Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The sixth-ranked Virginia Tech wrestling squad will open the 2015-16 season this weekend, hosting a pair of events in Blacksburg. On Saturday, the Hokies will welcome 13th-ranked Iowa State to town for a dual meet before playing host to the annual Hokie Open inside Rector Fieldhouse all day Sunday.
On Saturday, the defending ACC dual meet champions will kick off the season with a dual match against another top-20 program in Iowa State. The Cyclones feature a trio of ranked wrestlers in eighth-ranked Earl Hall at 133 pounds, sixth-ranked Tanner Weatherman at 165 pounds and 17th-ranked Lelund Weatherspoon at 174 pounds. Two of those matches will feature a pair of ranked competitors as Zach Epperly is ranked third at 174 pounds and Kevin Norstrem is ranked 19th at 133 pounds. The Hokies will counter Iowa State with seven wrestlers ranked in either The Open Mat’s or InterMat’s national polls.
Admission is free to Saturday’s match, which will begin at 1 p.m. and will be live streamed by FloWrestling here.
On Sunday, Tech will play host to the Hokie Open, which returns to Rector Fieldhouse this year. Doors will open at 9 a.m. and admission is $15 for all age groups, only cash will be accepted at the door.
The action will kick off at 10 a.m. and run throughout the day. There will be no live results/brackets for the event, but @VT_Wrestling will have occasional tweets as the event rolls along. Live video footage will be provided by FloWrestling and can be found here.
Results will be posted when the event is over at both the tournament’s website along with hokiesports.com.
Below are the probable lineups for both squads for Saturday’s dual match:
#6 Virginia Tech (0-0)
125: #6 Joey Dance (0-0)
133: #19 Kevin Norstrem (0-0)
141: Solomon Chishko (0-0)
149: #12 Sal Mastriani or Chad Saunders (0-0)
157: #3 Nick Brascetta (0-0)
165: Dave McFadden (0-0)
174: #3 Zach Epperly (0-0)
184: Zack Zavatsky (0-0)
197: Jared Haught (0-0)
285: #2 Ty Walz (0-0)
#13 Iowa State (0-0)
125: Nathan Boston (0-0)
133: #8 Earl Hall (0-0)
141: John Meeks (0-0)
149: Blayne Briceno (0-0)
157: Logan Breitenbach (0-0)
165: #6 Tanner Weatherman (0-0)
174: #17 Lelund Weatherspoon (0-0)
184: Dane Pestano (0-0)
197: Duke Egli (0-0)
285: Quean Smith (0-0)