Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – After kicking off the season with two wins over Edinboro and VMI last weekend, the No. 6 Virginia Tech wrestling team welcomes No. 24 Chattanooga for their annual match at the Moss Arts Center on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The event inside the 1,274-seat Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre is sold out. Live updates can be found on Twitter at @VT_Wrestling.
In the team rankings, the Hokies saw no movement after its 2-0 opening weekend and stayed put at No. 6 in the USA Today/NWCA coaches poll. Sophomore Solomon Chishko went up a spot to No. 6 at 149 after taking a thrilling sudden death victory over then-No. 10 Patricio Lugo of Edinboro. Senior heavyweight Ty Walz went down one spot in InterMat’s rankings to No. 3 after dropping a 5-2 decision to Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery.
Tech saw no movement in the individual rankings from with Joey Dance (No. 3, 125), junior Zach Epperly (No. 2, 174), junior Zack Zavatsky (No. 10, 184) and Jared Haught (No. 3, 197).
STORYLINES
- After topping Northern Iowa and North Carolina on back-to-back days last season (Jan. 15-16), the Hokies (2-0, 0-0 ACC) are 5-0 all-time at the Moss Arts Center.
- Tech’s first match at Moss was on Feb. 1, 2015 when the No. 9 Hokies topped No. 12 Virginia, 18-16.
- The Hokies are 3-0 all-time against ranked opponents at Moss.
- The Chattanooga features two Hokie All-Americans in assistants David Hoffman and Nick Brascetta. Hoffman was an All-American in 2006 at 141 pounds and is tied for eighth in program history with a .784 winning percentage. Brascetta was a two-time All-American in two different weight classes and was also a three-time ACC champion.
LINEUP NOTES
- Walz returns to lineup after missing last weekend while wrestling competing at the NWCA All-Star Classic for the second-straight year in his native Cleveland.
- Walz will go up against the Mocs’ Jared Johnson, who’s ranked No. 11 by InterMat and enters the weekend with a 1-0 record.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
No. 6 Virginia Tech (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
125: No. 3 Joey Dance (2-0)
133: Dominic Latona (1-1)
141: Dennis Gustafson (2-0)
149: No. 6 Solomon Chishko (2-0)
157: Sal Mastriani (2-0)
165: Mike Ciavarro (1-1)
174: No. 2 Zach Epperly (2-0)
184: No. 10 Zack Zavatsky (2-0)
197: No. 3 Jared Haught (2-0)
285: No. 3 Ty Walz (0-1)
No. 24 Chattanooga (2-0, 1-0 SoCon)
125: Fabian Gutierrez (0-0) or Alonzo Allen (0-1)
133: Chris Debien (1-0)
141: Roman Boylen (1-0)
149: Dylanger Potter (0-0) or Zach Shareef (0-0)
157: Trey Watson (0-1)
165: Justin Lampe (1-0)
174: Sean Mappes (1-0)
184: Bryce Carr (1-0)
197: Clay Dent (1-0)
285: No. 11 Jared Johnson (1-0)