Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The sixth-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad dropped a tough match against a very strong second-ranked Penn State squad 21-15 to in the second dual meet of the season on Sunday afternoon inside Cassell Coliseum.
Joey Dance kicked things off with a 4-3 decision at 125 pounds over second ranked Nico Megaludis. After falling behind 3-0 in the second period, Dance scored a quick escape to end the second. After choosing down to start the final period, Dance evened the score on a reversal and got riding time to under a minute, forcing the first overtime of the day. Back-to-back takedown attempts from both wrestlers resulted in a stalemate in the first overtime round, Megaludis elected to start on bottom in the second round where Dance dominated on top to avoid the escape. After starting down in the next round, Dance escaped with eight seconds left on the clock and avoided a takedown to score the first victory of the day.
At 141 pounds, newcomer Solomon Chishko started by fighting off a strong takedown attempt to keep the score at 0-0 in the first period against second-ranked Jimmy Gulibon. Guilibon was first on the board with a quick escape in the top of the second period and the score stayed 1-0 as Chishko fought off another TD attempt. Chishko evened the score at one-all with an escape to start the third. After a stalemate forced the pair back to neutral, Chishko held strong and got a huge takedown with under ten seconds left to go up 3-1. After a video review, the call on the mat stood and the upset was complete.
Freshman David McFadden notched continued his strong debut, taking down Shakur Rasheed at 165 pounds. Rasheed jumped ahead early, with a takedown in the first period and a reversal to start the second to take a 4-0 lead. McFadden ended the second period with an escape to get on the board at 4-1. Both wrestlers added escapes before McFadden rattled off three takedowns to Rasheed’s two takedowns to even the score at 8-8 with riding time at the end of three periods. In sudden death overtime, McFadden got to his offense quickly, earning a takedown to win 10-8.
With those three bouts accounting for nine of Tech’s 15 final points, Walz picked up a forfeit in the heavyweight matchup for the final six team points.
Tech (1-0) will be back in action on Saturday, when the team hits the road for a pair of dual meets in the Dakotas, facing off against South Dakota State at 5:30 pm.
#6 Virginia Tech (1-1) 15; #2 Penn State (2-0) 21
125: #6 Joey Dance (VT) dec. #2 Nico Megaludis (PSU), 4-3
133: #8 Jordan Conaway (pSU) dec. #18 Kevin Norstrem (VT), 4-1
141: Solomon Chishko (VT) dec. #2 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU), 3-1
149: #2 Zain Retherford (PSU) tech. #12 Sal Mastriani (VT), 15-0
157: #6 Jason Nolf (PSU) dec. #3 Nick Brascetta (VT), 4-1
165: Dave McFadden (VT) dec. Shakur Rasheed (PSU), 10-8 OT
174: #14 Bo Nickal (PSU) dec. #3 Zach Epperly (VT), 6-2
184: #14 Matt McCutcheon (PSU) major dec. Zack Zavatsky (VT), 17-4
197: #1 Morgan McIntosh (PSU) dec. Jared Haught (VT), 9-2
285: #2 Ty Walz (VT), win by forfeit
Date: Nov. 15, 2015 • Cassell Coliseum • Blacksburg, VA
Attendance: 5,079