CORALVILLE, Iowa – After about a 10-month break in competition, Virginia Tech wrestlers Sam Latona and Ty Walz placed at the United States Senior Nationals Sunday afternoon.
Latona, in his first senior-level event, earned sixth place in the 57-kilogram weight class after going 4-3 over the weekend. Entering the tournament unseeded, Latona took down three seeded opponents including 2020 ACC 125-pound champion Jakob Camacho and three-time NCAA qualifier Shelton Mack. All three of the redshirt freshman's losses came at the hands of former NCAA All-Americans.
In his first event since the 2019 Senior Nationals, Walz took seventh place at 97 kilograms after a 4-2 weekend, losing both matches on criteria. The Southeast Regional Training Center athlete advanced to the quarterfinals before having to battle back in the consolation bracket to reach the seventh-place match.
Men's freestyle competition began Saturday with both Latona and Walz beginning 2-0 and advancing to the quarterfinals. However, the two stumbled in the round and moved to the consolation brackets. The day ended with both Hokies taking decision victories in the second consolation round of eight.
The pair restarted competition Sunday morning in the consolation round of four. Latona beat Camacho via 5-4 decision, but Walz fell on criteria to seventh seed Timothy Dudley. Latona lost to sixth seeded Sean Russell in the consolation semifinals to meet the three seed Frank Perrelli in the fifth-place match. Walz then defeated 11-seed Lucas Davison for the second time of the tournament to take seventh place.
Hunter Bolen, in his first competition since he won the ACC 184-pound title in March, went 2-2 in his senior-level debut. Bolen won back-to-back matches in the wrestle-backs, including an 11-0 technical fall, after dropping his opening match to 2019 NCAA 184-pound champion Drew Foster.
