Hokie ClubBROOKINGS, S.D. - The sixth-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad won their first road dual meet of 2015, topping South Dakota State 20-16.
Junior Joey Dance moved to 3-0 on the season in dual meets, picking up a 17-2 tech fall in 4:39, to put the Hokies up 5-0 early.
With the Jacks picking up three points at 133, tenth-ranked redshirt freshman Solomon Chishko continued his winning ways with a 10-5 decision at 141 pounds. Chishko used early takedowns to build a lead he never surrendered to widen Tech’s lead to 8-3.
South Dakota State won a tech fall at 149 and picked up a major decision at 157 pounds to take their first lead of the afternoon at 12-8.
Twentieth-ranked David McFadden’s first and third period takedowns propelled him to his third dual meet victory of the season, notching a 6-4 win at 165 pounds. McFadden’s decision put the Hokies within one, trailing 12-11 through six weight classes.
Zack Zavatsky picked up his second win of the season, a 7-4 decision. After being tied 3-3 heading into the third period, Zavatsky quickly added an escape and a takedown, eventually winning by a margin of three. After Zavatsky’s victory, the Hokies were within two, trailing 16-14.
No. 19 Jared Haught picked up the upset of the day, taking down 12th-ranked Nate Rotert in a closely matched 3-2 battle. After scoring an early escape in the first period, the score remained 1-0 in favor of Haught until Rotert evened the score with an escape of his own in the third. Haught took the lead for good with a takedown with under 30 second remaining to put the Hokies ahead 17-16 with just the heavyweight match left on the docket.
Second-ranked Ty Walz rode two takedowns to a 4-3 victory, improving his record to a perfect 3-0, and sealing the 20-16 victory for Virginia Tech.
“Obviously we wrestled pretty much all first and second year athletes tonight, so it wasn’t pretty at times, but we did learn how to compete a little when the chips are down,” said head coach Kevin Dresser. “I wanted to put them in a tough environment and watch. I watched some fail and I saw a few guys grow up. It’s a short turnaround with North Dakota State in less than 24 hours.”
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 (2-1) will be back in action on Sunday, when the team heads north to take on the Bison of North Dakota State at 4 p.m. Live stats and a video stream for the meet can be found at GoBison.com
#6 Virginia Tech (2-1) 20; South Dakota State (1-3) 16
125: #3 Joey Dance (VT) over Anthony Cefolo (SDSU) - Tech Fall, 17-2, 4:39
133: Brance Simms (SDSU) over #18 Kevin Norstrem (VT) - Dec., 6-4
141: #10 Solomon Chishko (VT) over Seth Gross (SDSU) - Dec., 10-5
149: Alex Kocer (SDSU) over Chad Saunders (VT) - Tech Fall, 16-1, 5:58
157: #8 Cody Pack (SDSU) over Jake Spengler (VT) - Maj., 13-1
165: #20 David McFadden (VT) over Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) - Dec., 6-4
174: David Kocer (SDSU) over Cody Hughes (VT) - Maj. 9-1
184: Zachary Zavatsky (VT) over Brady Ayers (SDSU) - Dec. 7-4
197: #19 Jared Haught (VT) over #12 Nate Rotert (SDSU) - Dec. 3-2
285: #2 Ty Wlaz (VT) over Alex Macki (SDSU) - Dec. 5-3