BLACKSBURG – Five Virginia Tech wrestlers placed and redshirt senior Tom Sleigh earned his 100th career win at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Wednesday evening.
Sleigh and redshirt junior David McFadden (174) both placed third at their weights while redshirt senior Billy Miller (285) finished in sixth place at heavyweight. Competing unattached for the Hokies, sophomore Hunter Bolen (184) went 5-1 en route to a second-place finish and freshman Collin Gerardi (133) placed seventh.
The 12th-ranked Hokies finished in ninth place in the team race with 46.5 points. Penn State placed first followed by Oklahoma State.
MATCH NOTES
- Both of the Hokies' unattached competitors placed at the Scuffle. Gerardi went 2-1 on the final day including a 2-0 decision that featured a third period ride out in the seventh-place bout over Lehigh Farro. Bolen defeated Binghamton's Lou Deprez, 3-2, and wrestled a tight match with third-ranked Shakur Rasheed of Penn State in the finals where he dropped a 4-1 decision.
- McFadden had a rough start to his day after falling to Oklahoma State's Joe Smith in the semis at 174 but he bounced back by beating Iowa State's Marcus Coleman convincingly, 10-4, and topping NC State's Trent Hidlay, 3-2, in the second tiebreaker period of the third-place match.
- For McFadden, his loss to Smith was only his third defeat in his last 42 matches.
- Sleigh also rattled off back-to-back wins to finish third after his loss in the semifinals. Sleigh's 3-1 decision over Northern Colorado's Jacob Seely was his 100th career victory after carrying over 88 wins in three seasons at Bucknell.
- Mekhi Lewis, who's day-to-day with a minor injury, was a late scratch for the Scuffle.
The Hokies will have the rest of the week off before returning to action next weekend at the Virginia Duals in Hampton from Jan. 11-12.
133: Collin Gerardi (4-2), Seventh Place
Gerardi dec. Cody Trybus (Navy), 8-4
Gerardi dec. Codi Russell (App St.), 9-4
Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec. Gerardi, 8-6 (SV OT)
Gerardi dec. John Twomey (Air Force), 2-0 (SV OT)
Todd Small (Iowa State) dec. Gerardi, 7-5
Gerardi dec. Nick Farro (Lehigh), 2-0
174: David McFadden (5-1), Third Place
McFadden TF Ethan Hoffman (UNC), 18-0
McFadden MD Randy Meneweather II (Air Force), 18-5
McFadden dec. Jacob Oliver (Edinboro), 7-3
Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. McFadden, 11-4
McFadden dec. Marcus Coleman (Iowa State), 10-4
McFadden dec. Trent Hidlay (NC State), 3-2 (TB-2)
184: Hunter Bolen (5-1), Second Place
Bolen MD Joe Franzese (Columbia), 11-3
Bolen MD Dalton Robertson (N. Colorado), 11-3
Bolen WBF Alan Clothier (App State), 2:13
Bolen dec. Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma St.), 3-1
Bolen dec. Lou Deprez (Binghamton), 3-2
Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) dec. Bolen, 4-1
197: No. 14 Tom Sleigh (5-1), Third Place
Sleigh dec. Anthony Perrine (Gardner Webb), 2-0
Sleigh dec. Eli Spencer (George Mason), 4-0
Sleigh dec. Stephen Loiseau (Drexel), 8-1
Bo Nickal (Penn State) WBF Sleigh, 1:12
Sleigh dec. Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado), 3-1
Sleigh dec. Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), 9-3
285: Billy Miller (4-3), Sixth Place
Miller TF Sean Dee (Binghamton), 17-2
Miller dec. Hayden Maley (Stanford), 10-4
Matt Voss (George Mason) dec. Miller, 4-3 (TB-2)
Miller dec. David Showunmi (Stanford), 7-2
Miller dec. Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 6-0
Nick Nevills (Penn State) MD Miller, 8-0
Joey Goodhart (Drexel) dec. Miller 4-3