Hokie ClubCHATTANOOGA – Virginia Tech will have five wrestlers competing tomorrow in Chattanooga after concluding the first day of competition at the 2023 Southern Scuffle on Sunday evening. Action resumes on Monday, January 2 at 11 a.m. EST live on Flowrestling and live results on FloArena.
Cooper Flynn and Collin Gerardi were the lone Hokies to advance to the quarterfinals before dropping to the consolation bracket after losing to No. 10 Matt Ramos (Purdue) and No. 3 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado), respectively.
Flynn defeated Caleb Fuessley of Iowa State and Binghamton's Micah Roes via decision before facing Ramos, his highest ranked opponent of the season. With the score tied at 1 at the end of regulation, Flynn fired off the first shot of sudden victory before being countered in a stepover bundle by Ramos to secure the fall. Flynn will look to wrestleback for third place when action resumes tomorrow.
Gerardi opened his Scuffle campaign with a major decision over Chattanooga's Blake Boarman and a decision over Nate Lucier of Binghamton. Gerardi then battled Alirez and kept it close till the end of the second before falling 5-19 at the end of three periods. Gerardi will look to navigate the backside to a third-place finish.
Also bidding for podium finishes in Chattanooga are Jordan Florence, Sam Fisher, and TJ Stewart. In his first action in almost two years due to injury, Florence looked impressive going 3-1 on the day with two bonus victories and a ranked win over No. 27 Dom Solis of Maryland. Fisher also went 3-1 with gritty victories to continue his strong season and will look to find the podium in his second Scuffle appearance. Stewart dropped a tough bout to No. 20 Nick Stemmet of Stanford in his second bout of the day but bounced back with two victories to complement his opening round win and remain alive in his first Southern Scuffle.
Southern Scuffle Day 1 Results
125 – r-Freshman Cooper Flynn
- DEC Caleb Fuessley (Iowa State), 5-3
- DEC Micah Roes (Binghamton), 3-2
- Loss Matt Ramos (Purdue), Fall 7:25
141 – r-Senior Collin Gerardi
- MAJ DEC Blake Boarman (Chattanooga), 14-1
- DEC Nate Lucier (Binghamton), 2-0
- Loss Andrew Alirez (North Colorado), 5-19
157 – r-Freshman Jackson Spires
- Loss Logan Gioffre (Mizzzou), 3-1
- FALL Brock Rogers (CSU-Bakersfield), 6-2 6:46
- Loss Travis Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State), 6-10
165 – Graduate Drew Nicholson
- DEC William Ebert (Binghamton), 6-5
- Loss Hunter Garvin (Stanford), 13-2
- Loss Hunter Mays (Rider), 12-9
165 – r-Freshman Ty Finn
- DEC Hunter Mays (Rider), 5-2
- Loss Grant Stotts (Iowa State), 3-6
- DEC William Ebert (Binghamton), 4-2
- Loss Cam Steed (Mizzou), 4-13
174 – r-Junior Kolton Clark
- Loss Sam Barnes (Bucknell), 3-7
- FALL Manny Rojas (Iowa State), 5-12 3:26
- Loss MJ Gaitan (Iowa State), 5-14
174 – r-Senior Jordan Florence
- Loss Jared Krattiger (Minnesota), 1-5
- MAJ DEC Bryce Keckley (Chattanooga), 13-3
- DEC No. 27 Dom Solis (Maryland), 14-12
- FALL Sam Barnes (Bucknell), 0:48
184 – r-Sophomore Sam Fisher
- DEC Branson Britten (North Colorado), 4-3
- Loss No. 24 Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra), 5-7
- DEC Brook Byers (Stanford), 15-8
- DEC Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga), 3-1
197 – Freshman TJ Stewart
- DEC Nik Miler (Hofstra), 9-6
- Loss No. 20 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), 3-5
- DEC Sam Mora (Gardner-Webb), 9-3
- DEC Josh McCutchem (Gardner-Webb), 7-2
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