takedowns, the Christiansburg, Virginia native concluded his career with a 17-8 major decision win over Heil.
“This isn’t really what I wanted, but I thought I came back and wrestled and ended up winning out,” Carter said. “I think that was the best way I could have gone out if I was going to go that way. I guess it’s that much easier to live with myself.
“It’s [his career] been awesome. It’s been a long five years, and if it had ended with a loss and ended with getting seventh or eighth place, I wouldn’t have been happy. I guess this is the best way to go down.”
Brascetta, a redshirt junior from St. Paris, Ohio, got the easiest of wins in his first match of the day. The 157-pounder won when Minnesota’s Dylan Ness, the No. 3 seed, forfeited because of an injury. Ness was injured in his semifinal match Friday night against Cornell’s Brian Realbuto.
Brascetta, a redshirt junior from St. Paris, Ohio, thus advanced to the third-place match, where he met Nebraska’s James Green, the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds. The two were tied at 2 heading into the third period, but Green got a point for an escape, and Brascetta couldn’t get in on Green’s legs to get a takedown. He ended up losing 3-2 and finished in fourth place at 157.
Zach Epperly concluded his redshirt freshman season in fine fashion, claiming seventh place at 174 pounds with a victory over North Dakota State’s Kurtis Julson. The Christiansburg native trailed 1-0 going into the third period, but he escaped Julson for a point to tie things and then he got a takedown to take a 3-1 lead. Epperly held off Julson’s advances to record the 3-1 win.
“It was an awesome season,” Epperly said. “It’s not where I wanted to finish at each place [the ACC Championships and the NCAA Championships], but you have to take what you get. All-American is pretty neat. Third place in the ACC is ok. I got my revenge on the UVa guy [Blaise Butler, who beat Epperly at the ACCs] yesterday, and that was huge. It shows I’m building and progressing more and getting better.”
Walz polished off a tremendous Championships appearance by winning his seventh-place match at heavyweight against Minnesota’s Michael Kroells. The redshirt sophomore from Cleveland, Ohio, got a takedown in the first period and added another one in the second period, riding Kroells for much of that period. Kroelis mustered little in the way of offense, and Walz’s riding time advantage enabled him to record a 6-2 win to finish seventh.
“My whole thing coming into this tournament was I didn’t want to plan anything because when you plan something, things go wrong,” Walz said. “It depends on how you handle those things when they go wrong. I wanted to finish higher than I did at ACCs. That was my goal. I came up a couple of spots short of it.
“But now I know what it feels like. Now I know what it feels like to be an All-American. Now I know what it feels like to lose in the wrestlebacks. It’s interesting. You find the emotions that you hate and the ones you love, and you now know what you’re working for.”
Ohio State won national championship, edging Iowa for the crown. Edinboro was third, with Missouri in fourth and Cornell in fifth.
FINAL RESULTS FROM THE 2015 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
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 (6-1; THIRD PLACE; 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: def. #11 seed Chris Mecate (Old Dominion), Fall (4:13)
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: def. #11 seed Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), MD 17-8
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 (5-2; FOURTH PLACE; 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: def. #3 seed Dylan Ness (Minnesota), Inj. Def. (0:01)
THIRD-PLACE MATCH: lost to #4 seed James Green (Nebraska), 3-2
174: #7 seed Zach Epperly (4-2; SEVENTH PLACE; 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: def. Kurtis Julson (NDSU), 3-2
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 (5-2; SEVENTH PLACE; 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: def. #9 seed Michael Kroells (Minnesota)6, 2