Hokie ClubLAS VEGAS - Four Virginia Tech wrestlers advanced to the semifinals of the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and two others remain alive in the consolations, after one day of action Friday. In the team race, the Hokies sit in fifth place (51.5 points) behind leader Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota and Cornell, despite wrestling in only seven of 10 weight classes.
Joey Dance, Solomon Chishko and Zack Zavatsky all went 3-0 on the day while Ty Walz picked up four wins to advance to the semifinals. Dance, the No. 2 seed, picked up a technical fall at 125 pounds to open the day and then gutted out a tough, sudden victory overtime win over Barlow McGhee in the quarterfinals. He’ll take on third-seeded David Terao of American on Saturday. Chishko, the number one seed pickedup a 17-2 tech fall in the round of 32 before adding two decisions, including one over nine-seed Tyler Smith of Bucknell, to face five-seed Micah Jordan of Ohio State in the semifinals. In the surprise of the day, Zavatsky upset the second-seeded Blake Stauffer of Arizona State in his first bout of the day before barreling through the next two rounds of competition to reach his first CKLV semifinals. Ty Walz, the No. 1 seed at heavyweight, picked up a pair of falls and a technical fall before winning a 6-4 decision en route to the semifinals, where he will face fourt-seeded Ross Larson of Oklahoma.
David McFadden (165) and Jared Haught (197) are all still alive in the tournament and will wrestle in the consolation rounds on Saturday.
Action will resume Saturday morning at noon (Eastern) with a round of consolations and then the semifinals will start at 1 p.m (Eastern) with that session concluding with the fifth- and seventh-place matches. The finals, as well as the third-place bouts, will begin at 6 p.m. (Eastern).
125: #2 seed Joey Dance
Round of 32: def. Brandon Vu (San Francisco State), TF 24-8 (7:00)
Round of 16: def. Drew Romero (Air Force), 7-4
Quarterfinals: def. Barlow McGhee (Missouri), 3-1
Semifinals: vs. #3 seed David Terao (American) - SATURDAY
141: #1 seed Solomon Chishko
Round of 32: def. Sonny Espinoza (Northern Colorado), TF 17-2 (4:01)
Round of 16: def. Mitchell Bengtson (North Dakota State University), 6-2
Quarterfinals: def. #9 seed Tyler Smith (Bucknell), 10-3
Semifinals: vs. #5 seed Micah Jordan (Ohio State) - SATURDAY
149: #3 seed Sal Mastriani
Round of 64: def. Gunner Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa), 6-5
Round of 32: lost to Coleman Hammond (CSU-Bakersfield), Fall 2:26
Consolations Round of 16: def. Matthew Ontiveros (Utah Valley), MD 14-4
Consolations: def. Randy Languis (Ohio State), 7-3
165: #5 seed Dave McFadden
Round of 32: def. Nolan Kister (California Baptist), 8-3
Round of 16: def. Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 8-4
Quarterfinals: lost to #4 seed George Pickett (Cornell), 4-1
Consolations: vs #6 seed Tanner Weatherman (ISU)
184: Zack Zavatsky
Round of 32: def. #2 seed Blake Stauffer (Arizona State), 8-4
Round of 16: def. Steven Schneider (Binghamton), 8-1
Quarterfinals: def. Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), 7-1
Semifinals: vs #6 seed Domenic Abounader (Michigan)
197: #6 seed Jared Haught
Round of 32: def. Calvin Nicholls (San Francisco State), Fall 1:35
Round of 16: def. #11 seed Brad Johnson (Oklahoma), 3-1 SV
Quarterfinals: lost to #3 seed Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 4-1
Consolations: vs. #5 seed Zach Nye (Virginia) - SATURDAY
285: #1 seed Ty Walz
Round of 64: def. Jack Kuck (Northern Colorado), Fall 4:06
Round of 32: def. Damian Trujillo (North Idaho), TF 19-4 6:08
Round of 16: def. Stephen Suglio (Kent State), Fall 2:48
Quarterfinals: def. #8 seed Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 6-4
Semifinals: vs. #4 seed Ross Larson (Oklahoma) - SATURDAY