BLACKSBURG – The No. 14 Virginia Tech wrestling team used four straight wins from 157 pounds through 184 to defeat Princeton, 24-16, in front of 1,782 in Cassell Coliseum on Friday night.
The Hokies (1-2) had four bonus point wins over the Tigers (1-3) in their home opener. Virginia Tech has now won 16 consecutive duals in Cassell with its last loss coming at the hands of Penn State on Nov. 15, 2015.
MATCH NOTES
- As the visiting team, Princeton decided to draw and the bout selected randomly was 149 pounds. Redshirt senior Ryan Blees was able to hold first-ranked Matthew Kolodzik to an 8-2 decision.
- That set the stage for a toss-up bout between redshirt sophomore B.C LaPrade and freshman Quincy Monday at 157 pounds. With the match tied at 4-4 at the end of regulation and the first sudden victory overtime period, LaPrade was able to ride out Monday in the first tiebreaker period and escape in the second to take the 5-4 decision and tie the match up at 3-3.
- Redshirt freshman Mekhi Lewis continued Tech's run with a 17-4 major decision, followed by redshirt junior David McFadden's first appearance of the season 174 that resulted in a 5-0 decision. Redshirt senior Zack Zavatsky's major at 184 extended the Hokie lead to 14-3.
- The evening also saw Billy Miller's first action of the season at heavyweight. The redshirt senior over-powered Kendall Elfstrom to the tune of a 10-2 major decision.
- Redshirt junior Korbin Myers clinched the match at 133 pounds with a win by fall in 3:41 secured on a roll through cradle in the second period.
The Hokies will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 19, when they travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia.
(12/7/2018) 2018 WRESTLING HOME OPENER
NO. 14 VIRGINIA TECH 24, PRINCETON 16 (ATTENDANCE: 1,782)
149: No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Ryan Blees (VT), 8-2
157: B.C. LaPrade (VT) dec. Quincy Monday (Princeton), 5-4 (TB-2)
165: No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (VT) MD Dale Tiongson (Princeton), 17-4
174: No. 5 David McFadden (VT) dec. Travis Stefanik (Princeton), 5-0
184: No. 8 Zack Zavatsky (VT) MD Kevin Parker (Princeton), 14-6
197: No. 5 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. Tom Sleigh (VT), 8-3
285: No. 7 Billy Miller (VT) MD Kendall Elfstrom (Princeton), 10-2
125: No. 14 Patrick Glory (Princeton) TF Joey Prata (Virginia Tech), 18-2 (4:40)
133: No. 16 Korbin Myers (VT) WBF Jake Adkins (Princeton), 3:41
141: Marshall Keller (Princeton) TF Dominic Latona (VT), 22-3 (6:51)